Frank Zappa Lumpy Gravy UK Verve LP Play Graded NM

$

35

 Tech Note:

Please be aware that on my play graded listings, I play the album as described (partial or entire) and report the surface playing quality in the listing. I listen attentively and don’t wander away from the listening axis of the speakers. However, the surface playing quality that I hear and what you hear on your system with the same record may vary depending on the equipment you have.  Those with low mass tables (thin or hollow plinth type like Pro-Ject, Rega, older Japanese models) and/or wide tipped stylus shapes (elliptical, shibata, micro ridge just to name some) may hear a different surface condition than I do (or don’t) with a high mass table (VPI Scoutmaster)and line contact stylus shape (Benz Micro Wood L2). This is because the setup of my type produces quieter and darker backgrounds leading to a quieter playing record. Also the smaller diameter of the line contact stylus (and others like it) run deeper in the grooves contacting parts of the record that unless played on the same diameter tip, have never been touched before, producing a quieter surface and tighter detailed reproduction. I also use and strongly recommend a center clamp to couple the record to the platter to reduce vibrations and solidify bass response. The heavier the better as this puts no increased torque on the motor due to the dead center physics of its placement. It can also flatten out a minor unevenness or even a partial warp on the record. I will also state if a particular pressing requires clamping or not due to such a condition.  

Please be aware of this as you play your album upon receiving it from me. I try my best to present quality used LP’s to buyers in such a way that you know pretty much exactly what you are going to get rather than just listing an LP as in Excellent condition. That tells nothing about what the LP could sound like (and I can’t believe the sometimes high bid amounts I see on these being unknown!) . Also note that I DO list LP’s as visual grades also. I simply do not have the time to play each and every one that I list.
Play graded listings may start a bit higher than average, but the LP has been vacuum cleaned (all are), and play inspected, adding value to the accurate listing this will produce, especially on those LP’s that play very quiet and NM..

Thank you in advance for your acknowledgement of this information.

Title: Lumpy Gravy

Artist: Frank Zappa

Catalog: UK Verve 2317 046 SELECT

Jacket: VG++ only for super slight surface wear, on top and bottom center on rear and top center on front, otherwise near mint, no splits, cuts, holes, notches, rips or tears.

LP: Visual VG+ for a light mark on each side that does not sound. The vinyl surfaces are super clean and look as new otherwise. There is only one or two light spindle marks per side. Beautiful copy!! The LP plays VERY quiet, with only an occasional tick, no crackle or pop or surface noise.

Notes: Lumpy Gravy, Frank Zappa's first solo album, was released months before the Mothers of Invention's third LP (even though its back cover asked the question: "Is this phase two of We're Only in It for the Money?") and both were conceptualized and recorded at the same time. We're Only in It for the Money became a song-oriented anti-flower power album with one contemporary/musique concrète/sound collage hybrid piece by way of conclusion. Lumpy Gravy collaged bits of orchestral music, sonic manipulations, spoken words, and occasional pop ditties into two lumps of 16 minutes each. This album presents Zappa's first recordings with a decent orchestra, the 50-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra. His symphonic writing was very much influenced by Stravinsky and Varèse. It still had to loose its sharp edges and find the lushness found in 200 Motels. The segments of music are loosely tied together by bits of dialogue from inside the piano. MOI members and friends were invited to talk with their head inside a grand piano with the sustain pedal depressed (the technique was immortalized in the song "Evelyn, A Modified Dog"). The reverberating space gave the voices an eerie quality, but made it very difficult to convincingly edit the material. Thus, the plot emanating from these portions remains very vague (it was clarified 25 years later in Civilization Phaze III). The song bits include "Oh No," "Theme From Lumpy Gravy" (aka "Duodenum"), "King Kong," and "Take Your Clothes off When You Dance," all in instrumental versions, all making their first appearance on record. The starting point of Zappa's "serious music," Lumpy Gravy suffers from a lack of coherence, but it remains historically important and contains many conceptual continuity clues for the fan. The opening line of part one ("The way I see it, Barry, this should be a dynamite show") became a classic reference.

All LP’s are professionally vacuum cleaned on a VPI 16.5 RCM. Winner pays $4 media or $12 Priority USA shipping by paypal or an MO. International ok with paypal ONLY and $20 1st class international shipping. I combine shipping also