Zoot Allures

"Find Her Finer"
Zoot Allures
Studio album by Frank Zappa
Released	October 20, 1976
Recorded	May–June, 1976 at Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA except: "Wonderful Wino" (1972/1973), "Friendly Little Finger" (1973/Oct. 1975) and "Black Napkins" (recorded live on Feb. 3, 1976 in Osaka, Japan)
Genre	Progressive rock, jazz fusion, comedy rock, hard rock, heavy metal[1][2]
Length	41:32
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa chronology
Frank Zappa solo chronology
Singles from Zoot Allures
	"Find Her Finer"; Released: 1976; "Disco Boy"; Released: 1976;

Zoot Allures is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager, Herb Cohen, Zappa's recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]

Title

The title is a pun on the French expression "Zut alors!", which conveys mild surprise.

Album information

The album was originally conceptualized as a double LP, but Zappa rearranged, edited, and shortened the track listing to what was eventually released as a single album.[4] Zappa played a test pressing of the original album for Circus magazine in 1976, which reported a radically different, though slightly erroneous track listing that included "Sleep Dirt", "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution", "Filthy Habits", and "Night of the Iron Sausage". The former three tracks eventually surfaced on the 1979 Sleep Dirt and the posthumous Läther; "Night of the Iron Sausage" remains unreleased, but was seemingly intended to be a guitar solo of fair length. "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station" and "Zoot Allures" were absent from test pressings.

Zappa recorded the album after completing a world tour with a band including Napoleon Murphy Brock on tenor sax and vocals, Andre Lewis on keyboards, Roy Estrada on bass and Terry Bozzio on drums. However, this band appeared only on the live track "Black Napkins" with only Bozzio retained to play on the sessions, although Lewis and Estrada contributed backing vocals. After Zappa's death, one of the band's 1976 concerts was released as FZ:OZ. By the time Zoot Allures was finished, Zappa had begun forming a new live band, including Bozzio, Patrick O'Hearn and Eddie Jobson, who were pictured on the cover with Zappa, although the latter two did not perform on the album.

Songs

"Black Napkins", one of several guitar-driven pieces on Zoot Allures, began life accompanied by themes that would later make up "Sleep Dirt".[5] The performance heard on the album was culled from Zappa's February 3, 1976 performance in Osaka, Japan, though it was edited for the official release.[6] Along with "Zoot Allures" and "The Torture Never Stops", "Black Napkins" became a signature piece for Zappa, featuring heavily in nearly every subsequent tour and several official releases.

"Wonderful Wino" was originally released on Jeff Simmons' 1970 album, Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up. The album, produced partially by Zappa (though credited as "La Marr Bruister"), also included the title track, which later appeared on 1979's Joe's Garage.

On the liner notes to 1979's Sheik Yerbouti, Zappa notes that "Friendly Little Finger" (from Zoot Allures) was created using xenochrony.

The album's sound is influenced by heavy metal music, particularly that on the song "Ms. Pinky".[1][2]

Track listing

All tracks written by Frank Zappa, except "Wonderful Wino", written by Zappa and Jeff Simmons.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station"	2:29
2.	"Black Napkins"	4:15
3.	"The Torture Never Stops"	9:45
4.	"Ms. Pinky"	3:40

Side two
No.	Title	Length
5.	"Find Her Finer"	4:07
6.	"Friendly Little Finger"	4:17
7.	"Wonderful Wino"	3:38
8.	"Zoot Allures"	4:12
9.	"Disco Boy"	5:11

Personnel

Musicians

Frank Zappa – guitar (all tracks), bass (1, 3–7, 9), lead vocals (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9), synthesizer (1, 4, 5, 9), keyboards (3, 5, 7, 9), director of recreational activities (3)
Terry Bozzio – drums (all tracks), backing vocals (5, 9)

Also featuring

Davey Moiré – lead vocals (1), backing vocals (1, 9), engineer
Andre Lewis – organ (2), vocals (2), backing vocals (5, 9)
Roy Estrada – bass (2), vocals (2), backing vocals (4, 5, 9), drone bass (6)
Napoleon Murphy Brock – vocals (2)
Ruth Underwood – synthesizer (4, 6, 7), marimba (6, 8)
Captain Beefheart – harmonica (4, 5) (credited as "Donnie Vliet")
Ruben Ladron de Guevara – backing vocals (5)
Ian Underwood – saxophone (6, 7)
Bruce Fowler – trombone (6, 7)
Sal Marquez – trumpet (6, 7)
Dave Parlato – bass (8)
Lu Ann Neil – harp (8)
Sparky Parker – backing vocals (9)

Keyboardist Eddie Jobson and bassist Patrick O'Hearn, who by the time of Zoot Allures' release were members of Zappa's band, appear on the album's cover but do not perform on any tracks.

Production staff

Arnie Acosta – mastering
Amy Bernstein – layout design
Michael Braunstein – engineer
Gary Heery – photography
Cal Schenkel – design
Bob Stone – digital remastering

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States Canada	October 20, 1976	Warner Bros.	LP	BS 2970
United Kingdom	December 1976	Warner Bros.	LP	K 56298
United States	May 1990	Rykodisc	CD	RCD 10160
United Kingdom	May 1990	Zappa Records	CD	CDZAP22
United States	May 2, 1995	Rykodisc	CD	RCD 10523
United States	August 28, 2012	Universal Music	CD	ZR3855

Rykodisc CD release

Zoot Allures on compact disc, released by Rykodisc, is mixed differently than the original vinyl. The vinyl also contains a longer edit of "Disco Boy" including a count-off by a drum machine (the first three seconds) and a longer fade-out making the track's duration 5:27, as opposed to the CD duration of 5:11. The 2012 Universal remaster restores the original vinyl mix and improves the sound quality considerably.

Charts

Album – Billboard (United States)

Year	Chart	Position
1976	Billboard 200	61[7]

gollark: Or infiltrate TSMC and swap out the masks for your own.

gollark: Just copy Sam Zeloof and make your own silicon.

gollark: Perhaps if you just used relay logic instead.

gollark: Sure, but so is just wiring 292928833 things by hand.

gollark: If you can do it in actual wired logic chips I assume it would be easy to port.

References

Lowe, K.F. (2007). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. University of Nebraska Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780803260054. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
Beat Instrumental & Songwriting & Recording. Beat Publications. 1977. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
Couture, François (2011). "Zoot Allures – Frank Zappa | AllMusic". allmusic. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
"ARF The Home of Frank Zappa Heritage Studies". Retrieved December 10, 2007.
"Information Is Not Knowledge". Retrieved December 10, 2007.
"the zappa patio". Retrieved December 10, 2007.
"Charts and Awards for Zoot Allures". Allmusic. Retrieved August 22, 2008.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Lowe-1] Lowe, K.F. (2007). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. University of Nebraska Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780803260054. Retrieved February 26, 2015.

[Beat-2] Beat Instrumental & Songwriting & Recording. Beat Publications. 1977. Retrieved February 26, 2015.

[3] Couture, François (2011). "Zoot Allures – Frank Zappa | AllMusic". allmusic. Retrieved June 26, 2011.

[ARF-4] "ARF The Home of Frank Zappa Heritage Studies". Retrieved December 10, 2007.

[IINK-5] "Information Is Not Knowledge". Retrieved December 10, 2007.

[ZP-6] "the zappa patio". Retrieved December 10, 2007.

[7] "Charts and Awards for Zoot Allures". Allmusic. Retrieved August 22, 2008.