FRANK ZAPPA / MOI Uncle Meat RARE Orig UK Transatlantic

	£		46
	$		61

Artist or Band: THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION

Album Title: Uncle Meat .

Produced and Conducted by: Frank Zappa.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Uncle Meat; The Voice of Cheese; Nine Types of Industrial Pollution (incorrectly titled ‘400 Days of the Year’ on the labels); Zolar Czakl; Dog Breath in The Year of the Plague; The Legend of the Golden Arches; Louie Louie; The Dog Breath Variations. Side 2: Sleeping in a Jar; our Bizarre Relationship; The Uncle Meat Variations; Electric Aunt Jemima; Prelude to King Kong; God Bless America; A Pound for a Brown on the Bus; Ian Underwood Whips it Out. Side 3: Mr Green Genes; We Can Shoot You; If We’d All Been Living in California; The Air; Project X; Cruising for Burgers. Side 4: King Kong Itself; King Kong by Don Preson; King Kong by Motorhead; King Kong the Gardener varieties; King Kong ‘deranged’; King Kong by Ian Underwood.

Label/Format: Transatlantic – original purple and white format. Please note the early error, ‘Nine Types of Industrial Pollution’ is incorrectly titled ‘400 Days of the Year’ which can be seen on my label scan.

Label Conditions: All four immaculate with any few spindle marks being ultra fine and faint.

Cat Number: TRA 197.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Records: 108 / 135 grams. Unusually inconsistent in weight but both are prime examples. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity and Special Note About This Album & Copy: This is a rare UK version on Transatlantic, it is far more elusive than the US versions. As I understand it, the UK version did not include a commercially available book but a UK book does exist and I have actually had one, just the once. This is ultra rare and has different artwork and four extra pages, it was given away at the Mothers gigs from the late 60s. Unfortunately, this copy does NOT include it and I will be very surprised if I ever find another. Only the first pressed US editions included the regular book, Herb and Frank inners and a cover sticker but most offered are later versions and omit them all. The UK version I regard as one of the rarest original UK Zappa albums ever made. Transatlantic was a small independent label that specialised more in folk music, this was not a typical title to be found on this collectable label. Uncle Meat was issued at the time Zappa’s Bizarre/Straight record label was founded, with a deal with Reprise Records. In the UK Reprise were distributed by Pye and this company has no interest in this title or band. Being far too uncommercial, weird and with use of the ‘F’ expletive and content they simply wanted nothing to do with it. Bizzare/Straight made a deal with Transatlantic to release Uncle Meat in the UK until Reprise got a new UK distributor deal. Being only a small label, Transatlantic lacked the finance to promote Uncle Meat and is a major factor why the UK version NEVER included the book and sold poorly. When Reprise finalised a deal with CBS the Straight albums had the Pye text overprinted. Most owners of this album have US copies, either originals and more often reissues. Many collectors will not own a UK copy and most that are found are in very poor conditions. This is the genuine article, and both records are in very fine visual and playing conditions. The label on side one has the incorrect title for Nine Types of Industrial Pollution. This includes the rare MacNeill Press Ltd UK Cover (please see the imprint in close up), not a US printed version, this is much more elusive. This was the only Mothers album to be issued on this lovely classic label.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: STRA 197 A1 / STRA 197 B1 / STRA 197 C1 / STRA 197 D1 /

Musicians: Frank Zappa – guitar, percussion, vocals; Ray Collins - vocals; Jimmy Carl Black - drums; Roy Estrada - electric bass, vocal; Don Preston - electric piano; Billy Mundi - drums; Bunk Gardner - piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, bassoon (all mostly electrified); Ian Underwood - electric organ, pinao, harpsichord, celeste, flute, clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax; Art Tripp - drums, timpani, vibes, marimba, xylophone, wood blocks, bells, small chimes; Euclid James (Motorhead) Sherwood - frenetic sax; tambourine. Guests: Ruth Komanoff (later Underwood) - marimba, vibes; Nelcy Walker - soprano vocal.

