Lumpy Gravy

Album History
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Lumpy Gravy
Released May 1968
See also: IINK, Patio, KUR The Old Masters, Box I The Lumpy Money Project/Object Lumpy Gravy & Elsewhere

Players

The ABNUCEALS EMUUKHA electric SYMPHONY orchestra & CHORUS
with maybe even some members of the mothers of invention
PIANO, CELESTE, ELECTRIC HARPSICHORD: Paul Smith, Mike Lang, Lincoln Mayorga, Pete Jolly
DRUMS: Johnny Guerin, Frankie Capp, Shelly Manne
PERCUSSION (Gongs, Bells, Vibes, Marimba, Timpani, Timbales & assorted insanity): Emil Richards, Gene Estes, Alan Estes, Victor Feldman, Kenneth Watson (uncredited), Thomas Poole (uncredited)
WOODWINDS (Flute, Bass Flute, Piccolo, Oboe, English Horn, Eb Clarinet, Bb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet, Alto Sax, Bass Sax, Bassoon & Contrabassoon): Ted Nash, Jules Jacob, John Rotella, Bunk Gardner, Don Christlieb, Gene Cipriano
FRENCH HORNS: Arthur Maebe, Vincent De Rosa, Richard Perissi, Arthur E. Briegleb (uncredited), David A. Duke (uncredited), George F. Price (uncredited)
TRUMPET: Jimmy Zito
TROMBONE: Kenneth Shroyer, Lew McCreary (uncredited)
GUITARS: Jim Haynes (prob. James Helms), Tommy Tedesco, Tony Rizzi, Al Viola, Dennis Budimir
BASS: Bob West, John Balkin, Jimmy Bond, Lyle Ritz, Chuck Berghofer
STRINGS: Sid Sharp-violin; Alexander Koltun-violin; Tibor Zelig-violin; Ralph Schaeffer-violin; Bernard Kundell-violin; William Kurasch-violin; James Getzoff-violin; Arnold Belnick-violin; Leonard Malarsky-violin; Harold Ayres-violin; Jerome J. Reisler-violin; Phillip Goldberg-viola; Leonard Selic-viola; Harry Hyams-viola; Joseph DiFiore-viola; Jerome A. Kessler-cello; Raymond J. Kelley-cello; Joseph Saxon-cello; Jesse Ehrlich-cello; Harold G. Bemko-cello
CHORUS: Louie The Turkey, Ronnie Williams, Dick Barber "Foon The Younger", Roy Estrada, Spider, Motorhead, J.K. & Tony, Gilly and the girls from Apostolic (Maxine, Becky), All Night John, The Other John, Cal, Pumpkin, Larry Fanoga, Monica, Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian of the group)
ALSO: Sammy, Harold, Charlie, Bruce, and the rest of the guys from Atlanta

Tracks

LP Side One Lumpy Gravy - Part I (15:45) Side Two Lumpy Gravy - Part II (15:56) 1986 CD, coupled with We're Only In It For The Money Tracks 1 to 19 : WOIIFTM Current CD tracks list Tracks 20 to 21 : Current CD tracks list	Current CD Lumpy Gravy Part One (15:51) The Way I See It, Barry (0:06) Duodenum (1:32) Oh No (2:03) Bit Of Nostalgia (1:35) It's From Kansas (0:29) Bored Out 90 Over (0:32) Almost Chinese (0:25) Switching Girls (0:29) Oh No Again (1:12) At The Gas Station (2:41) Another Pickup (0:53) I Don't Know If I Can Go Through This Again (3:52) Lumpy Gravy Part Two (15:51) Very Distraughtening (1:34) White Ugliness (2:21) Amen (1:33) Just One More Time (0:58) A Vicious Circle (1:12) King Kong (0:42) Drums Are Too Noisy (0:58) Kangaroos (0:57) Envelops The Bath Tub (3:42) Take Your Clothes Off (1:52)	Orchestral Version
		Side One
		Tableaux I	Sink Trap (3:06)
		II	Gum Joy (3:44)
		III	Up & Down (1:52)
		IV	Local Butcher (2:33)
		Side Two
		Tableaux V	Gypsy Airs (1:41)
		VI	Hunchy Punchy (2:06)
		VII	Foamy Soaky (2:34)
		VIII	Let's Eat Out (1:48)
		IX	Teen-Age Grand Finale (3:29)

Release Notes

Orchestra recorded: Capitol Studios, Hollywood, February 13 & March 14-16, 1967.
People inside the piano recorded: Apostolic Studios, NYC, October, 1967.
Produced by Frank Zappa.
Original sessions produced by Nick Venet.
Engineered by: Joe, Rex, Pete, Jim, Bob, Gary & Dick Kunc.
Liner put together by Cal Schenkel.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Sid Sharp conductor, Bob Ross arranger, Smiling Jack, Ben Barrett contractor, Normal and Max, my pumpkin, Hurby, John Judnich

Background Information

Zappa formed the one-off Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus to record Lumpy Gravy.

The Chorus was a speaking cast, its members' dialogue taking the place of any sung lyrics. They were recorded conversing with their heads inside a Steinway grand piano during several sessions at Apostolic Studios in New York. The dialogues were improvised, but they followed Zappa’s general thematic guidelines.

Zappa amassed several hours of recorded conversations to edit into Lumpy Gravy; some snippets were heard on following albums, and the original recordings were featured on Civilization Phaze III, which continued the plot from where it left off on Lumpy Gravy, using both old characters from the original sessions and freshly recorded voices.

