Great! One of Zappa’s finest eras. Automatic buy. I’ve got first presses of WAKA and WAZOO. This’ll make a perfect compliment.
The addition of the George Duke material is interesting. That might spark some interest outside of the Zappaverse. Order accordingly, this is an immediate pre-order for me.
Nice! ...but I think I'll skip it: outakes and alternative versions are not that interesting to me. That said, if the Blu-ray is a remix of the stereo albums, I might buy that one if it's available separately.
Nice to finally have this stuff, but its a bit odd they chose to include another artist's work on a Zappa box. Wouldn't it have made more sense to license these to the Duke estate for inclusion on one of his releases, and give us more unreleased live Zappa?
I doubt there is enough interest in the Duke material for a separate release. Also, it sounds similar to the Zappa 1972 records as I think Dunbar and the bass player were on it, as well as Zappa. As far as 1972 live stuff, they have already released a lot and may be getting near the end of what's in the vault, or maybe there is something they're saving for yet another future release.
Yeah! This'll be awesome! I love these albums, especially the two title tracks. I welcome the George Duke outtakes, because I really like his solo stuff from this period as well. And if Zappa worked on them, then they're Zappa-related tracks as far as I'm concerned. I wonder if they're from the same sessions as the Zappa albums? The concert will be cool, the setlist looks different enough from Wazoo to entice me. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but is the concert completely unreleased officially? Really looking forward to this, but I'll wait to preorder it until it's being sold in the US...
I think so, although there were one or two unknown date tracks from the previous CDs by the Petit Wazoo that could be from this show.
European sites will often 'leak' info when they get it from their distributor. I haven't ever seen a case where the pre-hype info was incorrect.
I wonder if they may release more multichannel remixes down the line. A while back I think I heard someone say that they weren't going to release any Zappa albums on multichannel, so this is promising.
I love the grand wazoo, but i’m not interested into the making of , or little wazoo live. Without me.
Frank was an early adapter of multichannel, so I would think it makes sense. I think at this point they're worried about tinkering too much with what's in the vault and have been releasing it as is.
Details, in case the link disappears: A comprehensive 4-CD + Blu-ray Audio box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Mothers Of Invention/Hot Rats/Grand Wazoo experience from 1972. During the aftermath of being pushed off the stage at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England; FZ found himself recuperating for months in his home in Laurel Canyon. Although he was confined to a wheelchair, his work ethic could not be tamed. During this time, he managed, among other things, to assemble an ensemble that quenched his thirst and desire to work with a large “Electric Orchestra.” Ultimately, a 20-piece group was contracted, along with recording sessions and an 8-city tour. Shortly thereafter, a scaled down 10-piece configuration, now known as the “Petit Wazoo” toured for almost two months. After all was said and done, FZ finished the experiment with two albums in the can, Waka/Jawaka & The Grand Wazoo, plus two tours and an archive of show masters in his Vault. It was a monumental feat for a guy with a cast on his leg and a conductor’s baton in his hand. The Waka/Wazoo box set features a complete historical run-down of the entire project, featuring alternate takes of almost every composition recorded during the album sessions, along with Vault mix session outtakes and oddities. Also included is the full final show of the 10-piece tour, recorded at the famous Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on December 15, 1972. The Blu-ray Audio disc features both albums with brand-new, first-time-ever Atmos and 5.1 mixes from the original multi-tracks and the 96kHz 24-bit high-resolution stereo remasters. Finally, during the album recording sessions at Paramount Studios, FZ worked with George Duke on some of Duke’s solo material. These demos were produced by Zappa, who also played guitar. Although George would go on to re-record the compositions for his own albums, the versions with FZ have never been officially issued until now. TRACKLISTING CD 1 Paramount Studios Recording Session Alternates and Outtakes 1. Your Mouth (Take 1) 2. Big Swifty (Alternate Take) 3. Minimal Art (Eat That Question – Version 1, Take 2) 4. Blessed Relief (Outtake Version) 5. Think It Over (The Grand Wazoo) (Outtake Version) 6. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) (Outtake Version) 7. Waka/Jawaka (Outtake Version) CD 2 Paramount Studios Recording Session Alternates and Outtakes, continued 1. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (Alternate Take) 2. Eat That Question (Version 2, Alternate Take) 3. Big Swifty (Alternate Mix) 4. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) (Alternate Mix) 5. It Just Might Be A One-Shot Deal (Alternate Mix) 6. Waka/Jawaka (Alternate Mix) 7. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (Alternate Mix) 8. Eat That Question (Alternate Mix) CD 3 George Duke Demos – The Master Versions 1. For Love (I Come Your Friend) 2. Psychosomatic Dung 3. Uncle Remus (Instrumental) 4. Love George Duke Session Outtakes 5. For Love (I Come Your Friend) (Basic Track, Take 1) 6. Psychosomatic Dung (Basic Track, Take 2) 7. Love (Basic Track, Take 1) The Grand Wazoo – Live 8. Approximate (Live – FZ Record Plant Mix) 10-Piece/Petite Wazoo – Live / Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA – 12-15-1972 9. Winterland ’72 Opening And Band Introductions 10. Little Dots CD 4 10-Piece/Petite Wazoo – Live, continued Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA – 12-15-1972 1. America Drinks 2. Montana 3. Farther O’Blivion 4. Cosmik Debris 5. Chunga’s Revenge BLU-RAY AUDIO 48kHz 24-bit Dolby Atmos, 48kHz 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1, 96kHz 24-bit PCM Stereo WAKA/JAWAKA 1. Big Swifty 2. Your Mouth 3. It Just Might Be A One-Shot Deal 4. Waka / Jawaka THE GRAND WAZOO 1. The Grand Wazoo 2. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) 3. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus 4. Eat That Question 5. Blessed Relief
It’s also of note that the website linked shows both albums being reissued on vinyl as well. So hopefully there are getting the same treatment as the vinyl reissues of the last several years.
I would have been on the fence with just the CDs. The Blu-ray puts it over the top for me. Atmos and TrueHD 5.1! I'm there.
