Sleep Dirt

In early 1976, Zappa's relationship with manager and business partner Herb Cohen ended in litigation. Zappa and Cohen's company DiscReet Records was distributed by Warner Bros. Records. When Zappa asked for a reassignment of his contract from DiscReet to Warner in order to advance the possibility of doing special projects without Cohen's involvement, Warner agreed. This led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures on Warner. But Warner changed its position following legal action from Cohen.

At this point Zappa was contracted to deliver 4 more albums to Warner for release on Discreet. During 1977 Zappa delivered master tapes to Warner to fulfill his contract. Zappa did not receive payment by Warner upon delivery of the tapes, which was a contract violation.

After a legal battle the material was eventually released during 1978 and 1979 on 4 individual albums: Zappa In New York, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites.

Much of the material from these tapes was also compiled by Zappa in 1977 into a 4-LP box set called Läther. Zappa negotiated a distribution deal with Phonogram Inc. to release Läther as the first release on the Zappa Records label. The album was scheduled for a Halloween October 31, 1977 release date. But Warner claimed ownership of the material and threatened legal action, preventing the release of Läther and forcing Zappa to shelve the project.

As Zappa had delivered only the tapes to Warner Bros. Sleep Dirt was released with no musician credits.[3] Warner also commissioned sleeve art by cartoonist Gary Panter, which was not approved by Zappa.

The album was first released on CD in 1991, along with Panter's artwork. Panter would later provide additional art for the album when it was reissued in 1995. Much of the material on Sleep Dirt was made available to the public again in a different form when Läther was finally officially released posthumously in 1996.

Five of the album's seven tracks were later released on the shelved album Läther. "Flambay" and "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution" appeared on that album in edited versions.

The 1979 LP version of Sleep Dirt was entirely instrumental. However, with the first CD release in September 1991, Zappa added new overdubs to the recordings.

Sometime in the early 1980s Zappa asked singer Thana Harris to add her vocals to three songs from this album "Flambay", "Spider of Destiny", and "Time is Money". These vocal versions appeared on the 1991 CD re-issue of Sleep Dirt. Harris sings the part of a character named "Drakma: Queen of Cosmic Greed" created by Zappa in 1972 for the stage musical Hunchentoot, which never materialized.

At about the same time Chad Wackerman also overdubbed new drum tracks on Flambay, Spider of Destiny and Regyptian Strut, which replaced the original drum parts. The initial 1991 CDs retained the original version of "Regyptian Strut", but this was changed for later releases. Both versions of the track can now be found on the Läther CD. Wackerman did not overdub drums on "Time is Money" even though he is credited for this in the CD notes. The 2012 Universal Music reissue on CD reverts to the original 1979 vinyl version of the album.

The creature shown on the cover is Hedorah from the 1971 Toho film Godzilla vs. Hedorah.[4]

All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa.[5]

• Frank Zappa – guitar, percussion, keyboards, synthesizer
• Patrick O'Hearn – bass guitar
• Terry Bozzio – drums
• George Duke – keyboards, vocals
• Bruce Fowler – brass
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering, equalization
• Gary Panter – art director
• Dave Parlato – bass guitar
• Bob Stone – mastering, remastering, equalization
• Chester Thompson – drums
• Ruth Underwood – percussion, keyboards
• James "Bird Legs" Youman – bass guitar, rhythm guitar
• Thana Harris – vocals (CD remix)
• Chad Wackerman – drum overdubs (CD remix)

Album - Billboard (United States)