Jazz related lounge - “Chunga’s Revenge” Returns to Vinyl After 30 Years

Zappa Records/UMe will reissue Frank Zappa's 1970 album, Chunga's Revenge, on vinyl for the first time in over three decades on July 20, as part of the Zappa Family Trust and UMe's ongoing initiative to restore the iconoclast's iconic catalog.

Chunga's Revenge was one of three albums that the highly prolific composer-musician released in 1970, following Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. The album, which resulted from various sessions during that year, introduced a new Mothers lineup and marked the first appearance of former Turtles members, bassist Jeff Simmons and keyboardist-trombonist George Duke, also known as Flo & Eddie, on a Zappa record. The record ebbs and flows between instrumental and vocal tracks and, as noted by Zappa himself on the original sleeve, "all vocals in this album are a preview of the story from 200 Motels," his acclaimed film and soundtrack released the following year.

From the funky guitar of opening track "Transylvania Boogie" to the jazzy "Twenty Small Cigars" to "The Nancy & Mary Music," the almost 10-minute long three-part improvisational suite recorded live that sees each band member flexing their musical muscles for a freewheeling freak-out of epic proportions, Chunga's Revenge is an eclectic affair that sees the ever-restless Zappa and his Mothers traipse through a variety of genres with aplomb. Other tracks include the bluesy send-up "Road Ladies," side B opening hard rocker "Tell Me You Love Me," warped pop tune "Would You Go All the Way," and the two closing tracks "Rudy Wants To Buy Yez a Drink" and "Sharleena" that particularly showcase the vocal talents of Flo & Eddie.

Unavailable for three decades, the last pressing of Chunga's Revenge was in 1986 for Zappa's rare Old Masters Box Two released on his own Barking Pumpkin Records label. The LP will receive a 180-gram audiophile repressing on black vinyl, was specially mastered with all analog production and cut directly from the original 1970 analog master tapes, and will include meticulously reproduced original artwork. A limited edition color vinyl version is also in the works to be released on the same date.