ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Album # 36 is Uncle Meat, by Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention from 1969.

This cover is so ugly but yet so beautiful. It's the cover of the 2 LP set Uncle Meat by Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention, originally released in 1969. The cover was made by Calvin Schenkel who made most of the early covers for Zappa. The front picture is a bizarre collage of remnents of food, moustache hair and old teeth. We've heard that Schenkel found some of the stuff for the cover at a place right across the street from the recording studio where there used to be a dental lab. The back cover is a collage of what seems to be x-ray dental photos but with black and white photos of the band members instead.

There are also some neat liner notes that describe the circumstances under which the album was made and some recording technology details. The early Zappa albums often had these short written descriptions which we've always found both amusing and informative.
The original double LP is rare but not too hard to find. Well, if you want the booklet which came with some of the LP's you may have a hard time. But there is a miniature version of the booklet with the 2 CD set that was released in the 80's.

The CD edition offers a slightly different ambience. It is OK but we prefer the old vinyl mix even though it sounds "dryer". Please notice that the CD include some bonus material (mostly dialogue) from the Uncle Meat movie which was finished many years later. Fans use to call them "penalty tracks". This month RadioDupree will bring you the opportunity to try some Uncle Meat. Can we get you a napkin?

S.H.

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