LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

This 2CD set presents the Straight label years of Zappa´s multi-talented and “shimmering sideman”. Frank Zappa discovered Jeff, who is from Seatttle, at a show in the Shrine Auditorium in L.A., in 1968 while performing with his group Easy Chair (soon to be released on WIS) to open for the Mothers of Invention. Fascinated by Jeff´s talent, he was signed for Straight records. Both albums, "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up" and “Naked Angels” were recorded in 1969. The Lucille album was produced by Zappa under the synonym “La Marr Bruister”, who wrote the title track, played lead guitar on two tracks (Lucille, Raye) and co-wrote "Wonderful Wino”. Lucille contains 10 catchy and powerful bluesy garage tunes, Jeff is "playing a hard-driven and groovy bass, piano, organ and accordion and singing in a style similar to that of Jack Bruce with Cream. Simmons presented a brace of strong, harmonically sophisticated songs that have some of the explosive, multi-hued impact of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. (Ben Watson, excerpted from Frank Zappa: “The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play”)... "No one knows it... not even him... but someday that kid's gonna be a great R&B singer" (Frank Zappa). Jeff was in the Mothers of Invention at the time of 200 Motels, Jeff also played rhythm guitar on Waka/Jawaka and clown about with Frank and George Duke on Roxy & Elsewhere. CD 2 Naked Angels, a soundtrack for a biker movie is a sequence of mostly instrumentals that combine melody and fuzz guitar; heavy, psychedelicized surf-rock. This 2 CD-set presents in a 20p. booklet all original artwork by John Williams, lots of memorabilia from Jeff´s vaults (posters, cool photos). The music was carefully remastered to sound today as fresh as it was 40 years ago, and there are 2 bonustracks. The musical influences that Frank Zappa put into the Lucille album are recognized soon, but Jeff´s individual talent made this album to an all time masterpiece. Never has a musician in psychedelic Rock´n´Roll captured the essence of deep emotion and soul like the shimmering sideman!