Brief Artist & Album Info: It was with great sadness I read the death of Jimmy Carl Black – ‘Indian of the Group’ in this months ‘Record Collector’ magazine aged 71. One of the original Mothers of Invention who featured on the debut ‘Freak Out’ in 1966, he played drums and occasionally sang. On this Mothers classic, Jimmy features strongly and includes his famous conversation with Zappa about the plight of the band’s finances. In terms of ‘progressive’ music, they don’t come much more progressive than this awesome album. One of the cornerstones of a serious Zappa collection, a UK Transatlantic copy of this brilliantly inventive, experimental and challening album. An amazing blend of psych and free-jazz and very experimental. The use of early electronics and treatments of voices and traditional musical instruments is quite mind-blowing. This was the Mothers of Invention with eleven members, it introduces us to Ruth Komanoff (later Underwood) a massively talented classically-trained percussionist who really understood Zappa’s complex music and plays the distinctive marimba and other vibes on this remarkable double set. Zappa was still printing Edgard Varèse’s quote on his albums - ‘The present day composer refuses to die!’ - but so far his talent for outrage had somewhat obscured his skills as a composer. Uncle Meat aimed to put that right, a double set release that downplayed lyrics. ‘Basically this is an instrumental album’, it stated inside the gatefold. A note described the technique of overdubbing, which was used extensively, opening up the weird world of virtual orchestration. New recruits, Art Tripp and Komanoff were both added on percussion with Black. They helped Zappa realise some of his fiendish metrical ingenuities. Ian Underwood played harpsichord: a jangling, absurdist quality infuses all the music. Uncle Meat eventually became a great favourite in Europe, and almost singlehandedly gave birth to the genre of ‘Art Rock’. The music was to be used in the movie of the same name, but never got actually finished until much later (the money ran out). This is Zappa at the very peak of creativity, predominately instrumental, but not all, it includes some classic live performances taken from tours in the US and UK. ‘Louie Louie’ features Don Preston on the ‘mighty Royal Albert Hall Pipe Organ’ and the band also demolish ‘God Bless America’ (an equivalent statement to the distortions Hendrix was applying to ‘Star Spangled Banner’). Pamela Zarubica (a one time house-mate) appeared as the ‘Voice of the Cheese’ - Zappa takes the listener from domestic intimacy to rock-venue spectacle in breathtaking lurches. Every track is interesting in its complexity either vocally, or more so instrumentally. Zappa’s solo on ‘Nine Type of Industrial Pollution’ has inspired many guitarists in the future with its strange chord structures and sound. And ‘The Air’ had lyrics about customs searches and tape recordings and ‘If We’d all Been Living in California’ is a conversation between Jimmy Carl Black and Zappa about why the Mothers were not making more money being on the road and being near destitute. The album’s piece-de-resistance is Side D taken up by one of Zappa’s greatest compositions: ‘King Kong’, this is a six section instrumental featuring some blistering solos from Underwood on electric alto sax, Motorhead on a deranged baritone sax and best of all Bunk Gardner’s solo. Many assume this is a treated electric saxophone solo but not so, the amazing sounds are created on an electric clarinet - you have never heard nothing like this before - the reed’s spit and rasp and creates a sound possibly unique to this amazing album. The instrument is simply blown to destruction, this is Gardner’s tour de force, his finest moment with the Mothers. The large band is in overdrive on ‘Kong Kong’ and sounds created are astonishing. I compared this vinyl record against the new Japanese card cover CD and the vinyl has the edge in all departments with more detail and depth. The prelude to King Kong on side B is pretty amazing too, a vast free-form jazz rock instrumental - this is the band blowing at their very best. (Check out the CD Pachuco Hop if you can find it for more of the same, recorded live in Toronto 1969 - its incredible). For any Zappa fan who has not heard this amazing journey into free jazz and weird creativity, this has to be experienced. This UK pressing plays supremely well with barely anything unwanted. The sounds embedded in these vintage grooves are priceless and so far ahead of their time they still sound remarkable today. The use of early synths and electronic effects was groundbreaking, and no other album sounds quite like this, this record and its importance in progressive and jazz rock is undeniable. If it proved to weird for you back in the late 60s, give it another try today, the best records take time to fully appreciate and this is more than worthy of perseverance. Zappa truly was the Father of Invention, this elusive and scarce UK original should please most collectors and I doubt if I will ever find a much cleaner overall examples of the records. The cover is unusally attractive because most are found falling apart. Both US and UK versions are delicate and prone to rubbing and seam splits. The original owner of this one realised this fact and reinforced the edges with clear tape that has now dried out and fallen off but left residues mostly visible on the inside of the gatefold. The outer faces show these residues far less. Regarding this man’s work – this is truly one of the very best ever, long overdue more vinyl fans discovered it. Weird? oh yes, very much so – enjoy!

Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very high++. Both UK and US covers are notoriously fragile and split, rub and wear so easily unless stored and handled carefully. Best to keep the records out of the cover all the time.

Cover Grade and Format: Slightly difficult to grade this due to the tape residues on the inside of the edge areas. These are not too excessive and don’t offend the eye’s viewing too much. Bar these blemishes, this would be the very best UK cover I have yet had, at least the delicate edges have avoided splitting and that was its purpose and few avoid such damage. I happily grade this as EX not really taking into account of the removed tape marks. An unlaminated gatefold format and made in England by MacNeill Press. This British copy never included any cover sticker, book or inners as per the first-made US versions. Please see notes above in ‘Rarity’.

Cover Front: Not the prettiest front cover artwork ever made but one of the best I have seen for lack of wear. Any tape residues to the edges barely even show and no damage to the artwork has occurred. Clean with few creases or marks and the lack of rubbing or ringmarks is a real bonus.

Cover Back: Very similar to the front with just a mild ring arc near the top edge. Again any tape residues show little.

Cover Inner Gatefold: All the edges show darkened tape residue marks but little pulling or surface damages have occurred. Bar this protection from the distant past, this inside would look fantastic. Clear tape was applied by many for the best of intentions – to protect the vulnerable edges from splitting, but of course time makes the tape dry out and fall off and usually leaving traces of placement as here. This is a cover design that ‘absorbs’ it better than many but its it still apparent. If this is an issue, please do not bid.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both pairs in great shape with minimal traces of wear and no splits, clearly the tape did a fine job.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean and very sharp with no wear or feathering. Records entered on these right outside edges, again, no splits.

Spine and Text: The spine is also in very fine condition, solid and robust with no compression and barely any wear. All of the important Transatlantic/Bizarre text present and strong with no traces of wear. No splits or stresses and this will prove hard to find like this again.

Corners: Very light tip rubs only and the odd tiny crease but compared to most seen, these are exceptional.

Cover Summary: UK-made examples are at a real premium and even with residue marks, this will take a lot of beating. The more eye-catching outer faces are very clean and attractive and seldom seen much better. Please beware of cover subsitutions, the MacNeill imprint is vitally important as is the TRA number, hence I have highlighted it in close-up.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-) for all four sides, barely played for certain and finding much cleaner playing surfaces for records of this type better will never prove easy. A superb visual pair that are super clean, shiny, jet black and solidly pressed, one a fair bit heavier than the other in this case. A near factory fresh pair and visually immaculate with hardly any noteworthy marks or blemishes, they should please most-all collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippetts or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: Both records play up to their high visual grading with little to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. The details of this Transatlantic vinyl blows away any CD version where some fine information appears missing. Largely devoid of any surface sounds and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing for a very challenging album. Few copies will match or outperform this excellent UK first pressing significantly I feel sure. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading these astonishing records, it’s always a thrill for me to hear this album via the analogue format. This set will prove very difficult to find better and can be strongly recommended.

End Piece: One of the most important, complex and challenging records in the Zappa catalogue. When putting together a collection, the UK Transatlantic version always proves one of the more difficult albums to find. One for the real Zappa fan, this will give years of pleasure and I hope the winning bidder enjoys it as much as I did – do NOT lose this one.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I usually post on Fridays, most will arrive Saturday to make signed-for delivery easier. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£35).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT neccessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.