Läther

Infobox Album |
Name = Läther
Type = Album
Artist = Frank Zappa


Background = Darkseagreen
Released = September 24 1996
Recorded = 1972–1976
Genre = Progressive rock, art rock, jazz fusion, experimental rock
Length = 172:56
Label = Rykodisc
Producer = Frank Zappa
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ne508qtnbt04~T1 link]
Last album = "The Lost Episodes"
(1996)
This album = "Läther"
(1996)
Next album = ""
(1996)

"Läther" (pronounced like "leather" due to the umlaut) is an album by Frank Zappa. Produced by Zappa in 1977, the recordings contained in "Läther" were made between 1972 and 1976. Zappa conceived "Läther" as a four-album box set which Warner Bros. Records declined to release. The label then thwarted Zappa's attempts to release it elsewhere by threatening legal action. The tracks were then split into four separate albums and released on WB in 1978 and 1979. "Zappa in New York" (1978), "Studio Tan" (1978), "Sleep Dirt" (1979) and "Orchestral Favorites" (1979), and in edited form on "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" (1981).

History

Prior to the CD's 1996 release, "Läther" had been considered one of rock music's great lost albums, considered "the "Smile" of the "Freak Out" set."cite web |url=http://members.aol.com/biffyshrew/review.html |title=Review of "Läther" |accessdate=2007-11-03 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date=October 11, 1996 |work= |publisher="Goldmine"]

It was originally conceived as a four-record box set. When delivered to Warner Bros. Records, the label refused to release it. Zappa asked for an assignment of his contract in order to advance the possibility of being able to do special projects. Warner Bros. briefly agreed before telling him that he owed them four more albums. Zappa reedited the material into the individual albums "Zappa in New York", "Studio Tan", "Sleep Dirt" and "Orchestral Favorites". After releasing "Zappa in New York", Warner refused to pay him or to release the rest of the albums.cite book |last=Zappa |first=Gail |title=Läther |url= |format=liner notes booklet |date=September 24, 1996 |publisher=Rykodisc |isbn=014431057427 |pages=pages 5-6 ]

Zappa took matters into his own hands in December 1977 by playing the entire work on Pasadena's KROQ radio station and instructing listeners to record it. When Zappa attempted to get a distribution deal with Mercury/Phonogram to release the album, Warner Bros. decided to release the individual albums he had delivered to them. Until the CD was released, on Rykodisc, "Läther" was only available on bootlegs which had been sourced either from tapes of the radio broadcast or from copies of the test pressing. [cite web |url=http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/bootlegs/counterfeits.html#l%C3%A4ther |title=Counterfeits & Stuff - "Läther" |accessdate=2008-08-22 |publisher=son of the alt.fan.frank-zappa Bootleg FAQ]

The three-CD set represents the eight-sided album as it was originally conceived. Most of the material on "Läther" appears in some form on the 1978–79 albums—in total, twenty of the thirty tracks present appear elsewhere. However, only six tracks on the set are precisely the same as those on Rykodisc's other Zappa albums, the remaining being either alternative mixes or unique to the box. [cite web |url=http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/misc/lather.html |title="Läther" Source Codes |accessdate=2007-11-03 |author=Zoot |coauthors= |date=September 26, 1996 |work= |publisher=alt.fan.frank-zappa]

Track listing

All tracks by Frank Zappa.

ide one

#"Re-gyptian Strut" – 4:36
#"Naval Aviation in Art?" – 1:32
#"A Little Green Rosetta" – 2:48
#"Duck Duck Goose" – 3:01
#"Down in de Dew" – 2:57
#"For the Young Sophisticate" – 3:14

ide two

#"Tryin' to Grow a Chin" – 3:26
#"Broken Hearts Are for Assholes" – 4:40
#"The Legend of the Illinois Enema Bandit" – 12:43

ide three

#"Lemme Take You to the Beach" – 2:46
#"Revised Music for Guitar & Low Budget Orchestra" – 7:36
#"RDNZL" – 8:14

ide four

#"Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" – 4:56
#"The Black Page #1" – 1:57
#"Big Leg Emma" – 2:11
#"Punky's Whips" – 11:06

ide five

#"Flambe" – 2:05
#"The Purple Lagoon" – 16:22

ide six

#"Pedro's Dowry" – 7:45
#"Läther" – 3:50
#"Spider of Destiny" – 2:40
#"Duke of Orchestral Prunes" – 4:21

ide seven

#"Filthy Habits" – 7:12
#"Titties 'n Beer" – 5:23
#"The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution" – 8:32

ide eight

#"The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" – 21:00

CD bonus tracks

#"Regyptian Strut (1993)" – 4:42
#"Leather Goods" – 6:01
#"Revenge of the Knick Knack People" – 2:25
#"Time Is Money" – 3:04

References

External links

* [http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/lyrics/Lather.html Lyrics and detailed information]
* [http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/lather.html Release history]