50th Anniversary Edition 180g Audiophile Vinyl Double LP!
Cut from Original 1967 Analog Master by Bernie Grundman!
Features Bonus Material & Laser Etched Artwork On 4th Side!
The Zappa Family Trust marks the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Inventions politically-charged, envelope-pushing sophomore album, Absolutely Free, with an expanded vinyl-exclusive edition via Zappa Records/UMe. This double 180-gram LP version includes the original record mastered by Bernie Grundman cut directly from the original analog master tapes and a second disc with 20 minutes of rare and unreleased bonus material, including the "Why Dontcha Do Me Right?"/"Big Leg Emma" single as well as vintage remixes, and radio ads from The Vault on side one and a laser etching of Zappas visage from the album cover on side two. The package features Zappas original layout and a reproduction of the rare, highly sought-after "libretto," an 18-page booklet with a foreword by FZ and lyrics to all the compositions, that was offered only by mail order when originally released.
Released 50 years ago on May 26, 1967 on Verve Records, Absolutely Free was the Mothers of Inventions follow-up to their landmark debut album, Freak Out! Brash, challenging and exhilarating, the record was revolutionary as it pushed the limits of what an album could be. A pop culture pastiche, the album leaps through genres from psychedelic pop and progressive rock to free-form jazz and avant-garde noise to doo-wop and garage rock, often in the same composition as on album highlight "Brown Shoes Dont Make It," and is filled with Zappas trademark biting political and social satire. Hailed by All Music as a "fabulously inventive record" that is "by turns hilarious, inscrutable, and virtuosically complex," the record is divided into two "oratorios" or song suites "Absolutely Free" and "The M.O.I. American Pageant" and is rife with complex instrumentation, cutting edge experimentation and unconventional editing.
Produced by Tom Wilson (Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Sun Ra), who first worked with the band on Freak Out! the year prior, Absolutely Free featured an expanded cadre of musicians working with Zappa and vocalist Ray Collins and included Jim Fielder on guitar, Roy Estrada on bass, Don Preston on keyboards, Bunk Gardner on woodwinds, and drummers Jim Black and Billy Mundi. The album was recorded the week before Thanksgiving, November 1966 in Los Angeles at the Sunset-Highland Studios of T.T.G. Inc., in a series of four sessions. It was edited and re-mixed in New York City at the MGM Studios in five sessions the following week. In Clashs appreciation of the record, they exclaimed: "Amidst this high-brow inspiration and aggressive musical arrangement we have beautiful passages of melody, laugh-out-loud lyrics about vegetables and lacerating cynicism. Nonconformist, comedic and maverick, Absolutely Free establishes Zappa as a fantastical musical mutineer and pioneering bandleader."
As Zappa wrote in the "libretto," "The music of the MOTHERS speaks of the feelings of what might be described as THE VAST MINORITY. The feelings of the people on the fringe of everything... the ones who dont care if theyre IN or OUT... dont care if theyre HIP, HEP, SWINGIN or ZORCH. This is the audience the MOTHERS want to reach... those few have the power within themselves to cause or motivate social change but have never used it for one reason or another. If you are reading this and understand it (even if you have short hair and watch TV 18 hours a day), it is time that you realized WHO and WHAT YOU ARE. It is time you realized what the words to our songs mean."
50 years later Absolutely Free resonates as strong as ever and has proven itself to be prescient and wildly ahead of its time.
Features:
180g Audiophile Vinyl
Double LP
50th Anniversary Edition
All analog mastering by Bernie Grundman from the original 1967 analog master tape
18-page booklet including The Complete Libretto
Laser etched 4th Side
Bonus content: 20 Minutes Of Vault Material
Gatefold Jacket
This is the only album for which all of the artwork, including the merchanical layout, was created solely by Frank Zappa
Musicians:
Frank Zappa, guitar, Vocals
Ray Collins, vocals, tambourine, PRUNE
Jim Fielder, guitar, piano
Don Preston, keyboards
Bunk Gardner, woodwinds
Roy Estrada, bass, vocals
Jim Black, drums, vocals
Billy Mundi, drums, percussion
Selections:
LP 1
Side 1:
1. Plastic People
2. The Duke of Prunes
3. Amnesia Vivace
4. The Duke Regains His Chops
5. Call Any Vegetable
6. Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin
7. Soft-Sell Conclusion
Side 2:
1. America Drinks
2. Status Back Baby
3. Uncle Bernie's Farm
4. Son Of Suzy Creamcheese
5. Brown Shoes Don't Make It
6. America Drinks & Goes Home
LP2
Side 1 - Bonus Content:
1. Absolutely Free Radio Ad #1
2. Why Don'tcha Do Me Right
3. Big Leg Emma
4. Absolutely Free Radio Ad #2
5. "Glutton For Punishment..."
6. America Drinks - 1969 Re-Mix
7. Brown Shoes Don't Make It - 1969 Re-Mix
8. America Drinks & Goes Home - 1969 Re-Mix
Side 2:
Laser Etching
Cut from Original 1967 Analog Master by Bernie Grundman!
