Sleep Dirt

Sleep Dirt is an album by Frank Zappa released on January 19, 1979, on his own DiscReet Records label. It reached #175 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

The album's creation was spurred by Warner Bros.' rejection of Zappa's Läther album. After demanding more albums than Zappa was contractually obliged to provide and reediting the live album Zappa in New York, a lawsuit ensued, during which Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites were issued without Zappa's permission. This is Official Release #25.

Background

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 briefly agreed. This led to the 1976 release of Zoot Allures on Warner. Early in 1977, Zappa delivered the master tapes for a quadruple-LP set, entitled Läther, which he intended as his "swan song" for Warner Bros. However, Warner changed its position following legal action from Cohen, and refused to release the album, claiming that Zappa was contractually bound to deliver four more albums to Warner for the DiscReet label.

Sleep Dirt (instrumental)

Sleep Dirt is an acoustic guitar duet featuring Frank Zappa and James Youman on Zappa's album Sleep Dirt that pursues the close-up intimacy of Zoot Allures as an insistent peaceful motif with conventional evocation. The song as well as the album was named after the secretion that accumulates in the corner of the eye during sleep.

The song's tone is described as intimate as Frank Zappa's sliding left hand gives it a special flavor. Zappa played a fast paced solo, while Youman played the accompaniment. The track has some of the dreamy intensity of half-conscious perception as Youman falters at the end and Zappa asks, "you getting tired?"; "no, my fingers got stuck."

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