Customer Reviews

Lumpy Gravy

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before he evolved into the guitar monster and equal opportunity offender we knew and loved, and a culturally challenged music industry allocated him to little more a role than a cultish novelty act, Francis Vincent Zappa had a reputation as quite the experimentist. In his autobiography he explains that one of his earlier career goals was to be a scientist. In this extraordinary early recording, which to this day knows no equal, Zappa's experimentist side is exemplified and cemented for posterity.

Not so much a music collection as a work of recorded collage performance art, it is at first listening a random, unpredictable assault of spoken word, musical snippets and manipulated audio, which Zappa describes as a "curiously inconsistent piece that started out as a ballet but probably didn't make it". Interestingly enough, it never loses that randomness on repeated listenings; aside from some repeated references to pigs and ponies (the metaphorical implications of which are left entirely up to the listener), there is no real unifying theme or pattern, no repeated musical motifs, no one style to distingush or classify Lumpy Gravy as a whole. The whole purpose, if any, seems to be inconsistency itself, as a concept.

What saves this work from being condemned as an empty exercise in "musique concrete" is, of course, Zappa's unique and bizarre humor (and to an extent, social views) lightening the dialogue sections ..... most of which are recorded underneath a grand piano with the sustain pedal held down to lend resonance to the voices. There is an extended monologue concerning a guy and the fates of his various cars. In another section a man explains that his paranoia causes water in his washing machine to turn dark .... out of sympathy. In still another, we hear Louie the Turkey (so named for his frantic, gobbling cackle) describe a fight and escape from sinister fanged boogeymen.

Oh yes, the music. Lumpy Gravy contains the earliest recorded orchestral works of Zappa, and are (of course) predominantly cacophonous and dissonant and give more than a nod to his Edgard Varése influence. There is also a bit of loungey-sounding jazz, some cheesey pop, instrumental versions of "Oh No" and "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" and an early study of the classic "King Kong". Plus some noises created with a box invention seemingly designed to turn sound inside out. For more on this device, check out "The Real Frank Zappa Book" or Ben Watson's "The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play", which sheds some intriguing light on these curious early recordings of FZ.

Frank Zappa was indeed a Mother of Invention. On this album (released concurrently with "We're Only In It For The Money" and even sharing recorded elements of that work) we hear the Mad Scientist set loose to run amok in his laboratory, resulting in a jarring, abstract and very humorous piece that is without comparison. The four star rating is due to a diminuitive length (just barely over half an hour) and the way the CD re-release is separated into tracks (the original release was just Part One and Part Two), which I feel deprives the listening experience of its necessary abstraction. These are petty complaints, and in no way diminish this very vital work by one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated recording artists to ever conquer a studio.

So why did he do it? What was the motivation? A possible explanation lies in the last line of dialogue, which I am tempted to quote ..... but if you're at all curious at this point, you might as well just get the freakin disc. Round things, indeed .......

Howdy. This is my favorite Frank Zappa album. My tastes are strange, I suppose, but in my opinion this is a wonderful, intuitive work, very stream-of-conscious. Imaginative orchestral/'60's music parodies interspersed with curious, often hilarious dialogue. It is unpredictable and insanely imaginative, and therein lies its appeal for me. Did I mention it is imaginative? I thought so. I have been listening to this album A BUNCH recently. Just seem to be in the mood for it or something. It is NOT typical of most FZ releases, which usually tend to be very deliberately crafted. This one makes me laugh.

This is not "nice" rock and roll Zappa, with the goof ball lyrics and ten minute solos. This is full music concrete, at least as it is practiced by junior college dropouts from the high desert of California. Prepare to get hit with a layered club sandwich of styles: Stravinsky, Varese, doo-wop, acid rock freak-out, often within the same bar. I wouldn't call anything on here a song, in fact I think you could drop in at any moment and it would make as much sense as starting at the beginning. But that's the charm. I've had friends complain that this is a difficult album, but I'm not so sure. Zappa got his hands on a studio, and a impressively large group of competent and willing musicians, two tools he struggled with his entire career. This is the sound a fiercely iconoclastic and talented musician putting his favorite toys through their paces. Wonderful, weird album.

I haven't actually herad this for a while but a lot of it remains in the canyons of my mind. Extremely inventive, memorable, intelligent & funny stuff here. It works in a way that probably nothing before or since has, split up into 2 parts because of the nature of records ["cuz round things are boring" - artist Cal Schenkel says @ the end], w/ a glorious mixed bag of classical style music, voices inside the piano, early forms of sampling, surfy music & a little bit of nostalgia for the old folks. Some people count the great Hot Rats as the 1st solo FZ album maybe vecause they can't grasp Lumpy Gravy. Apparently this was Frank's favourite of his albums & I can understand why because he really got to do things the way he wanted w/ no restrictions here. It's likely the mainstream will never accept this album but if you're a bit of an outcast who doesn't care what anyone thinks, this is for you.

These Japan-only mini Lp's are such a rip-off that I'm not gonna waste my valuable review space on the packaging. The music? Easily the third best Zappa 60's era disc (Behind Absolutely Free and Burnt Weenie Sandwich). It has it all; silly dialog, soundtrack music, and early blueprints for later songs ("Oh No" and "Take Your Clothes Off" to name 2). I would label this a must-have disc. But do yourself a favor and get one of the cheaper versions and not the "import" one......

