Apostrophe (') | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 22, 1974 | |||
Recorded | 1969–1974 | |||
Studio | Electric Lady Studios, New York City; Bolic Sound, Inglewood, California; and Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 32:56 | |||
Label | DiscReet | |||
Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
| ||||
Frank Zappa solo chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Apostrophe' | ||||
|
Apostrophe (') is the sixth solo album and eighteenth in total by Frank Zappa,released in March 1974 [1] in both stereo and quadraphonic formats. An edited version of its lead-off track,"Don't Eat the Yellow Snow",was the first of Zappa's three Billboard Top 100 hits,ultimately peaking at number 86. The album itself became the biggest commercial success of Zappa's career,reaching number 10 on the US Billboard 200.
Apostrophe (') remains Zappa's most commercially successful album in the United States. It was certified gold by the RIAA on April 7,1976 and peaked at number 10 (a career-high placement) on the Billboard 200 chart in 1974. [2] Continuing from the commercial breakthrough of Over-Nite Sensation (1973),this album is a similar mix of short songs showcasing Zappa's humor and musical arrangements. The record's lyrical themes are often bizarre or obscure,with the exception of "Uncle Remus",which is an extension of Zappa's feelings on racism featured on his earlier song "Trouble Every Day". [3]
The first half of the album loosely follows a continuing theme. "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Nanook Rubs It" tell of a dream the singer had where he saw himself as an Eskimo named Nanook. It continues into "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast," which Zappa said was inspired by a television commercial for Imperial margarine. [4]
As was the case with many of Zappa's albums,Apostrophe (') was a melange of archival and recent recordings;side one of Apostrophe (') and the whole Over-Nite Sensation album (released as the immediate predecessor to Apostrophe (') in 1973) were recorded simultaneously during the spring of 1973. The tracks on side two originate from various 1972 sessions with overdubs recorded in 1973 and 1974,except for "Excentrifugal Forz",where the drum track (played by Johnny Guerin) originally came from the Hot Rats sessions in 1969 (along with the bass and drum tracks for "Lemme Take You to the Beach" on Studio Tan (1978) and Läther (1996),although in the case of "Excentrifugal Forz" this is not actually noted in either the album liner notes or official correspondence), [5] [6] [7] and "Stinkfoot",where the basic track,possibly originally known as "The Bass &Drums Song", [8] dates from the Chunga's Revenge sessions in early 1970. [9]
"Apostrophe'" is an instrumental featuring bassist Jack Bruce and session drummer Jim Gordon,who was on tour with Zappa's band at the time of the session in November 1972. Bruce is credited on the album cover with bass guitar and co-writing the title song. However,in an interview for Polish rock magazine Tylko Rock he said that he had not played any bass guitar parts or done any co-writing on "Apostrophe (')",only the cello intro. He reminisced,"So I turned up in a NY studio with my cello,I'm listening to [Zappa's] music,pretty awful,and just don't know what to do with myself,and Frank [Zappa] says to me:"Listen,I would like you to play a sound,like this... whaaaaaang!!!" So I did what he asked me to do. Whaaaaaang!!! That was all. That was my input to Frank Zappa's most popular record! [laughs]" [10] Bruce had studied the instrument at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and performed with it on some of his other recordings.
However,Zappa has referred to Bruce playing bass on the track in an interview:"Well,that was just a jam thing that happened because he was a friend of (drummer) Jim Gordon. I found it very difficult to play with him;he's too busy. He doesn't really want to play the bass in terms of root functions;I think he has other things on his mind. But that's the way jam sessions go." [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [12] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B− [13] |
Džuboks | favorable [14] |
Rolling Stone | favorable [15] |
Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote in his review:"Disillusioned acolytes are complaining that he's retreated,which means he's finally made top ten,but that's just his reward for professional persistence. If anything,the satire's improved a little,and the title piece—an improvisation with Jack Bruce,Jim Gordon,and rhythm guitarist Tony Duran—forays into quartet-style jazz-rock. Given Frank's distaste for 'Cosmik Debris' you'd think maybe he's come up with something earthier than Mahavishnu,but given his distaste for sex you can be sure it's more cerebral instead." [13]
Apostrophe (') and Over-Nite Sensation,recorded with the same group of musicians,are the subject of a Classic Albums series documentary from Eagle Rock Entertainment,released on DVD May 1,2007.
