FRANK ZAPPA – ROXY & ELSEWHERE 2LP – Nr MINT A1 UK MOTHERS OF INVENTION

Frank Zappa – Roxy & Elsewhere
(Discreet Records  K69201)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1/C1/D1 – UK Pressing

Double Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible & a little discolouration to the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Gatefold Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– some slight wear to edges/corners, a little light ringwear & light creasing on top right corner

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, producer, guitarist, actor, and filmmaker whose work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his generation.

As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa’s diverse musical influences led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical composers such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern, along with 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; later switching to electric guitar. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. He continued this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was rock, jazz or classical.

Zappa’s output is unified by a conceptual continuity he termed “Project/Object”, with numerous musical phrases, ideas, and characters reappearing across his albums. His lyrics reflected his iconoclastic views of established social and political processes, structures and movements, often humorously so. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Unlike many other rock musicians of his era, he personally disapproved of and seldom used drugs, but supported their decriminalization and regulation.

During Zappa’s lifetime, he was a highly productive and prolific artist, earning widespread acclaim from critics and fellow musicians. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and worked as an independent artist for most of his career. He remains a major influence on musicians and composers. His honors include an induction into the 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at number 71 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, and in 2011 at number 22 on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.

Roxy & Elsewhere is a live album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers, which was released in 1974. Most of the songs were recorded at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California on December 8, 9 and 10, 1973. The material taken from the Roxy concerts was later amended with some overdubs in the studio, while the “Elsewhere” tracks (“Son of Orange County” & “More Trouble Every Day”) were recorded on May 8, 1974, at the Edinboro State College, Edinboro, Pennsylvania (and parts of “Son of Orange County” on May 11, 1974, at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois (late show)) and do not contain overdubbed material.

Track listing

All selections composed by Frank Zappa and performed by Frank Zappa & the Mothers, except where noted. All tracks recorded at the Roxy, except “Son of Orange County”, “More Trouble Every Day” and parts of “Penguin in Bondage”.

Personnel

Musicians

• Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals, producer
• Napoleon Murphy Brock – flute, tenor saxophone, vocals
• Robert “Frog” Camarena – backing vocals (“Cheepnis”)
• Debbie – backing vocals (“Cheepnis”)
• Lynn – backing vocals (“Cheepnis”)
• Ruben Ladron de Guevara – backing vocals (“Cheepnis”)
• George Duke – synthesizer, keyboards, vocals
• Bruce Fowler – trombone, dancer
• Tom Fowler – bass guitar
• Walt Fowler – trumpet, bass trumpet
• Ralph Humphrey – drums
• Don Preston – synthesizer
• Jeff Simmons – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Chester Thompson – drums
• Ruth Underwood – percussion

Production staff

• Stephen Marcussen – digital remastering
• Kerry McNabb – engineer, remixing
• Wally Heider – engineer
• Coy Featherston, Steve Magedoff – photography
• Cal Schenkel – graphic design, design