- Chunga's Revenge
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Chunga's Revenge 
Studio album by Frank Zappa Released October 23, 1970 Recorded July 1969 - August 1970 Genre Hard rock, progressive rock, jazz fusion, comedy rock, instrumental rock Length 40:22 Label Bizarre/Reprise Producer Frank Zappa Frank Zappa chronology Weasels Ripped My Flesh
(1970)Chunga's Revenge
(1970)Fillmore East - June 1971
(1971)Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]Robert Christgau (C+)[2] Rolling Stone (unfavorable)[3] Piero Scaruffi 
[4]Chunga's Revenge is an album by Frank Zappa, released on October 23, 1970. Zappa's first effort of the 1970s marks the first appearance of former Turtles members Flo & Eddie on a Zappa record, and signals the dawn of a controversial epoch in Zappa's history (this era is both hated and loved by Zappa fans in equal measure). 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.
The material presented on Chunga's Revenge is eclectic; there are two guitar jams ("Transylvania Boogie" and the title track), a bluesy amble ("Road Ladies"), a jazz interlude ("Twenty Small Cigars", culled from the Hot Rats sessions), an avant-garde live improvisation (the multi-part "The Nancy and Mary Music", an excerpt from King Kong), and several poppy numbers ("Tell Me You Love Me", "Would You Go All the Way?", "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink", "Sharleena"). The vocal tracks all deal with the subject of sex and/or groupie encounters, and, as Zappa notes on the sleeve of both the vinyl and CD, are a preview of the (then forthcoming) 200 Motels film/album. (Parts of this album were intended to grace the film, but did not make the final cut). Several of these tracks ("Transylvania Boogie", "20 Small Cigars", "The Clap", and the title track) were recorded during either the Hot Rats sessions or during the early 1970 sessions for the follow-up to Hot Rats that never materialized. Other material from those sessions appeared on: Weasels Ripped My Flesh ("Directly From My Heart To You"), Burnt Weeny Sandwich (Sugar Cane Harris solo section of "Little House I Used To Live In"), Zoot Allures (backing track for "Friendly Little Finger"), Studio Tan (backing track for "Let Me Take You To The Beach", and The Lost Episodes (original version of "Sharleena" and possibly "Li'l Clanton Shuffle"). Other "lost" tracks from these sessions include the instrumentals "Twinkle Tits" and "Bognor Regis". A live version of "Twinkle Tits" is available on bootlegs (though the original studio version is not available yet), and "Bognor Regis" was supposed to be released as a B-side of "Sharleena". The single was never released, though the track was leaked to the public on an acetate disc copy which made its way to the collector's market.
Supposedly, the title track is a song about a small industrial Gypsy vacuum sweeper. "Chunga" was a term used to describe a mutated individual of the sort Zapppa depicted in such songs as "The Idiot Bastard Son." The word was coined by Dan O'Brien, a teenage Zappa admirer, to describe the effects of the Hiroshima blast on later generations.
The title track was later recorded by Parisian tango revival group Gotan Project for their 2001 debut album La Revancha del Tango.
Contents
Track listing
All songs by Frank Zappa.
LPSide one
- "Transylvania Boogie" - 5:01
- "Road Ladies" - 4:11
- "Twenty Small Cigars" - 2:17
- "The Nancy & Mary Music" - 9:30
- part 1 - 2:42
- part 2 - 4:11
- part 3 - 2:37
Side two
- "Tell Me You Love Me" - 2:43
- "Would You Go All the Way?" - 2:30
- "Chunga's Revenge" - 6:16
- "The Clap" - 1:24
- "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink" - 2:45
- "Sharleena" - 4:07
CD- "Transylvania Boogie" – 5:01
- "Road Ladies" – 4:10
- "Twenty Small Cigars" – 2:17
- "The Nancy and Mary Music" – 9:27
- "Tell Me You Love Me" – 2:33
- "Would You Go All the Way?" – 2:29
- "Chunga's Revenge" – 6:15
- "The Clap" – 1:23
- "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink" – 2:44
- "Sharleena" – 4:04
The guitar melody in "Tell Me You Love Me" is extremely similar to the one used in "Bwana Dik" and "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" (during the "if his dick is a monster" section), from Fillmore East - June 1971, and 200 Motels, respectively.
Personnel
- Frank Zappa – guitar, harpsichord, percussions, drums, vocals, Condor
- Max Bennett – bass
- George Duke – organ, trombone, electric piano, sound effects, vocals
- Aynsley Dunbar – drums, tambourine
- John Guerin – drums (only on Twenty Small Cigars)
- Don "Sugarcane" Harris – electric violin, organ
- Howard Kaylan – vocals
- Mark Volman – vocals
- Jeff Simmons – bass, vocals
- Ian Underwood – organ, guitar, piano, rhythm guitar, electric piano, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, pipe organ
Production
- Producer: Frank Zappa
- Engineers: Stan Agol, Roy Baker, Dick Kunc, Bruce Margolis
- Production assistant: Dick Barber
- Arranger: Frank Zappa
- Cover design: Cal Schenkel
- Illustrations: Cal Schenkel
- Photography: Phil Franks (front cover) and John Williams
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
Year Chart Position 1970 Pop Albums 119 References
External links
Categories:- Frank Zappa albums
- 1970 albums
- Reprise Records albums
- English-language albums
- Bizarre Records albums
- Albums produced by Frank Zappa
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