Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Zappa, Frank
Label: Rykodisc Records
Released: 1968
Rating: 4.5/5
“Lumpy Gravy” is the first album Frank recorded under just his own (full) name, i.e. as Frank Vincent Zappa, and the first one without his then backing band, The Mothers Of Invention. The only two members of the band who take part in the album as orchestra members are saxophonist Bunk Gardner and keyboardist Don Preston, while the rest, like bassist Roy Estrada, trumpeter and singer Motorhead Sherwood and the band’s “Indian,” drummer Jimmy Carl Black, are mostly recorded as speakers of more or less absurd dialogues and makers of some seriously juicy sounds that either make the listener’s belly muscles ache with laughter or shock them with their bizarreness – there are only two options. “Lumpy Gravy” is also the album where Frank introduced himself to the wider music community not just as a rock composer and player but also as a superb creator of orchestral music. The album is, after all, an absurd yet highly effective blend of both. On the cover, Frank described “Lumpy Gravy” as “a no-longer-consistent work that was originally meant to be a ballet but probably didn’t turn out that way.” The album is made up of 22 interlinked sections, mostly orchestral music with absurd spoken dialogues and grotesque sound effects in between, ranging from the ringing of little bells to snoring and burping. With this combination of the highest (classical) and lowest (absurd sounds) artistic aspects of serious and popular music, Frank was undoubtedly very radical and provocative for the time, and this approach became pretty much standard for his entire career. Even though it’s not the first rock album recorded with an orchestra (The Moody Blues released “Days Of Future Passed” a year earlier), it’s without a doubt yet another innovative creation with far-reaching influence on the development of progressive rock.
Frank, who until then was known to the wider public mainly as a rock musician (of a very unconventional kind, mind you, though most of his work up to that point was based on a merciless satirical abomination of the rock music of the day), works here for the first time in his career with a forty-piece orchestra, which he gave an utterly absurd name – the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra – which was more than fitting for the music they made for this album. Of the orchestra members, the one who stands out most is the legendary jazz fusion and bebop guitarist Tommy Tedseco, who worked as a session guitarist with a whole slew of big names, from Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys and the Everly Brothers to Frank Sinatra, etc. While the orchestra recorded its orchestral sections, the voices and sounds of some of The Mothers Of Invention members (credited as Chorus), added on top, were recorded through a special effect hidden in the piano, which had a bag of sand hung on its pedals that indirectly caused vibrations, and the manipulation of individual dialogues followed from that. These were most likely recorded without the speakers’ knowledge, as they chatted about gas stations, cars, ponies, pigs, etc. Most of the unusual sounds were created by manipulating sounds on tape. Frank then combined the orchestral parts with the absurd sounds into a sound collage of completely different avant-garde sections. Believe it or not, but for every single sound, whether a laugh, a burp, smacking or snoring, it was calculated down to the second where it would sit and how it would sound. There were never any spontaneous coincidences in Frank’s compositions, and the more grotesque they came across, the more effort he put into making them sound convincing and form an effective flow across the album. “Lumpy Gravy” had been in the works ever since 1966, when Frank was first offered the chance to make a classical album and work with an orchestra, but the whole thing dragged on, since there were only a little over 20 minutes of orchestral parts, so it took a while before Frank added his avant-garde inserts in the studio and stretched the album to its final length. Even though “Lumpy Gravy” is a single suite, it was split into two separate parts because of the space limitations of the time.
Besides the so-called musique concrète (the sounds of little bells, snoring, smacking, etc.), which features sonically manipulated dialogues and juicy sounds that link the individual sections of the “Lumpy Gravy” suite, you can also find elements of classical music and even jazz rock fusion in there (and that’s a year before Miles Davis’ “In a Silent Way,” considered the first official jazz rock fusion album). Some of the orchestral sections strongly recall the music of humorous cartoons à la Looney Tunes. Frank would gladly use this kind of “Tom & Jerry” motif on some later albums too. You can hear the influence of avant-garde composer Edgar Varese, who was Frank’s main musical role model, and the fact that he wrote music for B-movies in the early ’60s. The connection to the previous album “We’re Only In It For The Money” (1968) is noticeable in places, like where Frank wonders in the booklet whether this is the “second phase” of the aforementioned album. The closing surf rock finale also appeared in vocal form as “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance” on the previous album.
