Läther

Zappa's relationship with long-time manager Herb Cohen ended in 1976. Zappa sued Cohen for skimming more than he was allocated from the DiscReet Records label. The company was co-owned by Zappa and Cohen and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Zappa was also upset with Cohen for signing acts of which Zappa did not approve.[2]

Cohen filed a lawsuit against Zappa in return, which froze the money Zappa and Cohen had gained from an out-of-court settlement with MGM/Verve over the rights to Zappa's early Mothers of Invention recordings. Legal issues also prevented Zappa having access to any of his previously recorded material during the trials. Zappa then took his personal master copies of the album Zoot Allures (1976) directly to Warner, thereby bypassing DiscReet.[3] Cohen claimed that this action violated the terms of his contract with Zappa.

Läther was compiled by Zappa in 1977 from a wide variety of recording sessions over the previous 8 years. The tracks utilize a constantly changing cast of backing musicians.

Most of the songs on Läther are linked together with bits of musical sound effects (musique concrète) and comic dialog from Zappa band members.[4] More of these same bits, or "grouts" as Zappa called them, appear on other albums such as Sheik Yerbouti.[5]

Basic tracks for Lemme Take You to the Beach were recorded during 1969 sessions for Hot Rats. The track was finished in 1976 at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Down in De Dew comes from November 1972 sessions in New York and Los Angeles. For The Young Sophisticate is a studio recording from 1973 and is different than the later live version on Tinsel Town Rebellion. The album's opener Re-Gyptian Strut and several others come from December 1974 sessions at Caribou Ranch in Colorado. More studio tracks also come from 1975 and 1976 work at the Los Angeles Record Plant.

Orchestral pieces come from a September 1975 session with the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra, which was recorded at Royce Hall at UCLA with conductor Michael Zearott. Most of the live tracks were recorded in December 1976 at the Palladium in New York City. A few other live tracks such as Tryin' to Grow a Chin come from a February 1977 London show at the Hammersmith Odeon.[6] This song also appeared in a different later recording on Sheik Yerbouti.

Zappa delivered material for Läther to Warner in March 1977 in the form of 4 individual albums.[7][8][9] Contractual obligations then stipulated that Zappa deliver 4 new albums to Warner for release on DiscReet to complete his contract. Warner did not pay Zappa $60,000 per album upon delivery of the recordings, as the contract required.[10]

A long legal battle between Zappa and Warner occurred, during which no Zappa material was released for more than a year. This eventually resulted in much of the material on Läther being released on 4 separate albums during 1978 and 1979: Zappa in New York, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, and Orchestral Favorites.

The first of these 4 albums was a 2-LP live rock album and was produced with Zappa approved cover art. Two others were single disc jazz and rock studio albums, while the last was made up of orchestral recordings. Therefore, the complete 4 individual album collection actually fills a total of 5 full length LPs.

Warner and Discreet advertised the release of Zappa in New York on schedule in mid 1977. A "Dateline Burbank" ad in the June 30, 1977 issue of Rolling Stone magazine described the release of the album as "imminent".[11] A few uncensored copies appeared by late 1977 but the album was quickly pulled from stores.

Zappa had planned to include much of the material from the 4 individual albums as a 4-LP box set titled Läther.[12] But Warner, wary of a 4-LP box, declined to release it in this format.[1][13][14][15]

Sometime after Warner declined to release the recordings Zappa attempted to get Läther released in the 4-LP box configuration as the first release on the Zappa Records label. He first tried to negotiate a distribution arrangement with Capitol/EMI and then Phonogram Inc. Test pressings were made by Phonogram and the album was scheduled for a Halloween, October 31, 1977 release. But Warner interfered with these releases by claiming rights over the material.[16] Zappa had refused a license to Warner to reproduce the songs[17] and counterclaimed that they did not have the rights.[8]

Zappa responded by appearing on the Pasadena, California radio station KROQ in late 1977. He played the entire test pressing of Läther, while encouraging listeners to make tape recordings of it.[18] Bootlegs of Läther eventually appeared. Some came directly from the test pressing, while lower quality ones were sourced from tapes of the radio broadcast. The bootlegs circulated widely before the album's official release in 1996.[18]

Eventually, Warner issued all 4 individual albums starting in March 1978.[1][14][15] However, the label censored the 1978 version of Zappa in New York by removing the song Punky's Whips as well as other references to Punky Meadows, a member of the American glam rock band Angel. Zappa's original intended title for Sleep Dirt had been Hot Rats III. The change of album title and editing were also done in violation of Zappa's contract.[19] The artwork for the 3 single disc albums was not approved by Zappa. Instead, Warner commissioned the designs from cartoonist Gary Panter. Since Zappa had supplied only the tapes for the final 3 albums they were released by Warner without musician or songwriting credits.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[14]

The official version of Läther was finally released with the authorization of Gail Zappa in September 1996, nearly three years after Frank's death.

