The Lost Episodes

Biography

The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles (with the exception of "I Don't Want to Get Drafted" and "Any Way the Wind Blows") previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993. The album is also notable for its five tracks which feature Captain Beefheart (known in early recordings by his birth name, Don V...

The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles (with the exception of "I Don't Want to Get Drafted" and "Any Way the Wind Blows") previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993. The album is also notable for its five tracks which feature Captain Beefheart (known in early recordings by his birth name, Don Vliet, and later Don Van Vliet): "Lost in a Whirlpool", a blues parody from around 1958–59 in which Beefheart sings of being flushed down the toilet; "Tiger Roach", a rhythm and blues track from around three years later; "I'm a Band Leader" from 1969, a spoken word piece written by Zappa and read by Beefheart; "Alley Cat", a blues number in which Zappa plays guitar with two members of Beefheart's Magic Band, and "The Grand Wazoo", a spoken word piece recorded in 1969, to which Zappa added a Synclavier track in 1992 [1]. Dan Glaister, writing in The Guardian, judged the first to be "a passable Bessie Smith cover", adding, "while "Alley Cat" could be a missing track from Clear Spot." Elsewhere on the disc are included a number of alternate, earlier versions of compositions which were later released on Zappa's studio albums. The Lost Episodes' version of "Any Way the Wind Blows", for instance, was recorded in Cucamonga in around 1963—three years before its appearance on Freak Out! (1966). And the version of "Fountain of Love" here was recorded around the same time, but not released until Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1968). Several outtakes include the original versions of: "Inca Roads" and "RDNZL", along with a version of Wino Man featuring Ricky Lancelotti on lead vocals. The final track is the original version of Sharleena from the aborted 2nd Hot Rats LP recordings in 1970; featuring Sugarcane Harris on lead vocal. Track listing All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa except where noted. No.TitleLength 1."The Blackouts"0:22 2."Lost in a Whirlpool" (Don Van Vliet, Zappa)2:46 3."Ronnie Sings?"1:05 4."Kenny's Booger Story"0:33 5."Ronnie's Booger Story"1:16 6."Mount St. Mary's Concert Excerpt"2:28 7."Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"3:51 8."Tiger Roach" (Van Vliet, Zappa)2:20 9."Run Home Slow Theme"1:25 10."Fountain of Love" (Zappa, Ray Collins)2:08 11."Run Home Cues, #2"0:28 12."Any Way the Wind Blows"2:14 13."Run Home Cues, #3"0:11 14."Charva"1:59 15."The Dick Kunc Story"0:46 16."Wedding Dress Song" (Trad., arr. Zappa)1:14 17."Handsome Cabin Boy" (Trad., arr. Zappa)1:21 18."Cops & Buns"2:36 19."The Big Squeeze"0:43 20."I'm a Band Leader"1:14 21."Alley Cat" (Van Vliet, Zappa)2:47 22."The Grand Wazoo"2:12 23."Wonderful Wino" (Zappa, Jeff Simmons)2:47 24."Kung Fu"1:06 25."RDNZL"3:49 26."Basement Music #1"3:46 27."Inca Roads"3:42 28."Lil' Clanton Shuffle"4:47 29."I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"3:24 30."Sharleena"11:54 Personnel Frank Zappa – synthesizer, guitar, percussion, piano, celeste, drums, bass guitar, kazoo, vocals, background vocals, synclavier Dale Bozzio – vocals Terry Bozzio – vocals Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) – vocals Ray Collins – vocals Ricky Lancelotti – vocals Ray White – vocals Kenny Williams – vocals Ronnie Williams – vocals Ronny Williams – vocals Ike Willis – vocals Elliot Ingber – slide guitar Elwood Madeo, Jr. – guitar Bobby Zappa – guitar, rhythm guitar George Duke – keyboards Tommy Mars – keyboards, vocals Don Preston – keyboards Danny Helferin – piano Terry Wimberly – piano Arthur Barrow – bass, bass guitar Max Bennett – bass, bass guitar Erroneous (aka Alex Dmochowski) – bass, bass guitar Roy Estrada – bass, bass guitar Tom Fowler – bass guitar Jimmy Carl Black – drums Vinnie Colaiuta – drums Aynsley Dunbar – drums John French – drums John Guerin – drums Ralph Humphrey – drums Chester Thompson – drums Tony Rodriguez – alto sax Chuck Foster – trumpet Sal Marquez – trumpet Bruce Fowler – trombone Don "Sugarcane" Harris – violin, vocals, electric violin Jean-Luc Ponty – violin Art Tripp – marimba, background vocals, vibraphone Ian Underwood – percussion, keyboards, saxophone, woodwind, fender rhodes Ruth Underwood – percussion Production Frank Zappa – arranger, producer, engineer Paul Buff – engineer Gary Kellgren – engineer Kerry McNabb – engineer Bob Stone – engineer, remixing Spencer Chrislu – remixing Gabor Csupo – artwork Steven Jurgensmeyer – design Hal Wilson – photography Rip Rense – liner notes Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.