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Track Listings
| 1. Peaches En Regalia |
| 2. Willie The Pimp |
| 3. Son Of Mr. Green Genes |
| 4. Little Umbrellas |
| 5. The Gumbo Variations |
| 6. It Must Be A Camel |
Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Customer Reviews
Many regard this as his best work, but I'm not sure that this is an easy conclusion when faced with more than sixty different Frank Zappa albums of extraordinary variety and style and varying degrees of musical and lyrical depth.
Also, his lyrics sometimes famously repel people whilst charming and amusing others; one person's upset/another person's insight.
Frank also regarded his whole musical output, including live performances and even interviews, as a sort of continuum of themes connecting everything and creating one body of work.
That said, this is possibly the studio album that I find most musically profound...possibly.
'Peaches En Regalia', the highly regarded first track, is beautiful, musically startling and maybe even a little funny.
'Willie the Pimp' puts an unlikely balance into the album (it should stick out like a sore thumb, but somehow does not) with Captain Beefheart's (Don Van Vliet) Howlin' Wolf-esque vocals setting the tone amongst a relatively stripped-back instrumentation of drums and percussion, gritty guitar, bass, a wonderfully ragged violin riff from the great Don "Sugarcane" Harris, and piano, before Mr. Zappa enters with astonishing lead guitar; it always seems fresh- Frank Zappa must be one of the most underrated popular guitarists as well as composers.
'Son of Mr. Green Genes' allows us to briefly catch our breath, before lurching back into Frank's tremendous axe-manship and kaleidoscopic instrumentation from the absurdly talented Ian Underwood- Underwood is all over this album like a benevolent musical rash.
'Little umbrellas' is a relatively short, eastern-like dirge that swings along sparingly before the ultra-saxophonic release of 'The Gumbo Variations' that has Ian making sounds with his saxophone that some less-fun folk may, back in the day, have wanted to censor; really spectacular stuff and some powerful violin and guitar solos, too.
That reminds me: this was released in 1969! I mean, most of the music I listen to is from the towering musical decades of the sixties and seventies, but the production, clarity and innovation of 'Hot Rats' is still a little extraordinary.
'It Must Be a Camel'. Whether or not you agree with the title's hypothesis this is a fine
closing track to this remarkable instrumental (except Beefheart's brief vocals) album. It is relaxed, but with strange layers of timing and sound that seem to let us know that, while this is goodbye for now, Frank will be back...
Note: The 2012 reissue of Hot Rats is the remastered version originally done for the vinyl release of 2008 by Bernie Grundman, which is from the original analog master and is more true to the original vinyl mix of 1969 as opposed to the often maligned 1987 mix of the Ryko CD reissue- although many feel each version has its own unique positives & negatives or special individual attributes when the mixes are compared.
But, when this album was reissued on cd, Zappa decided to do a substantial remix of the album. There are some huge changes, missing instruments, different solos, all kinds of things that are distracting to people used to the original mix.
Not to say that the new mix is bad - it's very good, in fact. Clear, noise-free, and well balanced. It's just not how it used to be.
As far as the album itself goes, there are some mind-boggling jazz/rock compositions here, with only one vocal piece in the whole album. We get the fantastic "Peaches and Regalia", the slimy "Willie the Pimp", the satisfying "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and more.
There is some astounding violin work here, some great guitar playing, and an very strong album that seems to come from one musical viewpoint, unlike the eclectic approach that Zappa usually takes.
Very worthwhile - now, if they would just issue Hot Rats on cd...
But here on `Hot Rats' Mr. Zappa surrounds himself with some of the finest musicians in the United States of America, who just happened to also be his best friends, and went from cult figure to International Superstar. In the high brow student world of 1970, if you didn't have the Hot Rats poster in your bed sit, you were considered very square. The album was an absolute `must have'. (Mind you it was also required to wear your hair down to your ankles, platform boots 2 foot tall, huge bell bottom trousers that hid them anyway, say things like "Cosmic" or "Groovy" a lot, and end every sentence with "Man". Eat your heart out Austin Powers, looking back it all seems terribly complicated now.)
But that was one thing that Mr. Zappa had mastered, although all of the playing on this album is intricate in the extreme, with great lolloping extended solos and each song has a terribly gripping hum able tune that makes your fingers twitch and your feet tap.
The first piece of music presented here for your edification (it would almost be an insult to label them down as just plain old songs) is the wonderfully monickered "Peaches En Regalia", where Mr. Zappa on guitar, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood get to flex their musical muscles. These two musicians are the only two to appear on every track. "Peaches En Regalia" is certainly one of Mr. Zappa's most commercial and popular tracks and, almost certainly, one of his best. In an amazing way the album starts, leading us into a treasure trove of sound. Yes, this was what started what is called `Jazz/Rock', but at the time it was just a convenient label for journalists to put it under. Mr. Zappa should not take the responsibility for the driveling of some, who tried to follow in his footsteps.
Next up is the infamous "Willie The Pimp" the only vocal track on the album sung by the esteemed Don Van Vliet, better known as `Captain Beefheart', and what lyrics they were too!
"I'm a little pimp with my hair gassed back
Pair of khaki pants with my shoe shined black"
You can hear the gleam in the great Captain's eye, the guitar solo that follows will take the roof off your head every time you hear it. And remember, Steve Vai was an apprentice of Mr. Zappa's for many years and has never been able to step out of his shadow.
After "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and for this album the short "Little Umbrellas", you get the full version of "The Gumbo Variations". This had to be severely edited for the vinyl release due to time constraints, but now with the wonders off compact discs, you get the whole thing remastered from the original tapes, all but seventeen minutes (what's three seconds between friends), where the soloists, Mr. Zappa guitar, Ian Underwood everything, and Sugar Cane Harris on violin, all vie for the spotlight, holding your attention with every nuance of sound.
Then finally we get "It Must Be A Camel" (the title of which sounds like something J.K. would say out on the golf course after a bad night), where the legendry Jen Luc Ponty joins the fray to bring it all to a fitting climax.
A truly magnificent collection. If it's not in yours, make it so.
You may notice the artist referred to as Mr. Zappa through out this review commanded a fair amount of respect, did the Guvnor.
Mott the Dog.
This entire album is great and simply a classic.
It still is.
I absolutely LOVE this album.
Even in its' various re-incarnations. Read more
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