I saw the Mothers at the Shrine in downtown L.A. in 1970. I saw Zappa and band with Flo and Eddie and the vocal harmonies were powerful and beautiful and the band was insane. They played a Turtles medley. I saw Frank conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic at U.C.L.A. - all his own compositions and the orchestra had a ball. I forgot that I had the Burnt Weeny album along with Hot Rats. Ah, turntables...still my fave format.
Without doubt my favourite Mothers/Zappa album. Bought it when it came out on vinyl and later on cd. Still play it regularly and still love it. Favourite tracks, Theme from BWS and Little House I Used to Live In.
Thank you for heading this one up. BWS was in the first batch of Zappa albums I got into in 86/87 and it quite naturally sat at the toppermost of my Zappamost, over Overnite, OSFA, Sheik, Joe's, Rats and a few others. These days I would say it is my favourite album. It's the absolute balance. It's poised just right. You gotta jive to it's cadences!
Thanks for the memory refresher: I loved this album a long time ago but forgot why. Then I saw Zappa in concert a couple of times and was distracted by his deft, explosive guitar playing. Time for a re-listen.
Thank you so much, Andy, for this video. I'm a huge Zappa fan for 40 years. You give a great perspective on "Burnt Weeny" and wrap up the Mothers history in a nutshell. Maybe this is my favourite video of yours for the time being.
I found Zappa in 1969 when I was in college. I like all the albums in the 2nd period. I like Burnt Weeny Sandwich the best. I got to see him in concert in 1973.
Thanks to my friend Tom Lemmon who turned me on to FZ & the Mothers for great great music. Owner of 50+ Zappa albums I frequent them often just to keep me centered
An absolute highlight on this great album has to be Little House I Used To Live In. Especially considering that it's all pieced together from multiple sources and put together through editing tapes, apparently one of Zappa's favorite activities. Some of the solos are from a 27 minute jam, recorded during the Hot Rats sessions where he moved the solos around and threw in live stuff. The main theme after the piano opening was another studio recording from a different session. Anyway, probably an object/project thing (for anyone who doesn't what that means look it up).
Cal Schenkel SO adds to the early Zappa magic. Zappa tells the kids, don’t kid yourself, you’re all wearing uniforms. Fascinating overhead shot of the band - circles! In the early seventies, my rather conservative aunt and uncle came for a visit, and in the course of things took delighted note of the cover of BWS, the title being the source of their delight. A few days later, we’re taking a tour of one of the not so little houses of the Vanderbilts, and as we were winding our way up a grand staircase, in an alcove in the wall was a cherub, and my aunt (so often uptightly concerned about propriety) leaned in, tickled its bits, and said “Burnt Weenie Sandwich.”
Very pleasantly surprised, we're in agreement! This is a "beautiful" album, Holiday In Berlin Suite and AyBe Sea, along with the monster Little House I used to Live In have some of the most perfect melodies I've heard in modern music, not just Zappa.
One of Frank's modes was Elevator Music. How else to describe Holiday in Berlin. Nobody ever mentions it but Muzak is there on many albums like Hot Rats and Unkle Meat. I assume it's sarcastic.
I got into Zappa when I was 15, really dug the differentness of his music from this period. (The "George Duke Band" was still in the future then). Having listened to these albums numerous times (on headphones), I know the tracks through and through. Uncle Meat is my favorite, maybe because there simply is more music and because it's a bit more out there, but BWS is right up there. Minor correction: Uncle Meat is from 1968 (not '69). BWS may have come out in 1970, but the music is really from 1968-69. Recordings for Little House I Used To Live In occurred simultaneously with those for Hot Rats. Thanks for the video and bringing BWS to viewers' attention. I like these shorter videos!
I am largely ignorant of Frank Zappa apart from Hot Rats. I have been intrigued by your obvious passion for the man and wanted to broaden my Zappa knowledge. At a recent record fair, I spotted Burnt Weenie Sandwich on remastered CD for only a couple of quid and took a punt, it is completely bonkers and I absolutely love it. A Little House I Used to Live In is an absolute classic. Thank you Andy for broadening my musical knowledge 👍
Cal Schenkel has noted that his unique cover art for Burnt Weeny Sandwich was originally commissioned for the cover of an Eric Dolphy release. Makes sense considering the release after Burnt Weeny Sandwich, (Weasels Ripped My Flesh) contains The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue.
