Frankly a Cappella
Frankly A Cappella | |
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Studio album by The Persuasions | |
Released | 2000 |
Genre | Doo-wop |
Length | 43:04 |
Label | EarthBeat!, distributed by Rhino Records |
Producer | Rip Rense |
Frankly A Cappella: The Persuasions Sing Zappa is a 2000 album by the singing group The Persuasions. Frank Zappa heard them over the phone while they were singing in a record shop on the East Coast and flew them out to L.A. to record their first LP, in 1969, for Zappa's label. The album was the brainchild of Rip Rense, a friend of Zappa, as a tribute to the late composer. Rense executive produced and worked with lead singer/arranger Jerry Lawson on selecting the tracks and guest artists, who included Zappa alums Bruce Fowler, Robert Martin, Mike Keneally. Gary Mankin and Lawson co-produced the music, and Gail Zappa had final approval of the project. All arrangements by Jerry Lawson. The album is the first of several in which The Persuasions paid tribute to the songs of a specific group or artist.
Rense also conceived of and produced The Persuasions on "Persuasions of the Dead" (2011), a two-disc Grateful Dead tribute album for the Zoho Roots label.
Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Recorded A Cappella Review Board | 4.0/5[3] |
Billboard reviewed the album positively, describing it as "a work of absurdist inspiration" and "a novel reworking of a true original".[4] François Couture writing on AllMusic gave the recording a rating of 3/5, mentioning that "vocal group fans may feel a bit disoriented by this unlikely repertoire and the hermetic references, but Zappa aficionados [...] will find Frankly a Cappella to be an entertaining work of love."[1]
Bill Kisliuk, writing for The Boston Phoenix, classifies the album as "among the most spirited and adventurous albums ever by the group", defining it "cacophonous, bizarre, cynical, and riddled".[5]
Track listing
Songs composed by Frank Zappa.
- "Lumpy Gravy"
- "Any Way the Wind Blows"
- "Electric Aunt Jemima"
- "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"
- "Interlude"
- "Cheap Thrills"
- "Hotplate Heaven at the Green Hotel"
- "Love of My Life"
- "You Are What You Is"
- "Interlude 2"
- "Harder Than Your Husband"
- "Find Her Finer"
- "Interlude 3"
- "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Momma"
- "Tears Began to Fall"
- "Mystery Track"
References
- ^ a b Couture, François (4 April 2000). "Frankly a Cappella: The Persuasions Sing Zappa". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, vol. 6. Oxford University Press. 2006. p. 496. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Minkoff, Jonathan; Tritle, Ben; Saulnier, Chris; Sears, Jonathan; Whitley, Guang Ming (16 October 2000). "The Persuasions Sing Zappa (1999)". RARB: The Recorded A Cappella Review Board. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Paoletta, Michael (1 April 2000). "Frankly A Cappella: The Persuasions Sing Zappa". Billboard. p. 22. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Kisliuk, Bill (26 May 2000). "Voices carry: Two sides of the Persuasions". The Boston Phoenix. No. 21. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- v
- t
- e
- Frank Zappa
- Roy Estrada
- Jimmy Carl Black
- Ray Collins
- Don Preston
- Van Dyke Parks
- Henry Vestine
- Jim Guercio
- Steve Mann
- Elliot Ingber
- Jim Sherwood
- Jim Fielder
- Bunk Gardner
- Billy Mundi
- Ian Underwood
- Art Tripp
- Lowell George
- Buzz Gardner
- Aynsley Dunbar
- Mark Volman
- Howard Kaylan
- Jeff Simmons
- George Duke
- Jim Pons
- Bob Harris
- Jean-Luc Ponty
- Tom Fowler
- Ruth Underwood
- Ed Mann
- Bruce Fowler
- Napoleon Murphy Brock
- Chester Thompson
- Terry Bozzio
- Denny Walley
- Ricky Lancelotti
- Norma Jean Bell
- Novi Novog
(1966–1993)
official releases
- Lumpy Gravy (Primordial)
- The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa
- Beat the Boots!
- Beat the Boots! II
Compilations |
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Birthday Bundle series |
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- "Trouble Comin' Every Day"
- "Who Are the Brain Police?"
- "WPLJ"
- "My Guitar"
- "Peaches en Regalia"
- "I'm the Slime"
- "Cosmik Debris"
- "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow"
- "Du Bist Mein Sofa"
- "Find Her Finer"
- "Disco Boy"
- "Dancin' Fool"
- "Bobby Brown"
- "Joe's Garage"
- "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"
- "You Are What You Is"
- "Valley Girl"
- "Cocaine Decisions"
- "Stairway to Heaven"
compositions
- "Absolutely Free"
- "Advance Romance"
- "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary"
- "America Drinks & Goes Home"
- "Are You Hung Up?"
- "Billy the Mountain"
- "The Black Page"
- "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"
- "Camarillo Brillo"
- "Cheepnis"
- "Duodenum"
- "Father O'Blivion"
- "Help, I'm a Rock"
- "G-Spot Tornado"
- "I Have Been in You"
- "Inca Roads"
- "Jewish Princess"
- "Let's Make the Water Turn Black"
- "A Little Green Rosetta"
- "Memories of El Monte"
- "Montana"
- "Muffin Man"
- "Nanook Rubs It"
- "Plastic People"
- "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet"
- "Rollo"
- "Sleep Dirt"
- "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast"
- "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"
- "A Token of My Extreme"
- "The Torture Never Stops"
- "Uncle Remus"
- "Watermelon in Easter Hay"
- "Who Needs the Peace Corps?"
- "Willie the Pimp"
- "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station"
- 200 Motels
- Baby Snakes
- The Dub Room Special
- Does Humor Belong in Music?
- Video from Hell
- Uncle Meat
- The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
- The Amazing Mr. Bickford
- In popular culture
- Zappa Plays Zappa
- Pachygnatha zappa
- Phialella zappai
- Zappa confluentus
- 3834 Zappafrank
- Frankly a Cappella
- King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
- Zappa's Universe
Category