Frank Zappa - Apostrophe [96/24 Stereo LP Rip]

FRANK ZAPPA Apostrophe 1974 US 9-track Discreet LP. One of Frank Zappa's most commercially successful albums, APOSTROPHE is also among his goofiest. The album found its way to the semi-mainstream chiefly on the strength of "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow." As the title of that single indicates, the scatological humor and cheap jokes that are part of Zappa's stock in trade abound here (see also the self-explanatory "Stink-Foot"). Part of Zappa's genius, though, much like that of Gong's Daevid Allen, was to deflate his sophisticated instrumental excursions and conceptual work with lowbrow humor and downright silliness. Nowhere is that process more apparent than on APOSTROPHE.

The typically large band (including violin and horns) that accompanies Zappa here follows him through daunting twists and turns as tempos get turned around and counterpoint riffs bounce off each other at breakneck speed. In the midst of all this instrumental facility, Zappa's satirical side blazes forth, as on "Uncle Remus," which addresses racial strife, and the bluesy "Cosmik Debris," where he casts aspersions on the idea of gurus. APOSTROPHE finds Zappa at a peak: successfully mingling humor with harmonic exploration, yet succumbing to the excesses of neither.


Year: 1974
Lable: DiscReet Records, DS 2175
Style: Rock
Country: USA
Audio: 24bit-96kHz - Vinyl Rip, FLAC
Size: 684 MB


About the Recording

Although this album contains performances by the same musicians as Zappa's previous album (Overnite Sensation), plus a host of others, it is credited just to Frank Zappa, not to the Mothers. Maybe because, judging by the huge number of musicians who played at one point or another on this disc, the album was probably constructed from tracks that came out of a bunch of different projects that Zappa was working on. Apostrophe(') continues the "musically impressive pop" trend from the last album, with lyrics that are just as absurd, but less sex-obsessed.

The first four tracks make up the "Yellow Snow Suite," which follows the adventures of Nanook the Eskimo as he battles against an evil fur trapper, who ends up being blinded when Nanook rubs a "dog doo snowcone" into his eyes. The trapper seeks a cure at St. Alfonzo's parish, which is overseen by Father O'Blivion, master pancake chef. Yeah, the lyrics are completely ridiculous, but they're basically just an excuse to tie together some funky and fantastic musical ideas. The high-speed "Father O'Blivion" is incredible, and Ruth Underwood's percussion is amazing throughout.

"Cosmik Debris" is another of Frank's social criticism songs, this time mocking phony psychics and seers (especially those who use the "dust of the Grand Wazoo"). "Excentrifugal Forz" is a short rocker, mainly a warm-up for the thick instrumental jam of the title track, on which guest musician Jack Bruce tries to outdo Zappa's guitar with his bass. "Uncle Remus" is another song of social consciousness, with lyrics about the evils of racism, which features some beautiful piano work from George Duke. The final track, "Stink Foot" (a concert favorite) is an oddball rocker with lyrics about a man who couldn't get his boots off for months on end and became afflicted with stink foot. He tries to get his dog to fetch his slippers, but the dog runs off yelping. It's revealed at the end of the song that the dog is the poodle from "Dirty Love."

Overall I think I like Apostrophe(') better than Overnite Sensation, but I rarely listen to either album. They were originally released together as a two-fer disc that was one of the first Zappa CDs in my collection, and I played them to death back then. So my current lack of enthusiasm for both albums is probably due more to burnout than to their inherent musical qualities. Either album would make a good entry point for those looking to get into the sillier side of Zappa, if you don't mind the short running times.


Track Listing:

A1 Don't Eat The Yellow Snow (2:06)
A2 Nanook Rubs It (4:37)
A3 St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast (1:52)
A4 Father O'Blivion (2:18)
A5 Cosmik Debris (4:10)
B1 Excentrifugal Forz (1:31)
B2 Apostrophe' (5:53) Guitar [Rhythm] - Tony Duran
B3 Uncle Remus (2:54)
B4 Stink-Foot


Musicians:

Backing Vocals - George Duke , Kerry McNabb , Napoleon M. Brock , Ray Collins , Robert 'Frog' Camarena , Ruben Landron De Guevara* , Susie Glover
Bass - Erroneous , Jack Bruce , Tom Fowler
Bass, Guitar, Lead Vocals - Frank Zappa
Drums - Aynsley Dunbar , Jim Gordon , John Guerin , Ralph Humphrey
Engineer - Barry Keene , Bob Hughes , Kerry McNabb , Stephen W. Desper , Terry Dunavan
Keyboards - George Duke
Mixed By - Kerry McNabb
Percussion - Ruth Underwood
Producer - Frank Zappa
Saxophone - Ian Underwood , Napoleon M. Brock
Trombone - Bruce Fowler*
Trumpet - Sal Marquez
Violin - Don "Sugarcane" Harris , Jean-Luc Ponty


Ripping Equipment:

Turntable: Nottingham Analogue Interspace;
Cartridge: Shelter 501 MKII Low Output MC;
Phono amp: Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline XR-2;
Power cables: Black Sand Cables Silver Reference MKV with Wattgate 330i-350i Ag;
Computer: MacBook Pro (FireWire out);
¿DC: Edirol FA-66 FireWire
Software: Soundtrack Pro @ 96kHz/32-bit floating point.

Rapidshare Links:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4