Editing Civilization Phaze III (section)

== Background ==

In 1967, while recording ''[[We're Only in It for the Money]]'' with [[the Mothers of Invention]], [[Frank Zappa]] discovered that the strings of [[Apostolic Recording Studio|Apostolic Studios']] grand piano would resonate if a person spoke near those strings. The "piano people" experiment involved Zappa having various speakers improvise dialogue using topics offered by Zappa. Various people contributed to these sessions, including [[Eric Clapton]], [[Rod Stewart]] and [[Tim Buckley]].<ref name=James>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9AkNKdIuEcC&pg=PA59 | title = Necessity Is: The Early Years of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention | isbn = 9780946719518 | last1 = James | first1 = Billy | date = 2002-10-01}}</ref> The "piano people" voices primarily consisted of Mothers of Invention bandmembers [[Motorhead Sherwood]] and [[Roy Estrada]], Spider Barbour (leader of the rock band Chrysalis), All-Night John (the manager of the studio) and Louis Cuneo, who was noted for his laugh, which sounded like a "psychotic turkey".<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0lyCSdW78-sC&pg=PA84 | title = Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa | isbn = 9780857120434 | last1 = Slaven | first1 = Niel| date = November 17, 2009 | publisher = Music Sales }}</ref>

In 1992, Zappa recorded ''[[The Yellow Shark]]'' with the [[Ensemble Modern]] orchestra, and sampled their instrumentation with his [[Synclavier]]. After revisiting his archives, he decided to create an album which would combine the 1967 "piano people" dialogue, Synclavier music, performances by the Ensemble Modern, and newly recorded dialogue.<ref name=Sitsky>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sgDJKVXraE0C&pg=PA597 | title = Music of the Twentieth-century Avant-garde: A Biocritical Sourcebook | isbn = 9780313296895 | last1 = Sitsky | first1 = Larry | year = 2002| publisher = Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref><ref name=Morin>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ayT5T59ckzIC&pg=PA1067 | title = Classical Music: The Listener's Companion | isbn = 9780879306380 | last1 = Morin | first1 = Alexander J | year = 2002| publisher = Hal Leonard Corporation }}</ref> The project began under the title ''Lumpy Gravy, Phase 3'' (with phase one being ''We're Only in It for the Money'' and phase two being the 1968 version of ''Lumpy Gravy''), but was later changed to ''Civilization Phaze III''.<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0lyCSdW78-sC&pg=PA374 | title = Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa | isbn = 9780857120434 | last1 = Slaven | first1 = Niel| date = November 17, 2009 | publisher = Music Sales }}</ref>

Zappa recorded new dialogue segments to accompany the original "piano people" recordings. The new dialogue speakers included members of the Ensemble Modern,<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lohHVBYiML4C&pg=PA176 | title = Faust - Stretch Out Time 1970-1975 | isbn = 9780955066450 | last1 = Wilson | first1 = Andy | date = September 2006| publisher = Andy Wilson }}</ref> [[Moon Zappa]],<ref name=GeneralNotes>{{cite AV media notes |title=Civilization Phaze III |others=Frank Zappa |year=1994 |chapter=General notes |first=Frank |last=Zappa |author-link=Frank Zappa |publisher=Barking Pumpkin Records}}</ref> [[Dweezil Zappa]]<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CzWE_J3ZZfoC&pg=PA375 | title = Icons of Rock: Velvet Underground; the Grateful Dead; Frank Zappa; Led Zeppelin; Joni Mitchell; Pink Floyd; Neil Young; David Bowie; Bruce Springsteen; Ramones; U2; Nirvana | isbn = 9780313338472 |last1=Schinder |first1=Scott |last2=Schwartz |first2=Andy Schwartz |year=2008 | publisher = Bloomsbury Academic |access-date=December 2, 2013}}</ref> and actor [[Michael Rapaport]].<ref name=GeneralNotes></ref>