Fillmore East is what got me into Zappa. The comedy is great to capture the attention of a kid, but peaches and little house are there to let you know that Zappa will become a life long obsession
This is a very interesting period for Zappa. My favorite album of this period is King Kong with Jean-Luc Ponty. I think it’s a masterpiece and so emblematic of what fusion would become. And the track “Music for electric violin and low budget orchestra” is an avant garde prog fusion epic. Another observation I had… I was listening to Eric Dolphy album “Out to Lunch” from 1964 and couldn’t help but hear Zappa. The avant garde sound of that album really reminds me of this period of Zappa as well as the Grand Wazoo period, especially with all the swirling, squawking woodwinds. I would not be surprised if Zappa was listening to Dolphy, especially considering his career would start just a few years later.
Great album and a huge influence on my music. The fanfares, the guitar and the percussion that was in a different galaxy from all the other rock projects at the time.
My parent's friend left his vinyl collection behind when I was a wee lad. This album was in there. Absolutely loved the album cover. The music confused me back then, even though I'd already heard my dad's One Size Fits All album.
Beginning with Uncle Meat in 1969 going forward with Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh represent my favorite Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa period. Of course, he made many albums I loved and still love, but these 3 are the best. (for me). I always appreciate your thoughts on Mr. Zappa's music, Andy. Thanks! "Music is the best"
Little House was and continues to be one of my most loved Zappa pieces…. all the way up to the Sugar Cane Harris waste of vinyl. I can just see Frank in the control booth prompting the Mothers to keep going… keep going… “keep g- ok wrap it up that’ll finish the album”
"Little House I Used To Live In" together with "Willy The Pimp" and "The Gumbo Variations" got me hooked on electric violin. The first two songs I recorded on tape from the radio (in Germany). Got a lot of material by Don 'Sugar Cane' Harris later on, discovered more by Jean-Luc Ponty and was very happy about Jerry Goodman's violin in the original Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich was my first dip into Zappa - 1973 on eight track. Yea... I'm geezin'. And, funny, I just got a remastered edition on CD last year. Yummy.
Most Zappa/Mothers albums I loved right from the first listen. For whatever reason, Burnt Weeny Sandwich took me a while, but it's totally worth it. It's eccentric but not 'wacky'. No spoken word snippets, no satirical lyrics... the quote on the Uncle Meat sleeve actually fits this record better: "basically this is an instrumental album"
Loved your thoughts on this record. I'm a long time Zappa fan and this is my favorite Zappa album. I love the way it is sequenced, WPLJ is a great opener and Theme from....is delicious and Little House is wonderful. Never get tired of this one. Recently played it for my sister, she liked it and it was weird, while she was engaged in it I was hearing it differently than I had ever heard it before. Just cemented why I love it so much. Great video!
Uncle meat is sooooo hot. I especially love the film college. That's an editing masterpiece. 200 hundred motels and Sharlena are flow and Eddie high point . Thanks for the zappa rap.
Thanks for this Andy! Weasel's Ripped My Flesh, Grand Wazoo, Hot Rats are peak Frank during this era, for me... I could mostly get away with these on the family phonograph without invoking protest. Burnt Weeny Sandwhich and Uncle Meat..would have had mum running the for shelter of her mother's little helper...
I agree with you for the most part; about the early and Mother's phase II. However the Flo & Eddie's: Filmore & 200 Motels is Absolutely Brilliant ! ! ! ...Newk from Kentucky
Great one, mate, and I heartily agree with everything you've said here. I was just a wee lad when Uncle Meat came out, which I thought to be a masterpiece at the time. I still think that's the case, but when Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Hot Rats came out, it was a kind of musical nirvana indeed. I hadn't really thought about Frank's influence on the jazz fusion movement, but of course that would have to be true. In the late 70s I met the friend of a friend in New York, who turned out to be none other than Miles Davis. I remember asking him who he liked to listen to. He named a bunch of the great players at the time. He paused a couple of seconds, and then said that in his opinion, Zappa was the one 'setting the scene' for everybody else. That surprised me at first, but then I thought, well, yes, of course. I would say he's still doing that, even since he's been gone. Cheers!