It remains debated as to whether Zappa had conceived the material as a 4-LP box set from the beginning, or only later when approaching Phonogram.[20] In the liner notes to the 1996 release, Gail states that "As originally conceived by Frank, Läther was always a 4-record box set."[1] Despite this claim, however, there is no evidence that Zappa ever delivered the 4-LP Läther set to Warner, only the 4 individual albums. Three different interviews published in 1978 explicitly state that Zappa re-edited the 4 individual albums into the Läther 4-LP box and then presented it to Phonogram.[21][10][22]

Allmusic writer Richie Unterberger praised the album, but wrote that it would "appeal far more to the Zappa cultist than the general listener, though the Zappa cult – which has been craving Läther in its original format for years – is a pretty wide fan base in and of itself."[14]

All tracks are written by Frank Zappa.

Disc One, Track 1

• Frank Zappa – percussion
• George Duke – keyboards
• Bruce Fowler – all brass
• James "Bird Legs" Youman – bass
• Ruth Underwood – percussion
• Chester Thompson – drums

Disc One, Track 2; Disc Two, Track 7 & 10

• Frank Zappa – guitar
• Dave Parlato – bass
• Terry Bozzio – drums
• Emil Richards – percussion
• Orchestra conducted by Michael Zearott

Disc One, Track 3 (Part One)

• Frank Zappa – vocal
• George Duke – keyboards

Disc One, Track 3 (Part Two)

• Frank Zappa – lead guitar
• Andre Lewis – keyboards
• Roy Estrada – bass
• Terry Bozzio – drums

Disc One, Track 4, 7 & 8; Disc Three Track 6

• Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals
• Ray White – guitar, vocals
• Eddie Jobson – violin, keyboards
• Patrick O'Hearn – bass
• Terry Bozzio – drums, vocals

Disc One, Track 5

• Frank Zappa – all guitars, bass
• Jim Gordon – drums

Disc One, Track 6

• Frank Zappa – lead guitar, vocals
• George Duke – keyboards
• Tom Fowler – bass
• Ralph Humphrey – drums
• Ricky Lancelotti – vocals

Disc One, Track 9; Disc Two, Track 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8; Disc Three, Track 2

• Frank Zappa – lead guitar, vocals
• Ray White – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Eddie Jobson – violin, keyboards, vocals
• Patrick O'Hearn – bass, vocals
• Terry Bozzio – drums, vocals
• Ruth Underwood – percussion, synthesizer
• David Samuels – timpani, vibes
• Randy Brecker – trumpet
• Michael Brecker – tenor sax, flute
• Lou Marini – alto sax, flute
• Ronnie Cuber – baritone sax, clarinet
• Tom Malone – trombone, trumpet, piccolo
• Don Pardo – sophisticated narration

Disc One, Track 10

• Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals
• Davey Moire – vocals
• Eddie Jobson – keyboards, yodeling
• Max Bennett – bass
• Paul Humphrey – drums
• Don Brewer – bongos

Disc One, Track 11; Disc Three, Track 4

• Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals
• George Duke – keyboards
• Bruce Fowler – trombone
• Tom Fowler – bass
• Chester Thompson – drums

Disc One, Track 12; Disc Three, Track 8

• Frank Zappa – guitar
• George Duke – keyboards
• James "Bird Legs" Youman – bass
• Ruth Underwood – percussion
• Chester Thompson – drums

Disc Two, Track 5 & 9

• Frank Zappa – guitar
• George Duke – keyboards
• Patrick O'Hearn – bass
• Ruth Underwood – percussion
• Chester Thompson – drums

Disc Three, Track 1

• Frank Zappa – guitar, keyboards
• Dave Parlato – bass
• Terry Bozzio – drums

Disc Three, Track 3

• Frank Zappa – guitar, synthesizer
• Patrick O'Hearn – bass
• Terry Bozzio – drums

Disc Three, Track 5

• Frank Zappa – percussion
• George Duke – keyboards
• Bruce Fowler – all brass
• James "Bird Legs" Youman – bass
• Ruth Underwood – percussion
• Chad Wackerman – drum overdubs

Production credits

• Digital Mastering & EQ – Spencer Chrislu
• Transfer Engineers – David Dondorf, Spencer Chrislu
• Vaultmeisterment – Joe Travers
• Bonues Section Assembly, Edits & Mastering – Spencer Chrislu
• Cover Concept – Dweezil Zappa
• Forward Motion – Gail Zappa
• Deep-dish Descriptions – Simon Prentis
• Cover Execution & Layout Design – Steven Jurgensmeyer