The Lost Episodes


The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993.

Album content

The album is also notable for its five tracks which feature Captain Beefheart : "Lost in a Whirlpool", a blues parody from around 1958–59 in which Beefheart sings of being flushed down the toilet; "Tiger Roach", a rhythm and blues track from around three years later; "I'm a Band Leader" from 1969, a spoken word piece written by Zappa and read by Beefheart; "Alley Cat", a blues number in which Zappa plays guitar with two members of Beefheart's Magic Band, and "The Grand Wazoo", a spoken word piece recorded in 1969, to which Zappa added a Synclavier track in 1992 . Dan Glaister, writing in The Guardian, judged the first to be "a passable Bessie Smith cover", adding, "while "Alley Cat" could be a missing track from Clear Spot."
Elsewhere on the disc are included a number of alternate, earlier versions of compositions which were later released on Zappa's studio albums. The Lost Episodes' version of "Any Way the Wind Blows", for instance, was recorded in Cucamonga in around 1963—three years before its appearance on Freak Out!. And the version of "Fountain of Love" here was recorded around the same time, but not released until Cruising with Ruben & the Jets. Several outtakes include the original versions of: "Inca Roads" and "RDNZL", along with a version of Wino Man featuring Ricky Lancelotti on lead vocals. The final track is the original version of Sharleena from the aborted 2nd Hot Rats LP recordings in 1970; featuring Sugarcane Harris on lead vocal.

Track listing

All songs written, composed and arranged by Frank Zappa except where noted.

Personnel