I was 14 in 1966 when Zappa came to my ( college) town to do what turned out to be a 5 hour concert . The only LP of his that was released at that time was Freak Out. I got into the concert and it is difficult to express how innovative this was in the pre-internet era. I found out later that Absolutely Free had been recorded ( but not released) and we were treated to a 40 minute version of "Call Any Vegetable" featuring solos from the Gardner brothers and simultaneous guitar solos performed by Zappa and another guitarist , while 2 drummers pounded out the beats. I had heard nothing like it ( they also did an early version of King Kong, which IMO began the "jazz-rock" genre). I am now 72 but i remember the impact it had on me- I ran home and perused the now-famous "Freak Out List" and began assiduously listening to the musicians listed there. I can truly say it changed my life. By the time I was 17 I was playing Dolphy, Coltrane, and Stockhausen. I can truly say that this influence greatly enriched my life. Thanks Frank,wherever you are
I'm sort of longing for listening to music the way I did in my teens in the '70s and a bit into the '80s. It was such a big part of my life; listening (often with these huge padded headphones on, Lenco I had) and trying to grasp what I heard, and learning; arrangements, sounds, lots of stuff. I will just finish modding my old Peavey Classic 30 and testing out drivers in combos and in a Barefaced cab and, and...
I have a personal love for three Zappa albums- Uncle Meat, Burnt Weenie Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Those are my absolute favorites of all of Zappa's recordings. The only Flo and Eddie album I really consider close to these three is the soundtrack to 200 Motels. The analogy of Soft Machine to Zappa further links Soft Machine to the creation of jazz fusion, although only rarely acknowledged by anyone.
What? No mention of Chunga's Revenge from 1970. My personnel favorite. Weasels Ripped My Flesh is my second favorite. I had the pleasure of seeing/hearing the Mothers of Invention at The Kinetic Playground in Chicago in 1968. The encore consisted of the band tearing down their individual gear while continuing to play until only the drummer was left.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is a great Montage. It was the second Record after Grand Wazoo that I really loved. Third was Hot Rats. Uncle Meat and One Size Fits all I got through reading Poodle Play by Ben Watson.
Little House may be the first fusion epic. Sugarcane, Ponty and Didier Lockwood from Magma Live are amazing violinists. (There were quite a few that came up between 1968 and 1977!)0
Why is nobody talking about the elephant in the room: When will Mr. Edwards finally go ahead and make a comprehensive ranking of the FZ catalogue in its entirety?
Growing up in this era so many albums seemed to lay different musical paths from the Sgt Peppers SF Sorrow Freak Out Uncle Meat Trout Mask Replica etc etc each one seemed to be anew experience as was the buying of the vinyl and dashing home to play them
I have about 14 Zappa albums so obviously have barely scratched the surface of his huge catalogue. My cd copy of We're Only In It For The Money also includes Lumpy Gravy but it does seem a rather short album, maybe someone in the comments can tell me whether it's the full album. My favourite period of his is the one that produced Zoot Allures ( love Black Napkins), Apostrophe, One Size, Overnite Sensation etc. One thing though that you've touched on in a previous video is the puerility of some of Frank's lyrics in later albums. Yes, I get that a lot of them were satirical swipes at society but even so. I recently got Sheikh Yerbouti, Joe's Garage and You Are What You Is on cd. I loved these albums when I was a teenager but now find them a really difficult listen. I was in Christiania Jazz Club in Denmark a few years back. They have open mic sessions on a sunday and a band got up and did the whole of Apostrophe and other tunes from that period. It was brilliant although admittedly I was a bit 'herbally challenged'. I met Jimmy Carl Black at Gloucester blues festival of all places a few years back. He was stood outside a pub, watching a band with a pint in his hand. He's extremely tall, I looked like a midget next to him. I asked him about Frank and Beefheart and he trotted out the same line he does in every interview, 'Frank was strange, but Don was seriously weird'. Lovely bloke though. You're absolutely right about Zappa and fanfares Andy. I love the closing section of Eat That Question. Sounds like the Roman army marching into a city.
