Notes & Comments
A loss-leader for Bizarre, with at least four different versions:
Straight/Bizarre also put out a sampler album of its "product" at the same time as Uncle Meat and the Lenny Bruce albums were issued (April, 1969 [it seems to have actually been 1970, probably February —Ed.]). The sampler was called Zapped, was available mail-order from Warner Brothers in the States, and was a real loss-leader, selling for just one dollar. It featured tracks from albums by Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention, Wild Man Fischer, The GTO's, Tim Buckley, Tim Dawe, Jeff Simmons, Lord Buckley, Alice Cooper, and the redoubtable Captain Beefheart.
The Different Versions Of The Album
From: Ryan Davenport (sleds[at]home.com)
I have a bit of information regarding the Zappd album. The Zappa
Patio web site seems to indicate that the Hot Rats cover album was
released first, with the collage cover following later. I have both of
them, and both mention February 1970 on the back cover as the date of
release. Whereas the collage cover album says that it includes tracks
from all Bizarre / Straight albums except for "Uncle Meat", the Hot Rats
cover album also adds the Lenny Bruce album "The Berkeley Concert" as
not being represented.
The liner notes on the two versions are not identical. There are
a number of paragraphs on the collage album that are not on the other
album. This makes me think that the collage version came first, and the
version with the Hot Rats photo came second (the second album maybe had
some text left off in order to make it all fit the space nicer). The
matrix number on both sides of the photo version includes the characters
"RE1", as in "revision 1", which would also make you think the collage
version came first.
Patrick Neve's web site would confirm this—he shows a release
date for the collage version of Nov 10 / 69, while the photo version has a
release date of Feb 3 / 70. Still, that doesn't explain the February
1970 reference on the back cover of the collage version, or why a Nov 69
release would include a track from Burnt Weeny Sandwich, released in Feb
1970 .....
Now for the strange part. One of my copies of the collage album
is mislabeled. The record itself is the version shown on the collage
album's track listing, with "Valerie" as the 1st Zappa track on side 2.
The labels, however, belong to the photo version, with "Holiday In
Berlin" shown for that track.
And, in another difference from what is shown on the Patio, both
of my other collage cover copies (with the correct labels) have blue /
green Bizarre labels, not the Warner Bros. labels.
From Jim (July 12, 2005)
I have an album by John Renbourn-Sir John Alot Of Merrie Englandes Musyk Thyng & Ye Grene Knyght-Reprise-6344 and the back cover is ZAPPED. The record inside is John Renbourn. It's strange that Reprise glued on the wrong back cover!
Zappéd
HOT RATS Photo Cover Version
11/10/69 LP Warner/Reprise/Bizarre PRO 368
Released with Bizarre labels. From U:
The cover picture is a black & white photo of Zappa which also appears in the Hot Rats CD booklet (Zappa looks into the camera, wearing a little scarf tied around his neck). The inner sleeve states that it's an album in the Warner/Reprise Loss Leader Record series, which was a series of 4 or 5 double LPs, $2 each, and one single LP, Zappéd, $1. The back cover, inner sleeve and record labels say "Zappéd", while the front cover says "Zapped".
From Inside the Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders:
A single disc featuring acts on Frank Zappa's Bizarre/Straight labels. Notes by John Mendelsohn.
NOTE: This is the first release, with Zappa's Bizarre logo on the label; Warners later reissued it with a standard WB label and the same number, but different cover art and a few different tracks. (Our thanks to Keith Hanlon, your source on the Web for all things Judy Henske, for this revelation.)
Zappéd
Collage Cover Version
02/03/70 Bizarre/Reprise PRO 368
From Svend Rosendahl:
I have the version with the collage photo cover: A collage made of black & white photos of the artists playing on this record. On the front in the upper right corner ZAPPÉD is printed in red in a semicircle. The label is Bizarre/Reprise PRO 368, and it was Released in February 1970. Cover design by Nancy Chester, and liner notes by John Mendelsohn (Warner Brothers Records).
The liner notes also state that "Zappéd includes tracks from all Bizarre/Straight albums released to date (February 1970), with the exception of the Mothers' Uncle Meat (Reprise 2024)".
Zappéd
Australian Version
1972 Reprise RS 5270 in Australia
(the Australian version was not a Loss Leader)
From Collecting Frank Zappa in Australia—Part 1: The Early Years, an article by Stuart Penny in it—The Australian Record Collectors Magazine, Issue #14 June-July-August 1995 (provided by Henry Griggs, Sydney, Australia):
Never on sale in the shops, the US version of Zappéd was a (sort of) promo-only sampler featuring tracks from the likes of Captain Beefheart, GTO's, Wild Man Fischer etc., and was available only by mail-order direct from Warner Bros for the princely sum of US$1! Strange then, that in 1972, the album should appear in Australia as a full-blown commercial release! Issued with the "Zappa" ["Hot Rats"] photo cover/track listing, the Oz version of Zappéd (Reprise RS 5270) was issued as a mid-price release and, as such, appears to have sold reasonably well. Although copies are not especially difficult to find, the fact that Australia appears to be the only country in the world where this LP was released commercially increases the desirability factor somewhat.
Additional informants: Robert Cloos, The Torchum Never Stops.
Thanks to That Guy from KUNG FU CULT MASTER for letting me basically mirror his page.
—Patrick Neve
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