In July 2016,the Zappa Family Trust released a CD of alternate mixes,different takes and live versions of material from Apostrophe (') titled The Crux of the Biscuit . [16] [17] It includes early versions of "Down in De Dew",which Zappa considered for Apostrophe (') but later included on Läther.
All tracks are written by Frank Zappa except where noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" | 2:07 |
2. | "Nanook Rubs It" | 4:38 |
3. | "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" | 1:50 |
4. | "Father O'Blivion" | 2:18 |
5. | "Cosmik Debris" | 4:14 |
Total length: | 15:32 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Excentrifugal Forz" | 1:33 |
2. | "Apostrophe'" (Zappa, Jim Gordon, Jack Bruce ) | 5:50 |
3. | "Uncle Remus" (Zappa, George Duke ) | 2:44 |
4. | "Stink-Foot" | 6:33 |
Total length: | 17:24 |
Chart (1974) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [18] | 71 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [19] | 6 |
US Billboard 200 [2] | 10 |
Chart (2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [20] | 31 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [21] | 30 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [22] | 169 |
Croatian International Albums (HDU) [23] | 21 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [24] | 59 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [25] | 7 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [26] | 22 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [27] | 30 |
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [28] | 3 |
Sheik Yerbouti is a double album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records, distributed by Phonogram Inc. in the United States and Canada. The album was released in other countries by CBS Records. It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added in the studio. In an October 1978 interview, Zappa gave the working album title as Martian Love Secrets. It was later released on a single CD.
Chunga's Revenge is the third solo album, and eleventh album counting the work of his band The Mothers of Invention, by Frank Zappa, released on October 23, 1970. Zappa's first effort of the 1970s marks the first appearance of former Turtles members Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan - nicknamed Flo & Eddie - on a Zappa record, and signals the dawn of a controversial epoch in Zappa's history. Chunga's Revenge represents a shift from both the satirical political commentary of his 1960s work with The Mothers of Invention, and the jazz fusion of Hot Rats.
Catfish Rising is the 18th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released on 10 September 1991. It is the first Tull album to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings. The album continues the hard rock and blues sound of the previous two albums.
The End of the Innocence is the third solo studio album by Don Henley, the co-lead vocalist and drummer for the Eagles. The album was released in 1989, on Geffen Records, and was his last release on that label. It was also his last solo album before reforming the Eagles and it would be eleven years before he released another solo project, 2000's Inside Job.
Over-Nite Sensation is the twelfth album by The Mothers of Invention, and the seventeenth album overall by Frank Zappa, released in September 1973. It was Zappa's first album released on his DiscReet label.
Quaudiophiliac is a compilation album featuring music by Frank Zappa, released in DVD-Audio format by Barking Pumpkin Records in 2004. It compiles recordings he made while experimenting with quadraphonic, or four-channel, sound in the 1970s. Zappa prepared quadraphonic mixes of a number of his 1970s albums, with both Over-Nite Sensation (1973) and Apostrophe (') (1974) being released in discrete quadraphonic on Zappa's DiscReet Records label.
Roxy & Elsewhere is a double live album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers, released on September 10, 1974. Most of the songs were recorded on December 8, 9 and 10, 1973 at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California.
Bongo Fury is a collaborative album by American artists Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and Zappa's band the Mothers, released in October 1975. The live portions were recorded on May 20 and 21, 1975, at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. Tracks 5, 6 and 9 are studio tracks recorded in January 1975 during the sessions which produced One Size Fits All (1975) and much of Studio Tan (1978).