6:48 What you, Andy, describe here is the true meaning of the word *grotesque* ... People these days think it means very ugly, but it's not that. It's that.
You should do a vid on The Roxy Performances concerts! Incredible stuff. His best line up in my opinion. Mind you, opinions are like arseholes, everyone’s got one!🤔
What do you think of the narrative that Zappa was a pretty good guitarist before the Rainbow Theater incident, and became an all time great afterwards?
I just like that Frank really challenged his potential audience to not listen to this thing with the title and album art. It's another good record, but I'm waiting for Waka/Jawka, Wazoo in this phase, but I'll randomly sing WPLJ while I wait.
Haven’t even watched this vid yet. Just saw the thumbnail. My desert island album. If it be true he went full out prog jazz fusion in this “second stage”…which is debatable…he never ever sounded like any of it. And for the sake of argument…hey, why not…he had no “weakest” period. Who’d want to be known as a jazz rock fusion pioneer and ushering in that banal musical landscape? Just a thought! The short cloth neck ornament is a nice touch.
You could have been a bit more generous attributing Ruth Underwood. The presence of her eccentric percussive instrumentation heavily contributed to the Zappa soundscape.
One of my very favorite albums! The 6/8 section of 'The Little House I used to Live In' with Sugarcane is beautiful.
100% agree.
An underrated masterpiece.
I'm ashamed to say it took me 20 years to get into Burnt Weenie, but it now sits up there with Roxy & Elsewhere as my favourite Zappa albums.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich certainly IS a masterpiece, and I was excited to see that you've made a video dedicated to it!
I love that you lump together hot rats, waka jawaka, and the grand wazoo. My 3 favorite Zappa records!
The Zappa guitar solo near the beginning of Little House is one of his absolute best.
One of my favorite mothers records. It’s just fantastic. 👍
I saw the Mothers at the Shrine in downtown L.A. in 1970. I saw Zappa and band with Flo and Eddie and the vocal harmonies were powerful and beautiful and the band was insane. They played a Turtles medley. I saw Frank conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic at U.C.L.A. - all his own compositions and the orchestra had a ball. I forgot that I had the Burnt Weeny album along with Hot Rats. Ah, turntables...still my fave format.
Without doubt my favourite Mothers/Zappa album. Bought it when it came out on vinyl and later on cd. Still play it regularly and still love it. Favourite tracks, Theme from BWS and Little House I Used to Live In.
Snap! Going to play it right now.
Thank you for heading this one up. BWS was in the first batch of Zappa albums I got into in 86/87 and it quite naturally sat at the toppermost of my Zappamost, over Overnite, OSFA, Sheik, Joe's, Rats and a few others. These days I would say it is my favourite album. It's the absolute balance. It's poised just right. You gotta jive to it's cadences!
This album is indeed a sandwich. Two goofy songs on either end with incredible madness in the middle. I love it!
Album of leftovers. As the title suggests. My fav tracks are on it. The Air and Electric Aunt
Thanks for the memory refresher: I loved this album a long time ago but forgot why. Then I saw Zappa in concert a couple of times and was distracted by his deft, explosive guitar playing. Time for a re-listen.
Thank you so much, Andy, for this video. I'm a huge Zappa fan for 40 years. You give a great perspective on "Burnt Weeny" and wrap up the Mothers history in a nutshell. Maybe this is my favourite video of yours for the time being.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I found Zappa in 1969 when I was in college. I like all the albums in the 2nd period. I like Burnt Weeny Sandwich the best. I got to see him in concert in 1973.
Thanks to my friend Tom Lemmon who turned me on to FZ & the Mothers for great great music. Owner of 50+ Zappa albums I frequent them often just to keep me centered
Great Video Andy. Thanks for all you do.
