STEVE VAI – FLEX-ABLE LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 UK 1984 FRANK ZAPPA

Steve Vai – Flex-Able
(Food For Thought Records  1984  GRUB3)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

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

Sleeve in Nr MINT- condition
– some slight wear to edges

Steven Siro “Steve” Vai (born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, singer, songwriter, and producer, born and raised on Long Island, New York. Vai was voted the 10th “Greatest Guitarist” by Guitar World magazine, and has sold over 15 million records. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of 18 as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, and joined his band from 1980 to 1983. He embarked on a solo career in 1983 and has released eight solo albums to date. He has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, as well as having recorded with artists such as Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, and Ozzy Osbourne. Additionally, Vai has toured with live-only acts G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, the Experience Hendrix tour, as well as headlining international tours.

Vai has been described as a “highly individualistic player” and part of a generation of “heavy rock and metal virtuosi who came to the fore in the 1980s”. The launch of the Ibanez JEM guitar developed and co-designed by Vai was described as the “exact moment the entire guitar landscape was reshaped”. He also designed the first commercially produced seven-string guitar, the Ibanez Universe, which was used by nu metal artists in the 1990s. He released his first solo album Flex-Able in 1984, while his most successful release, Passion and Warfare (1990), was described as “the richest and best hard rock guitar-virtuoso album of the ’80s”.

Flex-Able is an album by Steve Vai. This was his first as a solo artist, and was created in Stucco Blue, a shed converted into a studio in Vai’s old back garden. It is very different from many of his other albums, and is largely influenced by Frank Zappa. Flex-Able does not rely as much on massive guitar arrangements and shred moments as the rest of his output from the 1990s onwards, with the exception of Leftovers which is a compilation of bonus tracks and remasters from his sessions at ‘Stucco Blue’.

The cover of the May 2009 issue of Guitar World features a photograph of Vai in a pose similar to the album’s cover, including the bending guitar neck.

Track listing

The album was originally released on vinyl in 1984.

All songs written by Steve Vai.

Side one

1. “Little Green Men” – 5:39
2. “Viv Woman” – 3:09
3. “Lovers Are Crazy” – 5:39
4. “Salamanders in the Sun” – 2:26
5. “The Boy/Girl Song” – 4:02

Side two

1. “The Attitude Song” – 3:23
2. “Call It Sleep” – 5:09
3. “Junkie” – 7:23
4. “Bill’s Private Parts” – 0:16
5. “Next Stop Earth” – 0:34
6. “There’s Something Dead in Here” – 3:46

Personnel

Musicians

• Scott Collard – synthesizer, keyboards, Fender Rhodes
• Larry Crane – lyre, xylophone, bells, vibraphone
• Greg Degler – clarinet, flute, saxophone
• Joe Despagni – sound effects
• Laurel Fishman – vocals
• Peggy Foster – bass
• Chris Frazier – drums
• Stuart Hamm – bass, sound effects, vocals, vocals (background)
• Bob Harris – trumpet, vocals (as Irney Rantin)
• Suzannah Harris (as Ursula Rayven) – vocals
• Billy James – percussion, drums
• Paul Lemcke – keyboards
• Pia Maiocco – vocals
• Tommy Mars – violin, keyboards, vocals
• Lill Vai – sound effects
• Steve Vai – synthesizer, bass, guitar, percussion, piano, electric guitar, keyboards, * sitar, vocals, bells, producer, engineer, drum machine, drum programming, design, mixing
• Chad Wackerman – drums
• Pete Zeldman – percussion, drums

Production

• William Becton – composer
• Aaron Brown – design, illustrations
• John Matousek – mastering
• Mark Pinske – assistant
• Neil Zlozower – photography