The Artisan RS 6406 Test Pressing (acetate)
 [bad word]  edited and produced by FZ, original live recordings engineered by [bad word] Kunc.
Recorded October 1968 – May 1969, mastered at Artisan Sound Recorders, Hollywood CA., mid 1969.

Lineage: Uher and Scully portable 2-track stereo recorders (Track 7 recorded in mono) -> 7-1/2 ips RtR [bad word] and editing by FZ -> master reference dub -> 12” acetate -> Numark TTUSB turntable -> wav -> Adobe Audition 3.0 (declicking) -> flac (219 MB)
Total time: 38:14

- Acetate ripped by RJ, whom we can’t thank enough for his generosity to share this gem!

- Declicking by BengoFury, (one single pass with automatic “light reduction” (AA3.0), and approximately 12 hours of manual work – the “raw” waves aren’t a very pleasant listen)

- Liner notes/deep studying (mainly) by progrockfan with valuable input from pbuzby, drdork, The [bad word] Son, Zappa Penguin & flambay (sorry if I’m missing anyone!)

Side 1

1. Wipe Out
Acetate label attribution: “Shrine Auditorium”

• Time – 3:04
• Official releases – Unreleased.
• Source – There is no record of FZ playing the Shrine Auditorium prior to 23 [bad word] 1974. An informed guess: 6-7 December 1968, The Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles CA.

2. East L.A.
Acetate label attribution: “Columbia University”

• Time – 4:59
• Official releases – Unreleased extended edit. Redacted edits of this track were released as You Call That Music? on the YCDTOSA Sampler LP (the first 3:04 only of this track) and on YCDTOSA 4 (the first 4:07 only).
• Source – 14 [bad word] 1969, Columbia University.

3. Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Acetate label attribution: “The Ballroom”

• Time – 4:09
• Official releases – The first 2:58 of this track was performed at The Ballroom, Stratford CT (not Hartford as stated by FZ in his OM 2 Mystery Disc LP liner notes), and released as Skweezit Skweezit Skweezit on the OM 2 Mystery Disc LP and Mystery Disc CD. The next 1:09 was performed at Thee Image, Miami Beach FL., and released as the last 1:09 of Right There on YCDTOSA 5 (this segment begins with the final [bad word] hit prior to the applause, and ends with FZ’s spoken “Thank you”). The last 0:02 is the end of the applause from the Miami performance; on YCDTOSA this applause is cut short with a cross-fade into Where Is Johnny Velvet? This edit of two disparate live performances explains why Bunk Gardner’s ‘Peggy tape’ does not appear in the acetate mix; in Stratford the tape was not played, and in Miami the tape, if played, had already finished. [bad word] YCDTOSA track Right There begins with a 0:31 segment of Miami live performance not heard on the acetate; a crossfade from live take into Criteria Studios material, which includes the ‘Peggy tape’, can be heard from 0:31 (the beginning of a studio segment of Estrada vocal) to 0:37 (the fadeout of the live horns); the Miami live tape resumes at 4:00 with a hard splice to the final [bad word] hit before the audience applause; a consummate example of FZ’s razor-blade wizardry. This same edit can also be heard as Variations On Theme [bad word] Home Slow on the cassette-sourced Columbia YSA 6477 Test Pressing.
• Source – First 2:58, 16 [bad word] 1969, The Ballroom, Stratford CT; last 1:11, 7 [bad word] 1969, Thee Image, Miami Beach FL.