Burnt Weeny Sandwich
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Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 WPLJ 3:02
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vocals
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writer
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- A2 Igor's Boogie, Phase One 0:40
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composer
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- A3 Overture to a Holiday in Berlin 1:29
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composer
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- A4 Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich 4:35
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composer
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- A5 Igor's Boogie, Phase Two 0:35
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composer
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- A6 Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown 6:27
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composer
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- A7 Aybe Sea 2:45
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composer
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solo
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- B1 Little House I Used to Live In 21:52
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organ, solo, composer
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piano, solo
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solo
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violin, solo
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- B2 Valarie 3:15
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writer
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- Total length: 44:40
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
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43 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich [p] 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 33 rpm
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Gatefold
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 33 rpm
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 33 rpm
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Imaginaro Sandwich Quemado Gatefold
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 3¾ IPS
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 33 rpm, Promo, White Label
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Imaginaro Sandwich Quemado 33 rpm
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Gatefold, Promo
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 33 rpm
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1991 CD D2 74239
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 180 gram, 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Limited Edition, Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Digital file, Streaming
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich Remastered
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Burnt Weeny Sandwich 180 gram, 33 rpm, Gatefold, Remastered
92 Reviews
When it works ('Little House I Used to Live In', 'Valarie', 'Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown'), it's the best thing you'll ever hear. When it doesn't, though, ('Aybe Sea', 'Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich'), you'll just desperately want it to be over with.
Published
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Definitely good, just not anywhere near their best. I think one reviewer on here put it best as “Horribly structured with some true gems”, Holiday in Berlin and The Little house I Used to Live in are both pretty good but they’re in the middle of some of the worst paced album I’ve listened to in a while. Again, this is not bad it just suffers a little from some poor choices.
Published
This just feels like it's the Mothers at their best. All the Zappa style music and even less bullshit this time. I didn't even mind the doo-wop diddy in the beginning! Jams on here are all great, gotta love a Mothers jam. I with Little House live was a LITTLE shorter but I can deal, the fiddle work was godly, good album none the less.
Published
Horribly Structured With Some True Gems
The Mothers were Zappa’s original band before he focused more intensely on his solo work. They were most active in the late 60’s up to 1970, releasing 3 albums from then until 1975. This sees the band move away from the super experimental style of “Uncle Meat” towards something relatively tame.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still very out there, just not as much as their last few albums. This is all instrumental (aside from the two doo-wop songs that bookend the album), and it produces some… interesting results. Even the 3 sub-90 second interludes have something to bring to the table, even though they make the album even more disjointed and get drowned out by everything else on here. Speaking of disjointed… this is a nightmare. Granted, it was probably on purpose, but this album doesn’t flow well whatsoever: the band just throws a hundred different ideas at the wall with little to no cohesion. For example, the two “Igor’s Boogie” interludes are separated by about 6 minutes & the two “Holiday in Berlin” pieces are separated by about 5. Even then, the ideas presented in those sets don’t even line up very well.
That’s enough complaining about the structure though, let’s get on to the positives: each fully-realized song is pretty damn good, especially the near 22-minute “Little House I Used To Live In”. When it comes to The Mothers… this is a top 5 song of theirs, THIS is when throwing a hundred ideas at the wall works. Sadly, it’s shortened to just under 19 minutes on streaming. Even though the album is structured poorly, everything has its place: since it’s already super chaotic, nothing feels off here, even the two doo-wop songs.
7.5/10
Published
This just might be my favourite Frank Zappa album - and that's a really difficult thing to state, as I'm a big fan.
Frank's 1969 approach to presenting his music, as heard here and on Hot Rats (some of which was recorded in the same sessions) relies less on the sonic manipulation of instruments than in 1967 and 1968. So this album sounds far less quirky than Uncle Meat - with horns that actually sound like horns (for the most part) rather than being sped up or otherwise played with. Although there is sped up percussion on Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich.