Sleep Dirt is an album by Frank Zappa, released in January 1979 on his own DiscReet Records label, distributed by Warner Bros. Records. It reached No. 175 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States.
Smashes, Thrashes & Hits is a compilation album by the American hard rock band Kiss. It was the fourth hits album overall but the second hits album released by the band in the United States. Of the 15 songs on the album, two were new compositions, and three were released after the band's unmasking in 1983. The remaining 10 were all released during the band's years in make-up.
Studio Tan is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in September 1978 on his own DiscReet Records label, distribued by Warner Bros Records. It reached No. 147 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States.
Orchestral Favorites is an album by Frank Zappa, released in May 1979 on his own DiscReet Records label. The album is entirely instrumental and features music performed by the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra. It reached No .168 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States.
Asshole is the second solo studio album by Kiss's Gene Simmons and it was released in 2004 on Sanctuary Records. Its controversial title does not appear on the front cover. On the side of the CD case the title reads "asshole". "It's just another way of me saying, 'I don't care what anyone says about me," Simmons declared. "I'm preempting what people say and therefore diffusing the power of my detractors."
Thomas William Fowler was an American bass guitarist. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, he started playing the violin at age six, before picking up the upright bass, and finally electric bass at age 16. He played with It's a Beautiful Day, Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention, Jean-Luc Ponty, Ray Charles, Steve Hackett, and many others. He had four brothers, including trombonist Bruce and trumpeter Walt Fowler.
200 Motels, the soundtrack album to Frank Zappa's film of the same name, was released by United Artists Records in 1971. The original vinyl release was a two-record set, largely containing alternating tracks of rock music performed by the Mothers of Invention and symphonic music performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Elgar Howarth, all composed and orchestrated by Zappa. The album peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard 200, though reviewers deemed it a peripheral part of Zappa's catalog. Like the film, the album involves the theme of a rock band on tour and a loose storyline about The Mothers of Invention going crazy in the small town of Centerville and bassist Jeff quitting the group, as did his real life counterpart, Jeff Simmons, who left the group before the film began shooting and was replaced by actor Martin Lickert for the film.
Zappa's Universe is a 1993 Frank Zappa tribute album featuring alumni from many of Zappa's bands. The music was compiled from a series of concerts from four consecutive nights of concerts at The Ritz in New York City, and filmed for a concert video of the same name. Steve Vai’s cover of the song "Sofa" from the album won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1994.
Chapter and Verse is a compilation album by Bruce Springsteen that was released on September 23, 2016. The album is a companion piece to Springsteen's 500-plus-page autobiography, Born to Run, which was released four days later. The career-spanning album features eighteen songs handpicked by Springsteen, five of which were previously unreleased. The album contains Springsteen's earliest recording from 1966 and late '60s/early '70s songs from his tenure in the Castiles, Steel Mill, and the Bruce Springsteen Band, along with his first 1972 demos for Columbia Records and songs from his studio albums from 1973 until 2012.
The Crux of the Biscuit is a compilation album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in July 2016, originally intended to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his album Apostrophe ('). It is the fourth project in a series of 40th Anniversary FZ Audio Documentaries, following MOFO (2006), Lumpy Money (2009) and Greasy Love Songs (2010). The name is based on the same lyric from "Stink-Foot" that Apostrophe (') is based on—"the crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe."
"Uncle Remus" is a song written by American musicians Frank Zappa and George Duke, and first released on Zappa's 1974 album Apostrophe ('). The name of the song is derived from Uncle Remus, a fictional character found in works by writer Joel Chandler Harris. The song has been said to reflect Zappa's feelings about racism and the civil rights movement, themes which had previously been explored in his earlier song "Trouble Every Day".
Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show is a live album released June 18, 2021, by Frank Zappa. It contains mostly previously unreleased recordings of the last concert he would ever play in the US at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.