''Flex-Able Leftovers'' was a limited edition 10" vinyl EP by American composer and guitarist,

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

. It was leftover material from the recordings done during the "Flex-Able" days (1982 to 1984) and originally released in 1984 (see

1984 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984. __TOC__ Specific locations *1984 in British music * 1984 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1984 in country music *1984 in heavy metal music *1984 in hip hop music * ...

). In this regard, it can be perceived as a supplement to the initial release of "Flex-Able". As in the case of the main album, "Flex-Able Leftovers" boast of a Zappa-based stylistic and musical influence.

Background

There were only two EP editions in 1984: * The first issue (limited to 1,000 copies) on Urantia Records. * The second issue, with a different cover artwork/design (limited to 1,000 copies) on Akashic Records. Subsequently, the EP was re-released as a studio album with more tracks in November 1998.

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted. In Side #"You Didn't Break It" (Bob Harris, Suzannah Harris) – 4:14 #"Bledsoe Bluvd" – 4:22 #"The Beast of Love" (Joe Kearney) – 3:29 #"Burnin' Down the Mountain" – 4:22 Out Side #"So Happy" (Vai, Laurel Fishman) – 2:43 #"Details at 10" – 5:57 #"Little Pieces of Seaweed" (Vai, Larry Kutcher) – 5:12 #"Chronic Insomnia" – 2:00

Credits

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

, acoustic and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described b ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

coral sitar An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...

, keyboards,

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* Scott Collard – Synthesizer (Prophet V) * Larry Crane – piccolo xylophone, bell lyre,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist, ...

* Fammin – vocals (screaming) * Laurel Fishman – vocals * Chris Frazier –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

* Joe Kearney – vocals * Larry Kutcher – vocals (narration) and lyrics (for Little Pieces Of Seaweed) *

Stu Hamm Stuart Hamm (born February 8, 1960) is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well as for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings. Career Born in New Orleans, Hamm spent his chil ...

– vocals, bass guitar * Suzannah Harris – background vocals * Bob Harris – vocals programmed by drums *

Tommy Mars Tommy Mars (born Thomas Mariano on October 26, 1951) is an American keyboard player known for his work with Frank Zappa. Mars began piano lessons at age eight, and later his instrument range expanded to various keyboards and synthesizers. Mars ...

– vocals,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, keyboards * Lillian Vai – vocals (crying) * Chad Wackerman – drums * Pete Zeldman –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Technical contributions

* Steve Vai – producer, engineer, mixing, cover artwork/cover design * John Matousek – mastering * Mark Pinske – mastering (assistant)

References

{{Authority control Steve Vai albums 1984 EPs Progressive rock EPs Instrumental rock EPs