Frank Zappa – The Hot Rats Sessions
It may have been the grunting vocals, the avant guard sax solos, the thumping beat or the snarling guitars, but I had never heard anything similar and I liked it. It was in Tower records, sometime late 80s or early 90s. In the pre Shazam era, you had to ask the sales clerk – “who or what is that?” – a knowing grin, a nod of approval – “Hot Rats” by Frank Zappa. Tape acquired, inserted into Walkman, and it stayed on continuous play for weeks. The love affair has never faded. Over the years, I have acquired, mostly on CD, all of the official Zappa releases, and a good few of the official bootlegs as well (“Road Tapes”), always hoping to hear a little bit more of the “Rats” magic. In the early years, the encounters were disappointing – albums filled with puerile pop songs, vulgarity (that wasn’t funny) and general weirdness. But sometimes, you hit pay-dirt – or “Sleep Dirt” to be precise. That record, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo – all shared the Jazz Rock blueprint. There never seemed to be any “Hot Rats” bootlegs around, with forsaken or demo tracks – but we all knew they were recorded (Zappa never discarded anything). When the “deluxe edition” period arrived, about 10 or 15 years ago, I hoped that we would be treated to the outtakes. Nada. Finally, in the guise of a 6 CD set (“The Hot Rats Sessions”), they are here: just in time to miss Christmas 2019.
The Backstory:
In 1969, Frank broke up the Mothers, retaining only Ian Underhill and set about constructing a solo album using a variety of musicians and a 16 track recording console. At the time, for most bands, it was 4 tracks, so, in many ways, Hot Rats heralded the beginning of the Prog Rock era. Nothing was wasted. Tracks were pieced together from fragments, pieces discarded were used in later albums. The final record has been very popular with fans, but was not as commercially successful as his 1970s peak albums. Each of the six tracks is a classic – Peaches en Regalia was as close to a “standard” as Zappa was ever to record. “Willie the Pimp” features a wonderful growling vocal by Captain Beefheart.
The Album:
Side 1
- “Peaches en Regalia” 3:38
- “Willie the Pimp” 9:21
- “Son of Mr. Green Genes” 8:58
Side 2
- “Little Umbrellas” 3:06
- “The Gumbo Variations” 12:53*
- “It Must Be a Camel” 5:15
Total length: 43:11
*This was 4 minutes longer in the 1987 iteration
Musicians:
- Frank Zappa: guitar, octave bass, percussion
- Ian Underwood: piano, organus maximus, flute, all clarinets, all saxes.
- Captain Beefheart—vocal on “Willie The Pimp” (courtesy Straight Records)
- Sugar Cane Harris—violin on “Willie The Pimp” & “The Gumbo Variations”
- Jean Luc Ponty—violin on “It Must Be A Camel” (courtesy World Pacific Records)
- John Guerin—drums on “Willie The Pimp,” “Little Umbrellas” & “It Must Be A Camel”
- Paul Humphrey—drums on “Son Of Mr. Green Genes” & “The Gumbo Variations”
- Ron Selico—drums on “Peaches En Regalia”
- Max Bennett—bass on “Willie The Pimp,” “Son Of Mr. Green Genes,” “Little Umbrellas,” “The Gumbo Variations” & “It Must Be A Camel”
- Shuggy Otis—bass on “Peaches En Regalia”
The Sessions Box Set:
Overview:
Included in the box, alongside a wholly un-necessary board game, are six CDs full of outtakes and the 1987 version – all presented in a 28 page “book”. There are many many versions or parts of, for example “Peaches in Regalia” – and it rapidly becomes tiresome. I must confess that the box set became available on streaming about 2 weeks before my “hard” copy arrived – and I left it on for the full 8 hours the first day – dipping in an out as I did household chores. What I was really looking for was juicy full tracks that didn’t make the original album. Eventually, I made a playlist of those tracks (abaresque, Bognor Regis, Natasha, Another Walz, Directly from my heart to you etc.) – and listened a few times, and now I know why they were outtakes. I think a two disc version may have been better.
Criticisms:
1. The Board Game is a complete waste of time and money: I can think of 100 things I would rather have found inside the box.
2. For >€100 – where the hell is the 24 bit version of “Hot Rats”. Note to Universal Music – why did you not contact Steven Wilson to produce a 24 bit and 5.1 mix of the album – presented on Blu-Ray – complete with a flat transfer of the original 1969 album?
3. The only complete version of the album is the god-awful 1987 mix – which most of us, who love the album, already have – and only realized that it was inferior to the original mix when the album was remixed (true to 1969) and remastered in 2012.
4. Are there no live recordings of “Hot Rats” ? Surely, the Zappa family trust could have cobbled together a “live” version of the album from the (literally) hundreds of live tapes in the vault, to give us a live version.
5. Although listening to all of the noodling and demos was fun, ONCE, it is unlikely that I will ever plough through the whole thing again. It would have been wise to just put the major outtakes onto one or two CDs and fill the rest with the 20 or so versions of “Peaches in Regalia”.
6. Because there is no 24 bit content, the game is a joke and the liner notes while nice – don’t add a lot – can someone explain to me why I have to pay $125 for physical product over $60 for 16 bit download from Qobuz or, essentially, free streaming.
7. The best part of the product – “The Hot Rats Book” – is not even included – it will set you back $35 (backordered – even if you could lay your hands on it). The Pink Vinyl release will cost you another $30 (I bought the black version of exactly the same product for €18 a few years ago). Be aware that the vinyl record is definitely worth buying: I bought the Classic Records 200g version 10 years ago.
Disappointed. I think I have a lowered opinion of the album after listening to the box set.
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