After the opening monologue “The Way I See It, Barry,” the album kicks off with its central theme “Duodenom,” which, via juicy orchestral arrangements (especially on the woodwinds) and a “galloping” rhythm, sounds like music from some cowboy movie or “spaghetti” western. You could say it’s a downright parody of Morricone. “Oh No” brings an interesting, almost melodic jazz fusion section with an excellent combination of piano, guitar, xylophone and a dynamic rhythm, until a sonic “fart” on “Bit Of Nostalgia” falls apart into absurd musique concrète sounds, followed by a strange dialogue between two women talking about how you can sleep well even in drums. That’s followed by a bored monologue and the section “It’s From Kansas,” with deliberately crackly cabaret music from the ’30s (charleston-style), then more absurd sounds of breaking, popping and scratching on “Bored Out Of 90 Over.” “Almost Chinese” brings a grotesque Chinese melody of the kind old cartoons usually used to play up Chinese stereotypes. In between you can hear distorted snoring, mumbling while eating and the coughing of a “baby.” “Switching Girls” gives us a bizarre monologue about chicks and cars. “Oh No Again” has another very good orchestral section with elements of classical and jazz, which would work effectively in some movie too. Of course it’s all played in Frank’s “circus” way, with extensive use of xylophone, sharp woodwinds and rhythmic atonality. On “At The Gates Station” you hear the monologue of a man who worked at a cheap newspaper house and at gas stations until he got fired and left his spot at the gas station to his brother. In the end he landed a job at an airline for miserable pay, but he was happy because he had lots of easy girls around him. “Another Pickup” is followed by avant-garde country, which is succeeded by a flood of absurd sounds, from snoring and whining to throat-clearing.The orchestral section reappears on “I Don’t Know If Can Go Through This Again,” only this time it sounds extremely obscure and dark, with heavy use of violins and double bass. That’s again followed by extremely grotesque sounds that could belong in some cartoon where the cat and the mouse finish each other off in the end.
The second part of the (otherwise single) suite opens with “Very Distraughtening,” featuring a lengthy monologue with some of The Mothers Of Invention members. The loudest of them says he “heard somebody has trouble with piglets and ponies.” That’s followed by a highly “intellectual” debate about the structure of the universe and ponies, with “burping” sounds in between and another flood of manipulated musique concrète sounds. On “White Ugliness,” after the growling of a “dog,” you hear yet another “intellectual” dialogue about ponies, where the band’s “Indian” Jimmy Carl Black (he really did have Native American roots through his mother) stands out with his “Mexican” accent and a “horsey” laugh that would send every guest in the room running out in under two seconds. Another absurd instrumental section, “Amen,” follows, with plenty of rhythmic atonality, before the orchestra bursts back in with some very ominous woodwind and string sounds. On “Just One More Time” you hear the grotesque voice of some “frog” that sounds like it’s from some utterly primitive commercial. Next comes “Viciuous Cricle” with an absurd monologue about ponies and smog. Then, after “King Kong” (a different version of which would later show up on the album “Uncle Meat,” 1969), where the percussion was recorded to sound like a gorilla pounding its chest, comes an absurd flood of out-of-tune rhythmic atonality called “Drums Are Too Noisy” (what a fitting title). On “Kangaroos” the absurd dialogue about ponies carries on, with kangaroos joining in this time. “Envelops The Bath Club” is the final orchestral section, closer to some avant-garde jazz than to classical, and more than suitable for a cartoon starring animals. In the end comes the surf rocker finale “Take Your Clothes Off,” which had already appeared on the previous album in its vocal version as “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance.” This version got a “Hawaiian” rhythm and absurd girl backing vocals to make it sound as silly as possible. Fittingly, it’s also the only section on the album that might even appeal to everyone who finds Frank’s music bizarre and perverse and would rather have a tooth pulled than listen to one of his albums all the way through.