A great under-rated album, currently my go to Zappa album.
An absolute highlight on this great album has to be Little House I Used To Live In.
Especially considering that it's all pieced together from multiple sources and put together through editing tapes, apparently one of Zappa's favorite activities.
Some of the solos are from a 27 minute jam, recorded during the Hot Rats sessions where he moved the solos around and threw in live stuff.
The main theme after the piano opening was another studio recording from a different session.
Anyway, probably an object/project thing (for anyone who doesn't what that means look it up).
Cal Schenkel SO adds to the early Zappa magic.
Zappa tells the kids, don’t kid yourself, you’re all wearing uniforms.
Fascinating overhead shot of the band - circles!
In the early seventies, my rather conservative aunt and uncle came for a visit, and in the course of things took delighted note of the cover of BWS, the title being the source of their delight. A few days later, we’re taking a tour of one of the not so little houses of the Vanderbilts, and as we were winding our way up a grand staircase, in an alcove in the wall was a cherub, and my aunt (so often uptightly concerned about propriety) leaned in, tickled its bits, and said “Burnt Weenie Sandwich.”
I still have uk original pressing bought in 1970. One of the Mothers best albums.
“Jazz isn’t dead. It just smells funny.”
- Frank Zappa
Very pleasantly surprised, we're in agreement! This is a "beautiful" album, Holiday In Berlin Suite and AyBe Sea, along with the monster Little House I used to Live In have some of the most perfect melodies I've heard in modern music, not just Zappa.
This was my introduction to Zappa. A friend of mine at college had this record, and I loved it.
One of Frank's modes was Elevator Music. How else to describe Holiday in Berlin. Nobody ever mentions it but Muzak is there on many albums like Hot Rats and Unkle Meat. I assume it's sarcastic.
I got into Zappa when I was 15, really dug the differentness of his music from this period. (The "George Duke Band" was still in the future then). Having listened to these albums numerous times (on headphones), I know the tracks through and through. Uncle Meat is my favorite, maybe because there simply is more music and because it's a bit more out there, but BWS is right up there. Minor correction: Uncle Meat is from 1968 (not '69). BWS may have come out in 1970, but the music is really from 1968-69. Recordings for Little House I Used To Live In occurred simultaneously with those for Hot Rats.
Thanks for the video and bringing BWS to viewers' attention. I like these shorter videos!
@ronfeenstra3659 - Uncle Meat was released April 21, 1969
@@Frunobulax74 I stand corrected. The recordings date from 1968, however, and for the most part predate those for Burnt Weeny Sandwich.
I didn't get into Prog until I was 28. I'm 55 now. I guess that's why I'm not a nerd.
You're the king of dandruff
Cant wait
This and Uncle Meat
Best line up
Thank You.
I am largely ignorant of Frank Zappa apart from Hot Rats. I have been intrigued by your obvious passion for the man and wanted to broaden my Zappa knowledge.
At a recent record fair, I spotted Burnt Weenie Sandwich on remastered CD for only a couple of quid and took a punt, it is completely bonkers and I absolutely love it. A Little House I Used to Live In is an absolute classic.
Thank you Andy for broadening my musical knowledge 👍
Cal Schenkel has noted that his unique cover art for Burnt Weeny Sandwich was originally commissioned for the cover of an Eric Dolphy release. Makes sense considering the release after Burnt Weeny Sandwich, (Weasels Ripped My Flesh) contains The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue.
One of my favorites and it’s one of his best. Good commentary and insight on this amazing recording
Got about 30 albums, so I conclude I kinda like his music 😅
Flo & Eddy Fillmore live is epic 👍 The Mudshark.
Fillmore East is what got me into Zappa. The comedy is great to capture the attention of a kid, but peaches and little house are there to let you know that Zappa will become a life long obsession
@MC-bh8ph 👍
This is a very interesting period for Zappa. My favorite album of this period is King Kong with Jean-Luc Ponty. I think it’s a masterpiece and so emblematic of what fusion would become. And the track “Music for electric violin and low budget orchestra” is an avant garde prog fusion epic.
