Them or Us
| Them or Us | ||||
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| Studio album by Frank Zappa | ||||
| Released | October 18, 1984 | |||
| Recorded | November 1981 - June 1984 (except "Planet Of My Dreams": 1974) | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, progressive rock, art rock, comedy rock | |||
| Length | 70:45 | |||
| Label | Barking Pumpkin | |||
| Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
| Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Them or Us is an album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1984. Its opening and closing tracks are covers: "The Closer You Are", which was written by Earl Lewis and Morgan Robinson and originally released by The Channels; and "Whippin' Post", originally recorded by The Allman Brothers Band.
Contents |
[edit] Release
Following distribution problems with Zappa's album Thing-Fish, which former Barking Pumpkin distributor MCA Records refused to distribute,[2][3] Zappa made a deal with EMI Records, which would allow Them Or Us and Thing-Fish to be distrubuted by Capitol Records in the United States.[2][3] Zappa wrote a "warning" which appeared on the inner sleeves of these albums, as well as Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention, which stated that the albums contained content "which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress", and a "guarantee" which stated that the lyrics would not "cause eternal torment in the place where the guy with the horns and pointed stick conducts his business."[2][3]
[edit] Track listing
All tracks written by Frank Zappa, except where noted.
[edit] Side one
- "The Closer You Are" (Earl Lewis, Morgan "Bobby" Robinson) – 2:55
- "In France" – 3:30
- "Ya Hozna" – 6:26
- "Sharleena" – 4:33
NOTE: "Ya Hozna" is actually a forward basic track with vocal taken from "Sofa No. 2" (from "One Size Fits All", 1975), "Lonely Little Girl" (from "We're Only In It For The Money", 1968) and an unreleased version of "Drafted Again" (vocals by Moon Zappa) played backwards.
[edit] Side two
- "Sinister Footwear II" – 8:39
- "Truck Driver Divorce" – 8:59
[edit] Side three
- "Stevie's Spanking" – 5:23
- "Baby, Take Your Teeth Out" – 1:54
- "Marqueson's Chicken" – 7:33
- "Planet of My Dreams" – 1:37
[edit] Side four
- "Be in My Video" – 3:39
- "Them or Us" – 5:23
- "Frogs with Dirty Little Lips" (Frank Zappa, Ahmet Zappa) – 2:42
- "Whippin' Post" (Gregg Allman) – 7:32
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Musicians
- Frank Zappa – guitar, keyboards, vocals, arranger, producer, main performer, assistant
- Tommy Mars – keyboards, vocals, soloist
- Patrick O'Hearn – wind, bass guitar
- Scott Thunes – vocals, Minimoog, synthesizer, bass guitar
- Johnny "Guitar" Watson – vocals, guitar
- Ray White – guitar, vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony vocals, harmony
- Moon Unit Zappa – vocals
- Ed Mann – percussion
- Chad Wackerman – drums, vocals
- Ike Willis – vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony vocals, harmony
- Arthur Barrow – bass guitar
- Napoleon Murphy Brock – saxophone, vocals, harmony vocals, harmony
- Brad Cole – piano
- Roy Estrada – vocals, backing vocals, choir, chorus, harmony, bass guitar
- Bob Harris – keyboards, vocals, harmony vocals
- Thana Harris – vocals, harmony
- Steve Vai – guitar, soloist, fills
- Dweezil Zappa – soloist, guitar
- George Duke – keyboards, vocals, piano
- Bobby Martin – keyboards, saxophone, vocals, falssetist, harmony vocals, harmonica
[edit] Production staff
- Mark Pinske – engineer
- John Matousek – mastering
- Gabrielle Raumberger – artwork, graphic design
- Steve Schapiro – photography
- Bob Stone – engineer
[edit] References
- ^ Couture, F. (2011 [last update]). "Them or Us - Frank Zappa | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r53171/review. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMiles; see Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text - ^ a b c Zappa, Frank with Occhiogrosso, Peter (1989). The Real Frank Zappa Book. New York: Poseidon Press. pp. 278-279. ISBN 0-671-63870-X.
