Frank Zappa - Cucamonga
ARTIST.....: Frank Zappa
TITLE......: Cucamonga
LABEL......: Rhino
URL........: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:tsjx7i45g78r~T1
RIP DATE...: Jan-31-2005
STORE DATE.: Sep-14-2004
GENRE......: Psychedelic Rock
QUALITY....: VBR / 44.1Hz / Joint-Stereo
SIZE.......: 38,1 MB
Track Listing:
01 - Dear Jeepers 02:29
02 - Memories of El Monte 02:42
03 - How's Your Bird 02:10
04 - World's Greatest Sinner 02:26
05 - Every Time I See You 02:35
06 - Cradle Rock 02:54
07 - Slow Bird 02:08
08 - Blind Man's Buff 01:44
09 - Tijuana Surf 02:19
10 - Grunion Run 02:21
11 - Mr. Clean 02:08
12 - Jessie Lee 01:52
13 - Cathy My Angel 02:12
14 - 'Til September 02:26
15 - Heavies 01:47
16 - The Cruncher 02:19
17 - Letter from Jeepers 02:23
─────
38:55 min
Release Notes:
Before forming the Mothers of Invention, Zappa made numerous
recordings at small studios. Several tracks that he had a hand in,
as producer, instrumentalist, or writer, were issued on extremely
rare singles in the early and mid-'60s. This collects 14 such
numbers that found their way to the L.A. Del-Fi label, including
items by Paul Buff, the Rotations, the Pauls, Mr. Clean, the
Heartbreakers, and Baby Ray & the Ferns, the last of which
featured future Mother Ray Collins on vocals. It's largely
eccentric -- but not that eccentric -- doo wop and R&B with a
humorous/novelty bent, though there's also a surf single by the
Rotations. You can hear the seeds of the production techniques of
the Mothers albums occasionally, particularly on Bob Guy's weird
horror rock ditties "Dear Jeepers" and "Letter from Jeepers"; a
snippet of the Rotations' "Heavies" even showed up on the Mothers'
We're Only in It for the Money. Yet this stuff wasn't outrageously
funny enough to be novelty hits, or original or hooky enough to be
straight pop or R&B successes. Put another way, in hindsight they
show elements of Zappa's later work, but at the time no one could
have guessed that he would develop into a major force in
experimental rock. About half of this has shown up on reissues
before, but the rest can't be found elsewhere on CD, so it's
useful to Zappa collectors. [The 2004 Rhino expanded edition also
collects more of his pre-Mothers releases, including the Penguins'
"Memories of El Monte" (which he co-wrote with Ray Collins), the
Hollywood Persuaders' "Tijuana Surf," and the Rotations' "The
Cruncher," making it an even more necessary addition to Zappa
fans' collections.]