Another observation I had… I was listening to Eric Dolphy album “Out to Lunch” from 1964 and couldn’t help but hear Zappa. The avant garde sound of that album really reminds me of this period of Zappa as well as the Grand Wazoo period, especially with all the swirling, squawking woodwinds. I would not be surprised if Zappa was listening to Dolphy, especially considering his career would start just a few years later.
Great album and a huge influence on my music. The fanfares, the guitar and the percussion that was in a different galaxy from all the other rock projects at the time.
The BWS album contained a multi foldout insert poster. Very rare to find in any condition.
Yes. + I own it on reel to reel
My parent's friend left his vinyl collection behind when I was a wee lad. This album was in there. Absolutely loved the album cover. The music confused me back then, even though I'd already heard my dad's One Size Fits All album.
Beginning with Uncle Meat in 1969 going forward with Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh represent my favorite Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa period. Of course, he made many albums I loved and still love, but these 3 are the best. (for me). I always appreciate your thoughts on Mr. Zappa's music, Andy. Thanks! "Music is the best"
One of my favourite Zappa albums. Which I bought when it came out.
Little House was and continues to be one of my most loved Zappa pieces…. all the way up to the Sugar Cane Harris waste of vinyl. I can just see Frank in the control booth prompting the Mothers to keep going… keep going… “keep g- ok wrap it up that’ll finish the album”
You make a great point about Zappa's fanfares. Never thought about that before but you're absolutely right. A lovely album of the early Mothers.
"Little House I Used To Live In" together with "Willy The Pimp" and "The Gumbo Variations" got me hooked on electric violin. The first two songs I recorded on tape from the radio (in Germany). Got a lot of material by Don 'Sugar Cane' Harris later on, discovered more by Jean-Luc Ponty and was very happy about Jerry Goodman's violin in the original Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Awesome video have a great day also a fantastic weekend Andy ❤😊
Burnt Weeny Sandwich was my first dip into Zappa - 1973 on eight track.
Yea... I'm geezin'.
And, funny, I just got a remastered edition on CD last year.
Yummy.
Every spring
We have a new batch of
Baby Snakes.
Most Zappa/Mothers albums I loved right from the first listen. For whatever reason, Burnt Weeny Sandwich took me a while, but it's totally worth it. It's eccentric but not 'wacky'. No spoken word snippets, no satirical lyrics... the quote on the Uncle Meat sleeve actually fits this record better: "basically this is an instrumental album"
A great album, doesn't get talked about enough in my opinion. Great video Andy!
✊🏼! That’s a nice looking drum kit behind you, looks like a comfortable setup.
BDC....the Bugatti of drum kits
Yes Burnt Weeny Sandwich, I mean when you get right down to it, Burnt Weeny Sandwich.
Loved your thoughts on this record. I'm a long time Zappa fan and this is my favorite Zappa album. I love the way it is sequenced, WPLJ is a great opener and Theme from....is delicious and Little House is wonderful. Never get tired of this one. Recently played it for my sister, she liked it and it was weird, while she was engaged in it I was hearing it differently than I had ever heard it before. Just cemented why I love it so much. Great video!
Uncle meat is sooooo hot. I especially love the film college. That's an editing masterpiece.
200 hundred motels and Sharlena are flow and Eddie high point .
Thanks for the zappa rap.
You should’ve been sporting the burnt weeny badge that simply says …’Eat It’ Great review on a fav Zappa album !
Thanks for this Andy! Weasel's Ripped My Flesh, Grand Wazoo, Hot Rats are peak Frank during this era, for me... I could mostly get away with these on the family phonograph without invoking protest. Burnt Weeny Sandwhich and Uncle Meat..would have had mum running the for shelter of her mother's little helper...
Year of my birth, so, naturally, canonical
I agree with you for the most part; about the early and Mother's phase II. However the Flo & Eddie's: Filmore & 200 Motels is Absolutely Brilliant ! ! ! ...Newk from Kentucky
this is an excellent review. thx.