We get to spend a fair amount of time listening to Ian Underwood's semi-romantic approach to playing FZ's music on piano, as hinted at on Absolutely Free (the song on We're Only In It For The Money) and featured on Hot Rats. Jimmy Carl Black, Don Preston and Sugarcane Harris all get time in the spotlight too on Little House (does JCB ever get a chance to shine as he does here elsewhere in Frank's catalog?). We get extended guitar solos from Frank (on Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Holiday In Berlin, Full-Blown), and of course two doo-wop covers.
So it's a pretty complete Zappa listening experience, with many of the (un)usual boxes ticked. But what I think really differentiates this album is the incredible melodies present: Berlin, BWS, Aybe Sea and Little House especially (including the melodies that are a constant feature of the guitar solos). This is what defines this album within Zappa's vast catalog. It's beautiful while still being entertaining as well as complex.
Look out for the 2012 Universal cd if you're after this album on cd. The 1991 version has added reverb which doesn't really add to the experience, plus a fault with the tape during the beginning of the Little House introduction. Although I do find that it manages to equalise the volumes between the studio and live segments more successfully, I would still go for the 2012.
Frank's 1969 approach to presenting his music, as heard here and on Hot Rats (some of which was recorded in the same sessions) relies less on the sonic manipulation of instruments than in 1967 and 1968. So this album sounds far less quirky than Uncle Meat - with horns that actually sound like horns (for the most part) rather than being sped up or otherwise played with. Although there is sped up percussion on Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich.
We get to spend a fair amount of time listening to Ian Underwood's semi-romantic approach to playing FZ's music on piano, as hinted at on Absolutely Free (the song on We're Only In It For The Money) and featured on Hot Rats. Jimmy Carl Black, Don Preston and Sugarcane Harris all get time in the spotlight too on Little House (does JCB ever get a chance to shine as he does here elsewhere in Frank's catalog?). We get extended guitar solos from Frank (on Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Holiday In Berlin, Full-Blown), and of course two doo-wop covers.
So it's a pretty complete Zappa listening experience, with many of the (un)usual boxes ticked. But what I think really differentiates this album is the incredible melodies present: Berlin, BWS, Aybe Sea and Little House especially (including the melodies that are a constant feature of the guitar solos). This is what defines this album within Zappa's vast catalog. It's beautiful while still being entertaining as well as complex.
Look out for the 2012 Universal cd if you're after this album on cd. The 1991 version has added reverb which doesn't really add to the experience, plus a fault with the tape during the beginning of the Little House introduction. Although I do find that it manages to equalise the volumes between the studio and live segments more successfully, I would still go for the 2012.
Published
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Zappa's first album from the 1970's is a consistently good one. Though, we start with probably its most polarising tune, WPLJ, which harkens back to the doo-wop style of Cruising with Ruben & the Jets - I think it's fine, but kind of a strange opener for the album because it's nothing like the rest (except ending number, Valarie). Igor's Boogie (both phases) are just quick 20th century classical style interludes that can cause no offense. Overture to a Holiday in Berlin is pretty much the same thing. Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich is where the album really starts to take off, with a jam session that could've been ripped straight out of Hot Rats, avant-garde percussion notwithstanding. Holiday in Berlin is rather composed as opposed to being a long jam, and it's a great example of one of Zappa's instrumental compositions. Aybe Sea is a shorter song that brings the A-Side to a close and it's a pleasant instrumental track once more. All of these songs have hints of experimentation and moments that are out of the ordinary, and the centrepiece Little House I Used to Live In is a prime example of that - a nearly 20 minute partially avant-garde, partially musical opus that is entertaining through its whole duration. The song certainly sounds different here than it does in later releases, and it's impossible to remember the whole thing straight away so encourages you to listen to it again. As stated before Valarie is similar to WPLJ, bookending the album with another doo-wopish tune that is fine and rather inoffensive once more.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is not as eclectic as some of Zappa's other releases from this era, but it's certainly one of the most consistent as a result of that.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is not as eclectic as some of Zappa's other releases from this era, but it's certainly one of the most consistent as a result of that.
