Frank Zappa - 1976 [1990] "Zoot Allures"

 

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.

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

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. 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.

"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".

Zoot Allures, released in October 1976, is mostly a studio album (there are some basic live tracks, as in the title track and "Black Napkins") featuring a revolving cast of musicians who, oddly, do not correspond to the ones pictured on the album cover (for instance, Patrick O'Hearn and Eddie Jobson did not contribute). Compared to previous releases like One Size Fits All, Roxy & Elsewhere, or even Over-Nite Sensation, and to upcoming ones such as Zappa in New York, Studio Tan, or Sheik Yerbouti, Zoot Allures sounds very stripped down to bare essentials.

Zappa focused on limited instrumentation, lots of bass, and whispered vocals to create a masterpiece of dark, slow, sleazy rock. Except for the opening and closing numbers ("Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station" and "Disco Boy"), all the material is slow to medium tempo with Zappa delivering the closest he'll ever get to a crooner vocal performance. "The Torture Never Stops" is the highlight, ten minutes of suggestive lyrics, crawling riffs, searing solos, and female screams of pain. That song and "Disco Boy" became classic tracks; "Black Napkins" and "Zoot Allures" rate among the man's best guitar solos. Historical note: The album was first devised as a two-LP set and would have included "Sleep Dirt," "Filthy Habits," and "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution," which all also fit the mood.

Although humor has not been completely evacuated, Zoot Allures comes through as a much more serious rock record. Yet, it is more than a transitional album; it represents one of Zappa's strongest accomplishments.

Frank Zappa was a hugely prolific artist, but it’s still worth marveling at the fact that 1976’s Zoot Allures was his 22nd. The album saw Zappa once again welcoming Captain Beefheart into the fold. Donnie Vliet added his harmonica to a pair of cuts – “Ms. Pinky” and “Find Her Finer.” As always with Zappa, there’s a bit of strangeness to grapple with. The album artwork pictures Zappa sidemen Patrick O’Hearn and Eddie Jobson, though they don’t play here. Zoot Allures also has a typically punning Zappa title, parodying the hackneyed exclamation “Zut alors!” while also – intentionally or not – referencing the post-war zoot suit.

Overall, Zoot Allures satisfies on every Zappa count. The man himself remastered it for CD later at his home studio, UMRK (Utility Muffin Research Kitchen), while the Zappa Family Trust’s arrangement with Universal Music Enterprises later found it a new home – on both CD and vinyl, no less. Over 40 years later, Zoot Allures still shines.

Personnel:

    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)
    Miss Sparky [Linda Sue Parker] (credited as "Sharkie Barker")[7] – 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.