Acappella

CD reissue. If one is to indulge in a bit of what is these days called 'profiling', one would probably have imagined that The Persuasions were a street band, too poor to buy instruments, who had come together in the mid-1950s, singing on street corners. Wrong! They were one of the leading lights of the Doo Wop revival in the late 1960s and this, their first record, were made under the tutelage of none other than Frank Zappa. Although it might surprise people who know Zappa only as a lightning fast guitar player, or a weirdo with a lavatorial sense of humor, but Doo Wop was one of his favorite types of music (together with the more unlistenable modern classics). He heard The Persuasions singing over the phone from a New Jersey record shop known as Stan's Square Records. The store's owner, Stan Krause, was the group's manager at the time. Prior to that time, The Persuasions had recorded several a cappella tracks for Krause's record label, Catamount Records. Zappa had an appreciation for soul and street corner style singing, and after hearing the group, flew them to Los Angeles to record their first album. The Persuasions were the opening act at The Mothers concerts at Carnegie Hall, 1971. Thirty years later, Zappa fan Rip Rense supervised and encouraged the group in the creation of a Persuasions tribute CD to Zappa, Frankly A Cappella on Earthbeat Records. This is an absolutely cracking album, and one which truly deserves a far wider listenership than it has so far. Listen to it, you will see what I mean, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this infectious music wins you over too.