3.5 - Great
Published
“Burnt Weeny Sandwich”, named after one of Frank Zappa’s favorite snacks, is the first of two albums released in 1970 that mark the end of the classic Mothers of Invention line-up. It is comprised of tracks that went unreleased on The Mothers’ other studio albums of the time, mostly being remnant studio experiments. They are almost all highly structured Zappa compositions, with major contributions from Ian Underwood on winds and piano
The album is bookended with two doo-wop cover tracks. “WPLJ” and Valarie which both contain that iconic Zappa twinge to them, sung with falsetto registers and nonsensical background vocals and psychedelic instrumentation. This album also contains at least three interlude tracks. Two based off of the work of Ivor Stravinsky (“Igor’s Boogie, Phases One and Two”) and “Overture to Holiday in Berlin”, which comprises the main theme of “Holiday in Berlin” played by Buzz Gardner on trumpet, John Balkin on double bass, andIan Underwood on piano. “Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich” can finally be called the first Zappa composed track. With a lengthy and distorted guitar solo provided by none other than Zappa himself, re-imagining an outtake from the 1967 recording sessions of “Lonely Little Girl” which can be heard sporadically throughout the solo. Along with Zappa’s guitar are bizarre clangs, and several layers of percussion overdubbing courtesy of Art Tripp. The second major contribution to the record is “Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown”, another instrumental suite played by the entire band with a similar sound to numerous tracks off of Uncle Meat. Similar to Uncle Meat, the track is dominated by a multitude of minor variations and miniatures in installments and instrumental arrangements, playing the same musical motifs repeatedly with different tempos, pitches, and instruments. The song has this infernally pompous and kitsch, carnival-like atmosphere before launching into another multifaceted guitar solo.
“The Little House I Used to Live In” opens the B-side of the record with a subdued and ominous piano performance from Don Preston. It then launches into a stupefied and frenetic orchestral breakdown for the guitar, drums, and reeds.. The instrumental goes even further than this, launching into an epileptic saxophone solo with pulse-pounding percussion with compound meters such as 11/8 with overlaid melodies in 6/8 and 4/4. This movement closes with a proto-psychedelic Zappa guitar solo with a backing drum track. Suddenly, the electric violin, played by Don “Sugarcane” Harris, assaults a shuffling blues that becomes a visceral, demonic gallivanting rhythm for the entire orchestra. At this point, the music becomes a wicked monster, writhing, spasming, and contorting out of control. The music is underlined by a calming keyboard accompaniment while the violin and drums fight for their lives. Over the course of this movement, Preston’s piano eventually takes over and improvises over the drums and bass with multiple variations on glissandos, arpeggio scales, and traversals of the entire G key scale and beyond. The violin eventually returns and wanders over the piano, drums, and bass before dying in gasps of acute agony as the beast is finally laid to rest. Around minute 13, the motif found on “Aybe Sea” returns with Zappa on organ overdubbed with a guitar track and Art Tripp on percussion. This twinkling little passage is torn asunder by a live outtake of “Aybe Sea” being played with a multitude of variations. This ferocious track ends with Zappa speaking on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London, June 6th, 1969. This track is one of Zappa’s stylistic and instrumental masterpieces, surpassing that of “King Kong” and “Music for Low Budget Orchestra”.
Overall, this relatively minor release still carries all the hallmarks of Zappa’s genius songwriting and compositional prowess, with small amounts of his humour added in. The taste for the grotesque and clownish crossed by bouts of circus bandism and freakshow vocals is a celebration of the legacy of this early period of The Mothers of Invention. This album, along with “Weasels Ripped My Flesh” was released posthumously, after Zappa broke up the band due to his megalomania as a visionary composer. This album marks Zappa’s transition from the amateurish and banal production of rock music into something more reflective of honest professionalism, even if his music became even more grotesque in later years.
