Frank Zappa Studio Tan CD

Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar); Davey Moire (vocals); Bruce Fowler (trombone); George Duke, Eddie Jobson (keyboards); Ruth Underwood (synthesizers, percussion); Tom Fowler (bass); Chester Thompson, Paul Humphrey (drums); Don Brewer (percussion).
Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion); George Duke (vocals, keyboards); Davey Moire (vocals); Bruce Fowler (trombone); Eddie Jobson (keyboards); James "Bird Legs" Youman, Ruth Underwood (synthesizer, percussion); Chester Thompson , Paul Humphrey (drums); Don Brewer (bongos).
Audio Remasterer: Bob Stone.
Recording information: 1974-1976.
Illustrator: Gary Panter.
Arranger: Frank Zappa.
Studio Tan is one of four albums culled from the ill-fated 1976 box set Läther and released by Warner Bros. without Frank Zappa having a word to say about the final product (including the horrible artwork). The 21-minute opener, "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary," is the culmination of Zappa's art of storytelling. A complex piece painstakingly assembled in the studio over three years, it allies the comedy rock of the Flo & Eddie era with the jazzy feel of The Grand Wazoo and the twisted prog rock of the 1973-1974 band. Yet, it is greater than the sum of its parts, proposing an unmatched musical narrative that makes "Billy the Mountain" the work of a child and amounts to a stunning synthesis of the man's influences, stylistic range, and studio techniques. Side two features an intentionally stupid pop song, "Lemme Take You to the Beach," and two instrumental pieces written a few years earlier. The personnel is for the most part the same as on Roxy & Elsewhere. For the CD reissue, Zappa tweaked a few things, starting with the song titles, wrongly understood by Warner at the time (for instance "Redunzel" became "RDNZL"). He also edited a couple of short bits out of "Peccary," but replaced the original fade-out by a legitimate finale. Studio Tan (along with Sleep Dirt) brings a sense of closure to Zappa's mid-'70s. If you like cartoon music and silly stories, it is worth your money for "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" alone. ~ François Couture
When STUDIO TAN first appeared in 1978 it was in a rapid barrage with three other titles (SLEEP DIRT, ORCHESTRAL FAVORITES and LIVE IN NEW YORK) which served to fill and end Frank Zappa's contractual obligations to his then-label, Warner Brothers. The four pieces that make up this work have since been reconfigured by Zappa back into his once-slated 4-record set, LATHER (released posthumously as a 3-CD set).
"The Adventures Of Gregory Peccary," at twenty minutes, constitutes half of the album and is a monumental work of story-telling with diverse compositional and arrangement figures. It touches on musical themes found throughout much of Zappa's other work up to that time. Bits of surf music fly by trailed by symphonic fanfares. "Revised Music For Guitar And Low-Budget Orchestra" is an abbreviated and reworked version of a piece originally composed as a feature for the violin (and premiered on Jean-Luc Ponty's KING KONG album).