Zappa in New York is a doublelive album by Frank Zappa (and his 23rd album overall), released internationally in March 1978. It was recorded in December 1976 at a series of concerts at the Palladium in New York City.
Zappa in New York was released in Europe by Zappa's DiscReet Records label in 1977, then quickly withdrawn by Warner Bros. Records, the distributor of Discreet. A second edited and censored version was re-released internationally in March 1978. The 1978 edition reached #57 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States.
The album features members of the Saturday Night Live band, including Lou Marini and Tom Malone, as well as the Brecker Brothers. In addition, Don Pardo was invited by Zappa to the Palladium concert, and he provides introductory narrations to "Punky's Whips" and "The Illinois Enema Bandit". Immediately following the 1976 concerts, Zappa spent time in the studio adding a significant number of overdubs to the live recordings.
Several of these recordings were also included on the shelved album Läther, including "The Illinois Enema Bandit", "The Black Page #1", "Big Leg Emma", "Punky's Whips", "The Purple Lagoon" and "I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth."
On the 1991 CD version, Pardo also delivers a verse of "I'm the Slime" (he did the same for Zappa's 1976 Saturday Night Live appearance).
Zappa in New York was first released in early 1977 with Zappa's original track listing. A small number of LP copies reached stores before the album was quickly withdrawn. In 1978, some original cassette copies also appeared in the United States, though, apparently by mistake.
Before re-issuing the album in March 1978, Warner Bros. Records removed one of the longest songs, "Punky's Whips". This reduced the playing time of side one to a mere ten minutes, moving "Big Leg Emma" from side 2 to the end of side 1; "Titties & Beer" was also edited to remove references to the song "Punky's Whips". The censorship and changes made to the album without Zappa's consent violated his contract, which gave him total artistic control.
When Zappa's distribution agreement with Warner Bros. ended in 1982, all release rights reverted to him. Zappa re-issued Zappa in New York as a double CD album in 1991 with the addition of four bonus tracks ("Cruisin' for Burgers", "Punky's Whips", "I'm the Slime", "The Torture Never Stops"). The CD reissue was remixed to feature guitar overdubs that were recorded at the time of the album's original issue but not included on the 1978 LP. The CD reissue also contained an alternate recording of "Punky's Whips" and the full-length unedited recording of "Titties & Beer".
In 2019, the Zappa Family Trust commemorated the 40th anniversary of the release of the album with two releases - a 3-LP set combining the 1978 LP release with a bonus LP of vault material, and a 5-CD deluxe box. The 5-CD set was packaged in an embossed tin box shaped to look like a NYC street manhole cover. The 5-CD box contains the original uncensored 1977 vinyl version with full original track list. It also features over 3 hours of bonus live performances from the four nights at the Palladium, and a fifth disc of vault material (including a song left off the LP due to time constraints), plus a replica of a Palladium show ticket.[2]
[1]