First came freak out(*****) Then came absolutely free(*****). This is frank zappa's third album, which is not a 'mothers of invention' album but just a fz one. but some of the boys appear on it, notably motorhead with hilarious dialogue. This album shows just how much frank knew about technique-splicing tapes,editing,musique concrete,ambience. Of course we get to hear some great orchestral work too. It's similar to his hero varese, an emphasis on texture and organised sound. It gives you an appreciation of 20th century classical music (modernist as opposed to postmodern, minimalist wankery). That is one of its 'uses'. It makes for great entertainment too, and grows on you after a couple of listens.

The form is similar to that of burnt weeny sandwich. ie., at the beginning and end are two accessible, groovy poppy tunes. In between these tunes is unbridled musical invention , a combination of popular music(bluesy,jazzy,surf) with avant garde and also insane dialogue and laughing and musique concrete(music consisting of an electronically modified montage of tape-recorded sounds). There is some bonkers laughing by louie the turkey too!! Not a 'beginners' album, but a great one anyway. It opens up doors to all different kinds of music. Thank you

No normal person can enjoy this.
I love being strange, And this is one of my top 10 most out there albums, it gets alot of play on my stereo, odd noises talking about living in a drum and a couple of chicano teens talking about boogeymen.
deranged orchestrations, opera and surf music parody,
plus it sounds way ahead of it's time, it still does
now in the 2000's. crazy, sounds like a psycho's sweetest nightmare.

Lumpy Gravy was released around the same time as "We're Only In It for the Money," and while it is its own "thing," it also serves as a "suite" of musical and vocal tracks that play nice with "Money." (Note the cartoon words Frank says on each album cover.) It is at times beautiful, imaginative, funny and weird.

Years later, just before he died, Frank completed the third "act"of the trinity, "Civilization Phase 3." Pick that up too, but not before you know Lumpy Gravy pretty much from front to back.

They just don't make voices like "Louie the Turkey" anymore...

One thing that I noticed right away upon listening to this for the first time, was how essential Frank Zappa is to his own work. Let me explain. I have been a fan of Zappa's music for as long as I can remember, but I didn't hear "Lumpy Gravy" for the first time until I bought the box sets called "The Old Masters, (Volumes One, Two, and Three)" released in the 1980's. The front cover (and rear, for that matter) features a picture of him, as he looked in 1967; strange clothes, grubby appearance, and that Mediterranian intensity he always had about him. He is listed as composer, producer, and conductor. I didn't know what to expect. When I looked at the musician credits, I noticed he didn't play one note of this music, nor did he speak or sing a single word. But that was okay, it was his work. And right away, I noticed the missing element. FZ, and the Mothers. Bunk Gardner is in the orchestra, and the voices of "Motorhead" Sherwood, Roy Estrada, and Jim Black are featured, but Zappa is conspicuous in his absence from the sound. Even though he wrote, arranged, and conducted the music passages, and edited the tapes from the sessions. It is his work, and I haven't found any comments by him dismissing this work, so I am sure it is what he wanted it to be.

I understand the fragmented approach to this recording, and I often think of it as a dream set to music. The random-sounding dialogue, the sound effects, the augmenting of traditional instrument sounds into something new, all figure into later works. His "Conceptual Continuity" is all over this release. Though it was released after "We're Only In It For The Money," it was recorded before, and it features many similarities, even with the word balloon on the inside picture calling it 'Phase 2 of "We're Only In It For The Money.'"

Personally, I enjoy listening to this recording, even though it is a little frustrating at times to only hear fragments of what would become full-length, better-known pieces. I also look at it as a sampler of the ideas he expanded on in later years. So many of the little things here pop up all over his catalogue, and it reminds me a lot of one of his final works, "Civilization, Phaze III," only not quite as sophisticated. And it is a good companion to "Civilization..." or "We're Only In It..." But a lot of his work can be jumbled together, even at random, and still make sense.

"Lumpy Gravy" is the first solo release by Frank Zappa, but still has the spirit of the Mothers Of Invention's records, a sense of people working together, a mood that seemed to slowly fade away as the 70's wore on, and disappeared quicker through the 80's. Every band had a lot of incredible talent, but as time wore on, the "group" idea diminished as the "soloist" idea became more prevalent. And even though the band that performed on the "Broadway The Hardway" tour in 1987 and 1988 was the quote-unquote, "Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life," the elements that brought "Lumpy Gravy" about, twenty years earlier, were all but history, maybe for the better, but alienation became his career's most prominent theme, as rock and jazz musicians were gradually replaced by classically trained musicians exclusively, and ultimately, the digitally sampled recordings from his Synclavier were all he needed. "Lumpy Gravy" WAS "Civilization Phaze III," but done on real instruments.

Don't expect mainstream, accessible "songs," per se, and it really is a good piece of Zappa's recorded legacy.

Frank Zappa was a genius as a musician. Heck, you could say that about hundreds of musicians. But what really aparts Zappa from the others is his endless flood of inspiration and ability to make such unbelievable albums such as this. My personal favourite is "We're only in it for the money", but this record shows Zappa as his most extreme, uncompromised and dare-to-be-different. The idea itself- people chatting inside a piano- is totally weird, but when you add the genial tunes Zappa has composed between, you realize you're listening somethin very extreme. Absolutely a milestone album.