The album features three Mothers: Bunk Gardner plays woodwinds and brass, while Roy Estrada and Jim “Motorhead” Sherwood, sometimes using the voice of his alter-ego, Larry Fanoga are listed as members of the Chorus. Other parts are played by studio staff members, Louie The Turkey from the Garrick Theatre audience and Spider Barbour of Chrysalis, another group recording at Apostolic at the time.

Completed in 1967, this featured the earliest commercial appearance of Frank’s symphonic music. Some of the material was recorded with a fifty-piece Los Angeles orchestra.

The album was commissioned by Nick Venet of Capitol Records. It had been assumed that Zappa was contractually free to compose and conduct, since MGM had only signed him as a musician and vocalist along with the rest of The Mothers. MGM disagreed, threatened to sue, and finally bought the master tapes. As Capitol's engineers had reworked Zappa's original edit he had to reconstruct the album, assisted by Gary Kellgren at Mayfair Studios in New York City. This caused the release of the album to be delayed for over a year.

In a 1974 interview for Melody Maker Zappa revealed that the name originally came from a television commercial for Loma Linda Gravy mix. Loma Linda is a town just south of San Bernardino.

The front-cover photo features Zappa wearing a shirt that advertises Pipco - a Santa Barbara pipe company. The original Verve Records release had FZ's name shown as "Francis Vincent Zappa", which is incorrect. The Old Masters, Box I release of the album had the original cover artwork, but corrected FZ's first name.

Alternate Artwork

Capitol Version

Versions

ZFT #	Version #	# discs	Format	Catalog #	Release (YYYY-MM-DD)	Barcode (EAN-13)	Artwork	Comment
3	0.1 Original "Orchestral" Stereo w/ Intro A	1	LP	Capitol STAO-2719	Unreleased	None		Demo acetate available as a bootleg in Lumpy Gravy & Elsewhere.
	Not Sure, Original "Orchestral" Stereo w/ Intro A or B	1	4T	Capitol/Muntz 4CL-2719	1967-08-07	None		Withdrawn due to a legal dispute between MGM and Capitol. Very few copies reported to exist.
	1.1a Original Stereo	1	LP	MGM Verve V6-8741	1968-05-13	None		US edition.
		1	LP	MGM Verve SVLP 9223	1968-10	None		UK edition.
		1	LP	MGM Verve/Polydor 2317 046	1972-06	None		UK 2nd edition.
	1.2 Original Mono	1	LP	MGM Verve V-8741	1968-05?	None		US edition.
		1	LP	MGM Verve VLP 9223	1968-10	None		UK edition.
	1.1b Remaster Stereo sounds worse according to the Zappa Patio	1	LP	Barking Pumpkin BPR 7777-4	1985-04-19			Included in The Old Masters, Box I set.
		1	CD	Rykodisc RCD 40024	1986	0144314002425? 0014431002427? (not printed)		US edition, AAD, coupled with We're Only In It For The Money. Matrix # 818 PUMPKIN RYK-CD40024 SOI01
		1	CD	Zappa CDZAP 13	1988-12?	5016583601324		UK edition, coupled with We're Only In It For The Money.
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 5023	1994-10-26	4988112405264		Japanese edition, coupled with We're Only In It For The Money.
	1.1c Remaster Stereo sounds best according to the Zappa Patio	1	CD	Rykodisc RCD 10504	1995-04-18	0014431050428		US edition. made from original edited master and other raw mix segments (for better sonics). 1993. Matrix # IFPI L501 IFPI 8702 DISCTRONICS RCD 10504 01
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 5105	1995-09-25	4988112406995		Japanese edition
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 5240	1997-02-28	4988112408401		Japanese edition
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 1205	2001-09-21	4988112412613		Japanese edition, mini-album papersleeve
		1	CD	Rykodisc RCD 10593	2005-07-19	0014431059322		= VideoArts VACK 1205, the barcode is a sticker, the Ryko reference is not printed
		1	CD	VideoArts VACK 1329	2008-06-18	4988112417724		Japanese edition, mini-album papersleeve.
	0.2 Original "Orchestral" Mono w/ Intro B	1	CD	Zappa ZR 20008 (CD1)	2009-01-21	n/a		US edition, included in The Lumpy Money Project/Object. Matrix # CD1: IFPI 4150 ZR200081 2A 01 V IFPI L245
	2 Important Remix	1	CD	Zappa ZR 20008 (CD2)	2009-01-21	n/a		US edition, included in The Lumpy Money Project/Object. Matrix # CD2: IFPI 4121 ZR200082 2A 01 V IFPI L245
	1.1c Remaster Stereo sounds best according to the Zappa Patio	1	CD	Zappa/UMe ZR 3836	2012-07-31	0824302383629		US edition, manufactured and distributed by UMe. Source: 1993 1630 Digital Master. Digitally Re-Edited by Frank Zappa circa 1993.
		1	CD	Zappa/UMG Intl 0238362	2012-07-31	0824302383629		EU edition = Zappa/UMe ZR 3836, manufactured in Germany.
		1	CD	Zappa/Universal Music Japan UICY-75352	2012-11-28	4988005737519		Japanese edition, audiophile SHM-CD, mini-album papersleeve with an obi strip and liner notes in Japanese.
	Unknown	1	LP (180 g)	Zappa/UMe ZR 3836-1	2016-12-09	0824302383612		US edition, pressed in Germany by Pallas-USA. Source: 1968 Analog Master Safety. Mastered by Bernie Grundman, Bernie Grundman Mastering, 2016.
		1	LP (180 g?)	Zappa/UMG Intl ZR 3836-1	2016-12-09	0824302383612		EU edition = Zappa/UMe ZR 3836-1.

See Also

• The Old Masters, Box I
• The Lumpy Money Project/Object
• Lumpy Gravy & Elsewhere
• The Restaurant