Studio Tan
| Studio Tan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Studio Tan.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by Frank Zappa | ||||
| Released | September 15, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1969, 1974 – 1976 at The Record Plant, LA; Royce Hall, UCLA and Caribou Studios, Nederland, Colorado | |||
| Genre | Experimental rock, jazz fusion, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 39:18 | |||
| Label | DiscReet | |||
| Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
| Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Studio Tan is an album by Frank Zappa, first released in September 1978 on his own DiscReet Records label. It reached #147 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. This is Official Release #24.
Background
In early 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager and business partner Herb Cohen ended in litigation. Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records was distributed by Warner Bros. Records. When Zappa asked for a reassignment of his contract from DiscReet to Warner in order to advance the possibility of doing special projects without Cohen's involvement, Warner briefly agreed. This led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures on Warner. Early in 1977, Zappa delivered the master tapes for a quadruple-LP set, titled Läther.[2] However, Warner changed its position following legal action from Cohen, and refused to release the album, claiming that Zappa was contractually bound to deliver four more albums to Warner for the DiscReet label.[3]
After Warner Bros. released Zappa In New York, they told him that he still owed them four more albums. He then attempted to get a distribution deal with Phonogram to release Läther on the new Zappa Records label. This led Warner to threaten legal action, preventing the release of Läther and forcing Zappa to shelve the project. As Zappa had delivered the tapes only, these three individual albums were released with no musical credits.[4] Warner also commissioned sleeve art by Gary Panter, which was not approved by Zappa. When this material was first released on CD in 1991 Zappa chose to release the individual albums, along with Panter's artwork. The material on Studio Tan was made available in a different form when Läther was released in 1996.
Content
All four tracks were originally intended for the shelved Läther album.
An excerpt from an unreleased alternate version of "Revised Music for Guitar and Low-Budget Orchestra" appears on the 1987 compilation The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa, with drum overdubs by Chad Wackerman.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Frank Zappa.
| Side one | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Greggery Peccary" (Listed as "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" on the CD version) | 20:40 |
| Side two | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Let Me Take You to the Beach" (Listed as "Lemme Take You to the Beach" on the CD version) | 2:44 |
| 2. | "Revised Music for Guitar & Low-Budget Orchestra" | 7:36 |
| 3. | "REDUNZL" (Listed as "RDNZL" on the CD version) | 8:12 |
Personnel
- Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals, percussion
- George Duke – keyboards
- John Berkman – piano
- Tom Fowler – bass guitar
- Terry Bozzio – drums
- Davey Moire – vocals
- Eddie Jobson – keyboards, yodeling
- Max Bennett – bass guitar
- Paul Humphrey – drums
- Don Brewer – bongos
- James "Bird Legs" Youmans – bass guitar
- Ruth Underwood – percussion, synthesizer
- Michael Zearott – conductor
- Pamela Goldsmith – viola
- Murray Adler – violin
- Sheldon Sanov – violin
- Jerry Kessler – cello
- Edward Meares – upright bass
- Bruce Fowler – trombone
- Don Waldrop – trombone
- Jock Ellis – trombone
- Dana Hughes – bass trombone
- Earle Dumler – oboe
- JoAnn Caldwell McNab – bassoon
- Mike Altschul – flute
- Graham Young – trumpet
- Jay Daversa – trumpet
- Malcolm McNab – trumpet
- Ray Reed – flute
- Victor Morosco – saxophone
- John Rotella – woodwind instruments
- Alan Estes – percussion
- Emil Richards – percussion
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pop Albums | 147[5] |
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=wAcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&dq=zappa+lather&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0dggT8uvO6bMsQLxlsDDCQ&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=zappa%20lather&f=false
- ↑ Gail Zappa's liner notes for Läther
- ↑ FZ vs. Warner Brs. Story or Lather/Laether/Leather, Zappa in New York, Arf.ru
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