Very welcome
🌠DUUDE U ROCK !!! LOVE THAT ALBUM
Great one, mate, and I heartily agree with everything you've said here. I was just a wee lad when Uncle Meat came out, which I thought to be a masterpiece at the time. I still think that's the case, but when Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Hot Rats came out, it was a kind of musical nirvana indeed. I hadn't really thought about Frank's influence on the jazz fusion movement, but of course that would have to be true. In the late 70s I met the friend of a friend in New York, who turned out to be none other than Miles Davis. I remember asking him who he liked to listen to. He named a bunch of the great players at the time. He paused a couple of seconds, and then said that in his opinion, Zappa was the one 'setting the scene' for everybody else. That surprised me at first, but then I thought, well, yes, of course. I would say he's still doing that, even since he's been gone. Cheers!
I was 14 in 1966 when Zappa came to my ( college) town to do what turned out to be a 5 hour concert . The only LP of his that was released at that time was Freak Out. I got into the concert and it is difficult to express how innovative this was in the pre-internet era. I found out later that Absolutely Free had been recorded ( but not released) and we were treated to a 40 minute version of "Call Any Vegetable" featuring solos from the Gardner brothers and simultaneous guitar solos performed by Zappa and another guitarist , while 2 drummers pounded out the beats. I had heard nothing like it ( they also did an early version of King Kong, which IMO began the "jazz-rock" genre). I am now 72 but i remember the impact it had on me- I ran home and perused the now-famous "Freak Out List" and began assiduously listening to the musicians listed there. I can truly say it changed my life. By the time I was 17 I was playing Dolphy, Coltrane, and Stockhausen. I can truly say that this influence greatly enriched my life. Thanks Frank,wherever you are
I'm sort of longing for listening to music the way I did in my teens in the '70s and a bit into the '80s. It was such a big part of my life; listening (often with these huge padded headphones on, Lenco I had) and trying to grasp what I heard, and learning; arrangements, sounds, lots of stuff. I will just finish modding my old Peavey Classic 30 and testing out drivers in combos and in a Barefaced cab and, and...
Im never playing this album out loud so my neigbours can hear again. Im getting the the stinkeye now. 😢
My favorite Zappa/Mothers album with "Uncle Meat" a close second.
Zappa was a monster! I wish he was around today to give his opinion on modern indie rock/post punk.
I have a personal love for three Zappa albums- Uncle Meat, Burnt Weenie Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Those are my absolute favorites of all of Zappa's recordings.
The only Flo and Eddie album I really consider close to these three is the soundtrack to 200 Motels.
The analogy of Soft Machine to Zappa further links Soft Machine to the creation of jazz fusion, although only rarely acknowledged by anyone.
Yes, Zappa is the greatest ever and forever!
What? No mention of Chunga's Revenge from 1970. My personnel favorite. Weasels Ripped My Flesh is my second favorite. I had the pleasure of seeing/hearing the Mothers of Invention at The Kinetic Playground in Chicago
in 1968. The encore consisted of the band tearing down their individual gear while continuing to play until only the drummer was left.
Great video Andy. That album was supposed to be an Eric Dolphy album cover, I read that somewhere.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is a great Montage. It was the second Record after Grand Wazoo that I really loved. Third was Hot Rats.
Uncle Meat and One Size Fits all I got through reading Poodle Play by Ben Watson.
Great record. Especially Aybe Sea and Little House.
Little House may be the first fusion epic. Sugarcane, Ponty and Didier Lockwood from Magma Live are amazing violinists. (There were quite a few that came up between 1968 and 1977!)0
Why is nobody talking about the elephant in the room: When will Mr. Edwards finally go ahead and make a comprehensive ranking of the FZ catalogue in its entirety?
MORE ZAPPA!!!!
I’m a big “hot rats” fan
Hot Rats, waka jawaka, and the grand wazoo are my 3 favoritea
🥰
I haven't tried burnt weeny sandwich yet but I think tonight is the night.
Well, the Flo and Eddie era did produce '200 Motels'.
