A new Frank Zappa box set will commemorate two of the late artist’s jazz-influenced albums, 1972’s Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, in conjunction with their 50th anniversaries.
The Waka/Wazoo box set will come out on Dec. 16 and is available for preorder now.
The five-disc collection features alternate takes of nearly every song from both albums, a Blu-Ray Audio disc containing remixed and remastered versions of both albums, Zappa-produced demos for jazz keyboardist and composer George Duke, and live footage recorded in Boston and San Francisco in 1972.
You can see the full Waka/Wazoo track listing and preview the set with an alternate take of “Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus” below.
Zappa created Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo under extenuating circumstances. After being pushed offstage by a fan during a concert at London’s Rainbow Theatre, he spent months recovering at his Los Angeles home. The wheelchair-bound Zappa assembled a 20-piece group of musicians known as the Electric Orchestra for recording sessions and an eight-city tour. He later scaled down to a 10-piece Petite Wazoo orchestra and launched another nearly two-month tour with the group.
Waka/Wazoo contains a live rendition of “Approximate” featuring the Electric Orchestra from Sept. 24, 1972, at the Boston Music Hall — the only known live recording of the full group — as well as the Petite Wazoo’s final show of the tour at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on Dec. 15, 1972.
The box set will be fleshed out with a 44-page photo booklet and liner notes from Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers and writer Scott Parker.
In addition to the box set, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo will both be available on vinyl again for the first time since the late ’70s. They’re available for preorder on translucent green and brown marble vinyl, respectively, at Zappa’s website.
Frank Zappa, ‘Waka/Wazoo’ Track Listing
CD 1
Paramount Studios Recording Session Alternates and Outtakes
1. Your Mouth (Take 1)
2. Big Swifty (Alternate Take)
3. Minimal Art (Eat That Question – Version 1, Take 2)
4. Blessed Relief (Outtake Version)
5. Think It Over (The Grand Wazoo) (Outtake Version)
6. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) (Outtake Version)
7. Waka/Jawaka (Outtake Version)
CD 2
Paramount Studios Recording Session Alternates and Outtakes, continued
1. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (Alternate Take)
2. Eat That Question (Version 2, Alternate Take)
3. Big Swifty (Alternate Mix)
4. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers) (Alternate Mix)
5. It Just Might Be A One-Shot Deal (Alternate Mix)
6. Waka/Jawaka (Alternate Mix)
7. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (Alternate Mix)
8. Eat That Question (Alternate Mix)
CD 3
George Duke Demos – The Master Versions
1. For Love (I Come Your Friend)
2. Psychosomatic Dung
3. Uncle Remus (Instrumental)
4. Love
George Duke Session Outtakes
5. For Love (I Come Your Friend) (Basic Track, Take 1)
6. Psychosomatic Dung (Basic Track, Take 2)
7. Love (Basic Track, Take 1)
The Grand Wazoo – Live
8. Approximate (Live – FZ Record Plant Mix)
10-Piece/Petite Wazoo – Live / Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA – 12-15-1972
9. Winterland ’72 Opening And Band Introductions
10. Little Dots
CD 4
10-Piece/Petite Wazoo – Live, continued
Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA – 12-15-1972
1. America Drinks
2. Montana
3. Farther O’Blivion
4. Cosmik Debris
5. Chunga’s Revenge
Blu-Ray Audio
Waka/Jawaka
1. Big Swifty
2. Your Mouth
3. It Just Might Be A One-Shot Deal
4. Waka/Jawaka
The Grand Wazoo
1. The Grand Wazoo
2. For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)
3. Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus
4. Eat That Question
5. Blessed Relief
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