''Roxy by Proxy'' is a live album by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

, recorded in December 1973 at

The Roxy Theatre The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic. History The Roxy was opened on September 23, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along wit ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, California and released posthumously in March 2014 by The Zappa Family Trust on

Zappa Records Zappa Records is an American record label based in Los Angeles which was founded by Frank Zappa in 1977. It was mostly inactive during the 1980s and 1990s, but was revived in 2006 by the Zappa Family Trust. History In May 1976, Zappa ended his re ...

History

In September 1974, parts of the five shows on December 8, 9 & 10, 1973 (early and late shows on 9th and 10th) at

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...

, California were released on the double-LP set ''

Roxy & Elsewhere ''Roxy & Elsewhere '' is a double live album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers, released on September 10, 1974. Most of the songs were recorded on December 8, 9 and 10, 1973 at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California. Overview The material taken ...

'', along with music recorded a few months later (on May 8, 1974, at the Edinboro State College, Edinboro, Pennsylvania and on May 11, 1974, at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois), with all of that material being overdubbed and remixed. ''Roxy by Proxy'' consists of unreleased material recorded live from the four shows held on December 9 & 10, 1973 at The Roxy (early and late shows). The album uses a mix from March/April 1987 by Bob Stone at the

Utility Muffin Research Kitchen The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen (UMRK) is a recording studio built in 1979 by musician, composer, songwriter, and bandleader Frank Zappa at his home in Los Angeles, California. The home and recording studio has been owned by Lady Gaga since 2 ...

. ''Roxy by Proxy'' presents the material without overdubs, closer to what the audiences heard live (some songs are combinations from different shows), and is different from material released on ''Roxy & Elsewhere'' in 1974. Additional material from these shows was released on ''Roxy The Movie'' and '' Roxy the Soundtrack'' in 2015, with new mix by

Bruce Botnick Bruce Botnick (born 1945) is an American audio engineer and record producer, best known for his work with the Doors, the Beach Boys, Eddie Money, Love and film composer Jerry Goldsmith. Early work Botnick engineered Love's first two albums, a ...

. All five shows were released in full on '' The Roxy Performances'' 7 CD box set in 2018, with audio restoration and 2016 mixes by Craig Parker Adams.

Track listing

All songs produced, composed and realized by Frank Zappa.

Personnel

Musicians

– lead guitar, vocals *

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

– keyboards, synthesizer, vocals * Tom Fowler – bass *

Ruth Underwood Ruth Underwood (born Ruth Komanoff; May 23, 1946) is an American musician best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. She collaborated with the Mothers of I ...

– percussion *

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, a ...

– trombone, dancing (?) *

Napoleon Murphy Brock Napoleon Murphy Brock (born June 7, 1945) is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums '' Apostrophe (')'', '' Roxy & Elsewhere'', '' One Size Fits All'', ...

–

tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

, flute, vocals * Ralph Humphrey – drums *

Chester Thompson Chester Cortez Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, the progressive rock band Genesis and Phil Collins as a solo artist. Thom ...

– drums

Mixing

* 1987 Digital Re-Mix Engineer – Bob Stone, UMRK March/April * Source: 44.1K 16B 1630 Digital Masters

References

{{Authority control Frank Zappa live albums 2014 live albums Live albums published posthumously