“Lumpy Gravy” is an excellent avant-garde album that will go down best with those Frank fans who love his more avant-garde, absurd-satirical side best, since in that category it ranks among his finest work. Plenty of people will feel after the first listen that it has no structure and is just some overmixed goulash with no head or tail, even though that’s not the case, and all the orchestral sections, with all the absurd dialogues and sounds in between, were composed and recorded in a carefully considered order. Anyone who gives the album more chances will inevitably end up surprised at how well the individual sections, absurd dialogues and sounds notwithstanding, flow into one another from beginning to end (which are also the most melodic and accessible moments of the suite) and form a whole. Even all the absurd sections, led by the “burps” and the dialogues about piglets and ponies, which to narrower-minded listeners will sound like the pinnacle of Frank’s insolence toward “serious” music, are indispensable pieces of the composition. As for their humorous effect, it all depends on the individual’s personality, of course. Self-pitying wet blankets will steer well clear of his music anyway and keep wallowing in their depressing world of “serious and superior” music, especially given the chance they might recognize themselves in his satires. As one of the first albums to combine elements of orchestral music, jazz and rock, “Lumpy Gravy” was undoubtedly one of the most important albums of its time for shaping progressive rock and avant-garde music in general. Satire was always one of Frank’s favorite tools, and this time was no different, as he dared to poke at the “untouchable” world of classical music, threw down the gauntlet to stuffy musical purists, and in doing so opened the door for many progressive rock bands that emerged in the following years and brought elements of classical music into their work. In my opinion, this early Frank classic is still pretty overlooked whenever his best works get mentioned. Its true value is best shown by the fact that Frank once said that, of all his works, he’s proudest of “Lumpy Gravy” and the concept trilogy “Joe’s Garage” (1979).
Lineup
Frank Zappa – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Motörhead, Pumpkin, Ronnie – choir, voices
Victor Feldman, Alan Estes – drums, percussion
Shelly Mann, Frank Cappe, John Guerin – drums
Ted Nash, Jules Jacob, Bunk Gardner, Donald Christlieb, Gene Cipriano – woodwinds
Paul Smith, Pete Jolly, Lincoln Mayorga, Michael Lang – piano, celesta, harp, keyboards
Don Preston – bass, keyboards
Tony Rizzi, Al Viola, Dennis Budimir, Tommy Tedesco, Jimmy “Senyah” Haynes – guitar
Jimmy Carl Black – drums, percussion, choir, voices
Dick Barber – vocals
Gene Estes, Emil Richards – percussion
Roy Estrada – bass guitar, vocals
Larry Fanoga – vocals, choir, voices
All Nite John – choir
Patrick O’Hearn – bass guitar, woodwinds
Richard Parissi – French horn
John Rotella – percussion, woodwinds
Kenny Shroyer – trombone
Bob West, Jimmy Bond, John Balkin, Chuck Berghofer – bass guitar
Vincent DeRosa, Arthur Maebe – horn, French horn
Jimmy Zito, James Zito – trumpet
Mike Lang – piano, electric harp
Paul Smith – piano
Alexander Koltun, Ray Kelly, Joseph Saxon, Joseph DiFiore Jerome Kessler, Bernard Kundell, William Kurasch Leonard Malarsky, Ralph Schaeffer, Leonard Selic, Harry Hyams Jerome Reisler, Tibor Zelig Arnold Belnick, Harold Bemko, Jesse Ehrlich, James Getzoff, Philip Goldberg – strings
Production
Frank Zappa
Track list
Track Listings
1. Lumpy Gravy Part One (15:48)
1. The Way I See It, Barry
2. Duodenum
3. Oh No
4. Bit Of Nostalgia
5. It’s From Kansas
6. Bored Out 90 Over
7. Almost Chinese
8. Switching Girls
9. Oh No Again
10. At The Gas Station
11. Another Pickup
12. I Don’t Know If I Can Go Through This Again
2. Lumpy Gravy Part Two (15:51)
1. Very Distraughtening
2. White Ugliness
3. Amen
4. Just One More Time
5. A Vicious Circle
6. King Kong
7. Drums Are Too Noisy
8. Kangaroos
9. Envelops The Bath Tub
10. Take Your Clothes Off
Album length: 31:39
