Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

Frank Zappa’s 1969 album “Hot Rats” has been forced into many different genres. Some will say this is a jazz album, it really isn’t there are jazz themes within but it is not a straight jazz album. Frank Zappa’s catalog was always found within the rock and pop section of the music store (for my younger readers, yes we used to buy music from a dedicated music store, hell I am old enough to have gone shopping in a straight up record store where they had new releases!). There is no denying; Hot Rats is a great album!

On to the tracks:

Peaches En Regalia – The opening tour de force of Hot Rats. Peaches are a very clean, straight-shooting jazz track, which is the most accessible tune on the entire album. Peaches would be a great introduction to someone who wants to explore jazz. As a jazz piece it is not too complex and the themes are very easy to get into and follow. Peaches En Regalia would rank as my favorite track on Hot Rats and probably my favorite Zappa track I have heard to this date.

Listen to Peaches En Regalia (Original Mix) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSb_YW3p8CY

Willie The Pimp – Willie is the only track on Hot Rats, which features the talents of Zappa pal Captain Beef heart. First off, I must say the vocal stylings of Captain Beefheart are really an acquired taste. The Captain’s raspy vocals are enough to clear a room for those of the faint at heart. I find the captain appealing and vocals are great. I am not too keen on Zappa’s satirical lyrics but there is something about Willie The Pimp is fun and catchy (if pimp’s can be considered fun at all). Zappa give a hell of a vision of what Willie The Pimp looks like “I'm a little pimp with my hair gassed back Pair a khaki pants with my shoes shined black”. A smooth looking dude, huh?

In my opinion Willie could have been well served as an instrumental and the highlight of the piece is Zappa’s guitar soloing which is some of the best you will ever hear.

Son Of Mr. Green Genes – Not much to say here, it is not one of my favorites but again Zappa is the highlight with more tremendous guitar work. Ok who here remembers Mr. Green Genes from Captain Kangaroo? Me!

The original Hot Rats "Bizarre" label.

Little Umbrellas – A super mellow track that has a nice solid jazz feel to it. It is a nice relaxer from the super hot guitar soloing by Zappa during the previous 2 tracks. Side 1 rocks, side 2 is more jazz fusion/avant-garde.

The Gumbo Variations – This is the most complex track on the album. It clocks in at 12 minutes on the original album and Zappa unearthed another 4 minutes of content on his “Zappa-fied” remix/re-recording. Gumbo has 2 very distinct highlights, the first being the avant-garde sax playing of Ian Underwood. Underwood’s playing is very reminiscent of those of latter career John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman. Just mentioning these two greats will tell of the complexity of the music. The 2^nd highlight of the track is the hot violin playing of Sugarcane Harris. Harris takes the traditionally classical instrument and pushes it to the limit on Gumbo. Gumbo is the least accessible track on the album but it still not too out there like an hour version of free avant-garde jazz.

It Must Be A Camel – The closing track is another solid track, nothing too mind-blowing but it is the perfect bookend to Peaches En Regalia and the perfect decompression from the very busy Gumbo Variations.

I mentioned briefly in the rundown about the original mix of Hot Rats and the Frank Zappa remix. I am lucky enough to have both versions. The version I was exposed to first was the Zappa remix on RykoDisc Records. A few years back the folks at Classic Records released the original mix on 200-gram vinyl, which I also have. I feel both mixes are essential as they really can be described as two separate albums. As for my personal enjoyment I find the original mix to be superior. The bass in more punchier on the original mix and I am always partial to the artist’s original vision of their work. My advice if you are a person who is interested in discovering Frank Zappa’s work, Hot Rots should be your first purchase. Zappa’s musical genius glows brightly on this album and there is no need to digest Zappa’s satirical lyrics, which can be a turnoff to some. It is hard to believe this album only peaked at 175 on the Billboard charts since it was released during a time a great musical experimentation and Hot Rats was a sure bright spot of the great year for music, which was 1969. Part of the problem unfortunately is that it is impossible to properly classify Hot Rats, is it rock? Is it jazz? Is it Jazz/rock fusion? There is no correct answer and it can cause a great debate. All I know Hot Rats is an indispensible part of my music collection.

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