Frank Zappa – Them Or Us
(Zappa Records 1990 ZAPPA30)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1/C1/D1
Gatefold Sleeve in Nr MINT- condition
– a little wear to edges, price sticker top left and some light foxing spots on back cover & inside gatefold
Double Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are a few light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he also produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His work is characterized by nonconformity, improvisation sound experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.
Them or Us is an album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1984.
Its opening and closing tracks are covers: “The Closer You Are”, which was written by Earl Lewis and Morgan Robinson and originally released by The Channels; and “Whippin’ Post“, originally recorded by The Allman Brothers Band.
“Ya Hozna” is actually a forward basic track with vocal taken from “Sofa No. 2” (from “One Size Fits All”, 1975), “Lonely Little Girl” (from “We’re Only In It For The Money“, 1968) and unreleased outtakes of “Valley Girl” (vocals by Moon Zappa) played backwards.
Track listing
All tracks written by Frank Zappa, except where noted.
| Side one | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | “The Closer You Are” (Earl Lewis, Morgan “Bobby” Robinson) | 2:55 | ||||||||
| 2. | “In France” | 3:30 | ||||||||
| 3. | “Ya Hozna” | 6:26 | ||||||||
| 4. | “Sharleena” | 4:33 | ||||||||
| Side two | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 5. | “Sinister Footwear II” | 8:39 | ||||||||
| 6. | “Truck Driver Divorce” | 8:59 | ||||||||
| Side three | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 7. | “Stevie’s Spanking” | 5:23 | ||||||||
| 8. | “Baby, Take Your Teeth Out” | 1:54 | ||||||||
| 9. | “Marque-son’s Chicken” | 7:33 | ||||||||
| 10. | “Planet of My Dreams” | 1:37 | ||||||||
| Side four | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 11. | “Be in My Video” | 3:39 | ||||||||
| 12. | “Them or Us” | 5:23 | ||||||||
| 13. | “Frogs with Dirty Little Lips” (Frank Zappa, Ahmet Zappa) | 2:42 | ||||||||
| 14. | “Whipping Post” (Gregg Allman) | 7:32 | ||||||||
Personnel
Musicians
- Frank Zappa – guitar, keyboards, vocals, arranger, producer, main performer, assistant
- Tommy Mars – keyboards, vocals, soloist
- Patrick O’Hearn – wind, bass guitar
- Scott Thunes – vocals, Minimoog, synthesizer, bass guitar
- Johnny “Guitar” Watson – vocals, guitar
- Ray White – guitar, vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony vocals, harmony
- Moon Unit Zappa – vocals
- Ed Mann – percussion
- Chad Wackerman – drums, vocals
- Ike Willis – vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony vocals, harmony
- Arthur Barrow – bass guitar
- Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, vocals, harmony vocals, harmony
- Brad Cole – piano
- Roy Estrada – vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony, bass guitar
- Bob Harris – keyboards, vocals, harmony vocals
- Thana Harris – vocals, harmony
- Steve Vai – guitar, soloist, fills
- Dweezil Zappa – soloist, guitar
- George Duke – keyboards, vocals, piano
- Bobby Martin – keyboards, saxophone, vocals (lead vocals on “Whipping Post”), falssetist, harmony vocals, harmonica
Production staff
- Mark Pinske – engineer
- John Matousek – mastering
- Gabrielle Raumberger – artwork, graphic design
- Steve Schapiro – photography
- Bob Stone – engineer
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