Features Bonus Material & Laser Etched Artwork On 4th Side!
The Zappa Family Trust marks the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Inventions politically-charged, envelope-pushing sophomore album, Absolutely Free, with an expanded vinyl-exclusive edition via Zappa Records/UMe. This double 180-gram LP version includes the original record mastered by Bernie Grundman cut directly from the original analog master tapes and a second disc with 20 minutes of rare and unreleased bonus material, including the "Why Dontcha Do Me Right?"/"Big Leg Emma" single as well as vintage remixes, and radio ads from The Vault on side one and a laser etching of Zappas visage from the album cover on side two. The package features Zappas original layout and a reproduction of the rare, highly sought-after "libretto," an 18-page booklet with a foreword by FZ and lyrics to all the compositions, that was offered only by mail order when originally released.
Released 50 years ago on May 26, 1967 on Verve Records, Absolutely Free was the Mothers of Inventions follow-up to their landmark debut album, Freak Out! Brash, challenging and exhilarating, the record was revolutionary as it pushed the limits of what an album could be. A pop culture pastiche, the album leaps through genres from psychedelic pop and progressive rock to free-form jazz and avant-garde noise to doo-wop and garage rock, often in the same composition as on album highlight "Brown Shoes Dont Make It," and is filled with Zappas trademark biting political and social satire. Hailed by All Music as a "fabulously inventive record" that is "by turns hilarious, inscrutable, and virtuosically complex," the record is divided into two "oratorios" or song suites "Absolutely Free" and "The M.O.I. American Pageant" and is rife with complex instrumentation, cutting edge experimentation and unconventional editing.
Produced by Tom Wilson (Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Sun Ra), who first worked with the band on Freak Out! the year prior, Absolutely Free featured an expanded cadre of musicians working with Zappa and vocalist Ray Collins and included Jim Fielder on guitar, Roy Estrada on bass, Don Preston on keyboards, Bunk Gardner on woodwinds, and drummers Jim Black and Billy Mundi. The album was recorded the week before Thanksgiving, November 1966 in Los Angeles at the Sunset-Highland Studios of T.T.G. Inc., in a series of four sessions. It was edited and re-mixed in New York City at the MGM Studios in five sessions the following week. In Clashs appreciation of the record, they exclaimed: "Amidst this high-brow inspiration and aggressive musical arrangement we have beautiful passages of melody, laugh-out-loud lyrics about vegetables and lacerating cynicism. Nonconformist, comedic and maverick, Absolutely Free establishes Zappa as a fantastical musical mutineer and pioneering bandleader."
As Zappa wrote in the "libretto," "The music of the MOTHERS speaks of the feelings of what might be described as THE VAST MINORITY. The feelings of the people on the fringe of everything... the ones who dont care if theyre IN or OUT... dont care if theyre HIP, HEP, SWINGIN or ZORCH. This is the audience the MOTHERS want to reach... those few have the power within themselves to cause or motivate social change but have never used it for one reason or another. If you are reading this and understand it (even if you have short hair and watch TV 18 hours a day), it is time that you realized WHO and WHAT YOU ARE. It is time you realized what the words to our songs mean."
50 years later Absolutely Free resonates as strong as ever and has proven itself to be prescient and wildly ahead of its time.
Features:
180g Audiophile Vinyl
Double LP
50th Anniversary Edition
All analog mastering by Bernie Grundman from the original 1967 analog master tape
18-page booklet including The Complete Libretto
Laser etched 4th Side
Bonus content: 20 Minutes Of Vault Material
Gatefold Jacket
This is the only album for which all of the artwork, including the merchanical layout, was created solely by Frank Zappa
Musicians:
Frank Zappa, guitar, Vocals
Ray Collins, vocals, tambourine, PRUNE
Jim Fielder, guitar, piano
Don Preston, keyboards
Bunk Gardner, woodwinds
Roy Estrada, bass, vocals
Jim Black, drums, vocals
Billy Mundi, drums, percussion
Selections:
LP 1
Side 1:
1. Plastic People
2. The Duke of Prunes
3. Amnesia Vivace
4. The Duke Regains His Chops
5. Call Any Vegetable
6. Invocation And Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin
7. Soft-Sell Conclusion
Side 2:
1. America Drinks
2. Status Back Baby
3. Uncle Bernie's Farm
4. Son Of Suzy Creamcheese
5. Brown Shoes Don't Make It
6. America Drinks & Goes Home
LP2
Side 1 - Bonus Content:
1. Absolutely Free Radio Ad #1
2. Why Don'tcha Do Me Right
3. Big Leg Emma
4. Absolutely Free Radio Ad #2
5. "Glutton For Punishment..."
6. America Drinks - 1969 Re-Mix
7. Brown Shoes Don't Make It - 1969 Re-Mix
8. America Drinks & Goes Home - 1969 Re-Mix
Side 2:
Laser Etching