I have love for Bongo Fury….
Carolina hardcore ecstasy and muffin man are phenomenal
I wish I had a pair of bongos!
Growing up in this era so many albums seemed to lay different musical paths from the Sgt Peppers SF Sorrow Freak Out Uncle Meat Trout Mask Replica etc etc each one seemed to be anew experience as was the buying of the vinyl and dashing home to play them
Those were the days!
White port and lemon juice!
I have about 14 Zappa albums so obviously have barely scratched the surface of his huge catalogue. My cd copy of We're Only In It For The Money also includes Lumpy Gravy but it does seem a rather short album, maybe someone in the comments can tell me whether it's the full album. My favourite period of his is the one that produced Zoot Allures ( love Black Napkins), Apostrophe, One Size, Overnite Sensation etc. One thing though that you've touched on in a previous video is the puerility of some of Frank's lyrics in later albums. Yes, I get that a lot of them were satirical swipes at society but even so. I recently got Sheikh Yerbouti, Joe's Garage and You Are What You Is on cd. I loved these albums when I was a teenager but now find them a really difficult listen. I was in Christiania Jazz Club in Denmark a few years back. They have open mic sessions on a sunday and a band got up and did the whole of Apostrophe and other tunes from that period. It was brilliant although admittedly I was a bit 'herbally challenged'. I met Jimmy Carl Black at Gloucester blues festival of all places a few years back. He was stood outside a pub, watching a band with a pint in his hand. He's extremely tall, I looked like a midget next to him. I asked him about Frank and Beefheart and he trotted out the same line he does in every interview, 'Frank was strange, but Don was seriously weird'. Lovely bloke though. You're absolutely right about Zappa and fanfares Andy. I love the closing section of Eat That Question. Sounds like the Roman army marching into a city.
It looks like you’re about to go motoring in a Lotus Elan.
Word
Easily my favorite Zappa album: BURNT WEENY SANDWICH!
6:48 What you, Andy, describe here is the true meaning of the word *grotesque* ... People these days think it means very ugly, but it's not that. It's that.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich, and not an easy problem to solve.
Pretty sure the cover was created originally by Cal Schenkel for an Albert Ayler album. Could be Dolphy.
"EYE-Gor Stravinsky? They always told me it was pronounced EE-Gor." "Well, they were wrong, weren't they?" I miss Marty Feldman.
Don Preston also played acoustic bass for Nat King Cole!
AND YOU'LL BE MY DOOTCH-ESS, MY DOOTCHESS OF PRUNES!!!!
KENNY'S LITTLE CREATURES ON DISPLAY -- a marvel to be seen, dysyntery green!
I think the first two Henry Cow albums (Legend & Unrest) wouldn't be the same if not for BURNT WEENY SANDWICH.
Have you ever seen frank play live,just wondering
yes...1988
Almost half of BWS is live.
You should do a vid on The Roxy Performances concerts! Incredible stuff. His best line up in my opinion. Mind you, opinions are like arseholes, everyone’s got one!🤔
What do you think of the narrative that Zappa was a pretty good guitarist before the Rainbow Theater incident, and became an all time great afterwards?
Uncle Meat is the goat.
I just like that Frank really challenged his potential audience to not listen to this thing with the title and album art. It's another good record, but I'm waiting for Waka/Jawka, Wazoo in this phase, but I'll randomly sing WPLJ while I wait.
Greatest album? No. Underappreciated -- yes.
Haven’t even watched this vid yet. Just saw the thumbnail. My desert island album. If it be true he went full out prog jazz fusion in this “second stage”…which is debatable…he never ever sounded like any of it. And for the sake of argument…hey, why not…he had no “weakest” period. Who’d want to be known as a jazz rock fusion pioneer and ushering in that banal musical landscape? Just a thought! The short cloth neck ornament is a nice touch.
Hi Andy, Rick Beato here...
only kidding. just wanted to get heart racing a tad
You could have been a bit more generous attributing Ruth Underwood. The presence of her eccentric percussive instrumentation heavily contributed to the Zappa soundscape.
But not on this album