Frank Zappa Chunga's Revenge CD

Japanese version featuring a limited LP style slipcase cover. Strictly limited to 2000 copies!

Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, harpsichord, drums, percussion); George Duke (vocals, trombone, electric piano, organ); Jeff Simmons (vocals, bass); Mark Volman, Howard Kaylan (vocals); Ian Underwood (electric alto saxophone with wah-wah pedal, guitar, piano, electric piano, organ, pipe organ); Sugar Cane Harris (organ); Max Bennett (bass); John Guerin, Aynsley Dunbar (drums).
Engineers include: Dick Kunc, Stan Agoi, Roy Baker.
Recorded at T.T.G. Inc. and The Record Plant, Hollywood, California; Whitney Studios, Glendale, California; Trident Studios, London, England. "The Nancy & Mary Music" was recorded live at the Tyronne Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Digitally remastered by Bob Stone.
Composer: Frank Zappa.
Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, harpsichord, keyboards, drums, temple blocks, tom tom, wood block, percussion); Jeff Simmons (vocals, guitar); Don "Sugarcane" Harris (vocals, violin, organ); George Duke (vocals, trombone, electric piano, organ, sound effects); Flo & Eddie, The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman (vocals); Ian Underwood (guitar, saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, electric piano, organ); Aynsley Dunbar (guitar, drums, tambourine); John Guerin (drums).
Recording information: T.T.G. Inc., Hollywood, CA; the Record Plant, Hollywood, CA; Trident Studios, London, England; Tyrone Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN; Whitney Studios, Glendale, CA.
Illustrator: Cal Schenkel.
Photographer: John Williams .
Unknown Contributor Role: Frank Zappa.
Arranger: Frank Zappa.
Chunga's Revenge marks the debut of Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (among several other musicians) with the Mothers, and while their schtick has not reached the graphic proportions it later would, the thematic obsessions of the 200 Motels period are foreshadowed on tracks like "Road Ladies" and "Would You Go All the Way?" Other vocal numbers include the hard-rocking "Tell Me You Love Me," the musicians' union satire "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink," and the doo wop-influenced "Sharleena." Meanwhile, Frank Zappa's strong instrumental music incorporates Eastern European influences ("Transylvania Boogie"), cocktail jazz ("Twenty Small Cigars"), and the percussion-only "The Clap." Zappa's guitar tone is wonderfully biting and nasty throughout; George Duke provides another musical highlight by scat-singing a "drum solo." But while there are plenty of fine moments, Chunga's Revenge is in the end more of a hodgepodge transitional album, with less coherence than Zappa's other 1969-1970 works. Still, it will appeal to fans of that creatively fertile period in Zappa's oeuvre. ~ Steve Huey
This 1970 release finds Zappa and band at the apex of their improvisational powers. CHUNGA'S REVENGE largely eschews both high concept and satire in order to focus on the considerable jamming expertise of Zappa and his cohorts. In its original LP form, the album was divided into two discrete halves. The first side consists of extended, largely instrumental pieces where Zappa and his musicians stretch out and show off their improv chops over relatively simple, often blues-based structures. The keyboard-based instrumental interlude "Twenty Small Cigars" provides an interesting semi-classical change of pace.
Side two contains shorter, vocal-oriented numbers, with harmonies that draw on the doo-wop influence of Zappa's youth (a recurrent element in his work). Slightly schizophrenic though it may be, CHUNGA'S REVENGE is something of a showcase for the members of Zappa's group, displaying their vocal and instrumental interaction to fine effect.