Over-Nite Sensation
Encyclopedia
Over-Nite Sensation is an album
by Frank Zappa & The Mothers, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music
). It was recorded in March – June 1973 at these studios: Bolic Sound in Inglewood
, Whitney, in Glendale
, and Paramount
in Los Angeles
. The album was released in both the 2-channel stereo
and 4-channel quadraphonic
formats.
The album is considered a turning point in Zappa's career, since its approach to music is very different from what he had done before. It was a more accessible sound - and second album to be certified Gold by the RIAA in the US - with a series of relatively straightforward songs, though not without Zappa's typical musical challenges. Zappa manages to craft in 3-to-6-minute structures complicated progressive
jazz-rock arrangements, as well as some funk
and other styles. The lyrics are generally humorous; several songs are concerned with sex ("Dirty Love", "Camarillo Brillo", "Zomby Woof" and - most forthrightly - "Dinah-Moe Humm") and one with social commentary ("I'm the Slime", an attack on television). Other songs are "Fifty-Fifty" and "Montana".
Over-Nite Sensation and the following album Apostrophe (')
, recorded with the same group of musicians, are the subject of a Classic Albums
series documentary from Eagle Rock Entertainment
, released on DVD May 1, 2007.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Frank Zappa & The Mothers, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music
1973 in music
-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
). It was recorded in March – June 1973 at these studios: Bolic Sound in Inglewood
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
, Whitney, in Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
, and Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The album was released in both the 2-channel stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
and 4-channel quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...
formats.
The album is considered a turning point in Zappa's career, since its approach to music is very different from what he had done before. It was a more accessible sound - and second album to be certified Gold by the RIAA in the US - with a series of relatively straightforward songs, though not without Zappa's typical musical challenges. Zappa manages to craft in 3-to-6-minute structures complicated progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
jazz-rock arrangements, as well as some funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and other styles. The lyrics are generally humorous; several songs are concerned with sex ("Dirty Love", "Camarillo Brillo", "Zomby Woof" and - most forthrightly - "Dinah-Moe Humm") and one with social commentary ("I'm the Slime", an attack on television). Other songs are "Fifty-Fifty" and "Montana".
Over-Nite Sensation and the following album Apostrophe (')
Apostrophe (')
Apostrophe is an album by Frank Zappa, his eighteenth, released on March 22, 1974 in both stereo and quadraphonic formats. An edited version of its lead-off track, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow", was Zappa's first chart single, reaching position 86. Apostrophe remains Zappa's biggest commercial...
, recorded with the same group of musicians, are the subject of a Classic Albums
Classic Albums
Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.-Format:...
series documentary from Eagle Rock Entertainment
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Eagle Rock Entertainment is the largest producer and distributor of music programming for DVD, Blu-Ray, TV and Digital Media in the world. Eagle works directly alongside talent to produce top quality, high-definition and 3D programs, both concerts and documentaries, including The Rolling Stones,...
, released on DVD May 1, 2007.
Side one
- "Camarillo BrilloCamarillo brillo"Camarillo Brillo" is a song by Frank Zappa and was first included on his 1973 LP Over-Nite Sensation. The song's lyrics make use of many colloquialisms and made-up words. The title itself is a pun; Zappa incorrectly pronounces Camarillo, the name of a city in California, to rhyme with Brillo, a...
" – 3:59 - "I'm the Slime" – 3:34
- "Dirty Love" – 2:58
- "Fifty-Fifty" – 6:09
Side two
- "Zomby Woof" – 5:10
- "Dinah-Moe Humm" – 6:01
- "MontanaMontana (Frank Zappa song)Montana is a song composed by Frank Zappa for his 1973 LP Over-Nite Sensation. The last track on the album is one of Zappa's most famous and renowned compositions...
" – 6:35
Musicians
- Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
on all tracks except "Fifty-Fifty" and most of "Zomby Woof" - George DukeGeorge DukeGeorge Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
– synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, keyboards - Bruce FowlerBruce FowlerBruce Lambourne Fowler is a prominent American trombone player and composer. He notably played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart, and in the Fowler Brothers Band...
– tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Tom Fowler – bass
- Ralph Humphrey – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Ricky Lancelotti – vocals on "Fifty-Fifty" and "Zomby Woof"
- Sal Marquez – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, vocals on "Dinah-Moe Humm" - Jean-Luc PontyJean-Luc PontyJean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, baritone violin - Ian UnderwoodIan UnderwoodIan Robertson Underwood is a woodwind and keyboards player. He began his career by playing San Francisco Bay Area coffeehouses and bars with his improvisational group the Jazz Mice in the mid 1960s before he became a member of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in 1967 for their third studio...
– clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Ruth UnderwoodRuth UnderwoodRuth Underwood is a retired professional musician, best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention from 1967 to 1977....
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, marimbaMarimbaThe marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family.... - Kin VassyKin VassyCharles Kindred "Kin" Vassy was a singer-songwriter who in addition to his solo recordings also recorded with other artists, most notably Kenny Rogers, Frank Zappa and Elvis Presley....
– vocals on "I'm the Slime", "Dinah-Moe Humm" and "Montana" - Tina TurnerTina TurnerTina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
and the Ikettes - Backing vocals (uncredited)
Production staff
- Producer: Frank Zappa
- Engineers: Fred Borkgren, Steve Desper, Terry Dunavan, Barry Keene, Bob Stone
- Remixing: Kerry McNabb
- Digital remastering: Bernie Grundman, Bob Stone (1986 edition) Spencer Chrislu (1993 edition)
- Arranger: Frank Zappa
- Technician: Paul Hof
- Cover design: Ferenc Dobronyi, Cal SchenkelCal SchenkelCal Schenkel is an artist specialising in album cover design. He was the main visual collaborator for Frank Zappa and was responsible for the art and graphic design of many of Zappa's most well-known album covers. Schenkel's work is iconic and distinctive in style; a forerunner of punk art and...
- Illustrations: David McMacken
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Pop Albums | 32 |