FRANK ZAPPA – WAKA / JAWAKA – HOT RATS LP – Nr MINT US ORIG MOTHERS

Frank Zappa – Waka/Jawaka – Hot Rats
(Bizarre Records  1972  MS2094  US Press)

Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– some slight wear to edges/corners
Plain White Inner Sleeve

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some 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, songwriter, composer, guitarist, record producer, actor and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, 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. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers.

As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa’s diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often 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 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. Sterling Whitaker described Zappa as “one of the most innovative and versatile rock musicians of his generation.” 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”.

Waka/Jawaka (also known as Waka/Jawaka — Hot Rats) is the fourth solo album by Frank Zappa, released in July 1972. The album is the jazz-influenced precursor to The Grand Wazoo (November 1972), and, as the front cover indicates, a sequel of sorts to 1969’s Hot Rats. According to Zappa, the title “is something that showed up on a ouija board at one time.” This is Official Release #15.

Track listing

All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.

Personnel

Musicians on the album

• Frank Zappa – guitar (all tracks, including acoustic guitar on track 3), percussion (1), electric bed springs (3), uncredited vocals (3)
• Sal Marquez – trumpets (all tracks), vocals (2, 3, 4), chimes (1, 4), flugelhorn (4)
• Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) – electric bass (all tracks), vocals (3), fuzz bass (4)
• Aynsley Dunbar – drums (all tracks), washboard (3), tambourine (3)
• Tony Duran – slide guitar (1, 2, 3), vocals (3)
• George Duke – ring-modulated & echoplexed electric piano (1), tack piano (2)
• Mike Altschul – baritone saxophone (2, 4), piccolo (2, 4), bass flute (4), bass clarinet (4), tenor sax (4)
• Kris Peterson – vocals (2, 4)
• Joel Peskin – tenor sax (2)
• Jeff Simmons – Hawaiian guitar (3), vocals (3)
• Sneaky Pete Kleinow – pedal steel guitar solo (3)
• Janet Ferguson – vocals (3)
• Don Preston – piano (4), Minimoog (4)
• Bill Byers – trombone (4), baritone horn (4)
• Ken Shroyer – trombone (4), baritone horn (4)

Production

• Producer: Frank Zappa
• Engineers: Marshall Brevitz, Kerry McNabb
• Mastering: Frank Zappa
• Supervisor: Marshall Brevitz
• Concept: Sal Marquez
• Creative consultant: Sal Marquez
• Design: Cal Schenkel
• Cover Design: Cal Schenkel
• Cover illustration: Marvin Mattelson
• Illustrations: Marvin Mattelson
• Photography: Philip Schartz
• Back cover: Philip Schwartz
• Packaging: Cal Schenkel
• Repackaging: Ferenc Dobronyi