The album is bookended with two doo-wop cover tracks. “WPLJ” and Valarie which both contain that iconic Zappa twinge to them, sung with falsetto registers and nonsensical background vocals and psychedelic instrumentation. This album also contains at least three interlude tracks. Two based off of the work of Ivor Stravinsky (“Igor’s Boogie, Phases One and Two”) and “Overture to Holiday in Berlin”, which comprises the main theme of “Holiday in Berlin” played by Buzz Gardner on trumpet, John Balkin on double bass, andIan Underwood on piano. “Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich” can finally be called the first Zappa composed track. With a lengthy and distorted guitar solo provided by none other than Zappa himself, re-imagining an outtake from the 1967 recording sessions of “Lonely Little Girl” which can be heard sporadically throughout the solo. Along with Zappa’s guitar are bizarre clangs, and several layers of percussion overdubbing courtesy of Art Tripp. The second major contribution to the record is “Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown”, another instrumental suite played by the entire band with a similar sound to numerous tracks off of Uncle Meat. Similar to Uncle Meat, the track is dominated by a multitude of minor variations and miniatures in installments and instrumental arrangements, playing the same musical motifs repeatedly with different tempos, pitches, and instruments. The song has this infernally pompous and kitsch, carnival-like atmosphere before launching into another multifaceted guitar solo.
“The Little House I Used to Live In” opens the B-side of the record with a subdued and ominous piano performance from Don Preston. It then launches into a stupefied and frenetic orchestral breakdown for the guitar, drums, and reeds.. The instrumental goes even further than this, launching into an epileptic saxophone solo with pulse-pounding percussion with compound meters such as 11/8 with overlaid melodies in 6/8 and 4/4. This movement closes with a proto-psychedelic Zappa guitar solo with a backing drum track. Suddenly, the electric violin, played by Don “Sugarcane” Harris, assaults a shuffling blues that becomes a visceral, demonic gallivanting rhythm for the entire orchestra. At this point, the music becomes a wicked monster, writhing, spasming, and contorting out of control. The music is underlined by a calming keyboard accompaniment while the violin and drums fight for their lives. Over the course of this movement, Preston’s piano eventually takes over and improvises over the drums and bass with multiple variations on glissandos, arpeggio scales, and traversals of the entire G key scale and beyond. The violin eventually returns and wanders over the piano, drums, and bass before dying in gasps of acute agony as the beast is finally laid to rest. Around minute 13, the motif found on “Aybe Sea” returns with Zappa on organ overdubbed with a guitar track and Art Tripp on percussion. This twinkling little passage is torn asunder by a live outtake of “Aybe Sea” being played with a multitude of variations. This ferocious track ends with Zappa speaking on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London, June 6th, 1969. This track is one of Zappa’s stylistic and instrumental masterpieces, surpassing that of “King Kong” and “Music for Low Budget Orchestra”.
Overall, this relatively minor release still carries all the hallmarks of Zappa’s genius songwriting and compositional prowess, with small amounts of his humour added in. The taste for the grotesque and clownish crossed by bouts of circus bandism and freakshow vocals is a celebration of the legacy of this early period of The Mothers of Invention. This album, along with “Weasels Ripped My Flesh” was released posthumously, after Zappa broke up the band due to his megalomania as a visionary composer. This album marks Zappa’s transition from the amateurish and banal production of rock music into something more reflective of honest professionalism, even if his music became even more grotesque in later years.
Published
Usual Zappa's oddness and creativity.
Highlights: WPLJ, theme from burnt weeny sandwich, holiday in Berlin - full blown, Valarie
Then: overture to an holiday in Berlin, the little house I used to live in - live
76/100
Highlights: WPLJ, theme from burnt weeny sandwich, holiday in Berlin - full blown, Valarie
Then: overture to an holiday in Berlin, the little house I used to live in - live
76/100
Published
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Catalog
5 May 2024
4 May 2024
4 May 2024
4 May 2024
3 May 2024
2 May 2024
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A1
WPLJ
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A2
Igor's Boogie, Phase One
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A3
Overture to a Holiday in Berlin
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A4
Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich
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A5
Igor's Boogie, Phase Two
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A6
Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown
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A7
Aybe Sea
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B1
Little House I Used to Live In
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B2
Valarie
2 May 2024
2 May 2024
1 May 2024
1 May 2024
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A1 WPLJ
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A2 Igor's Boogie, Phase One
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A3 Overture to a Holiday in Berlin
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A4
Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich
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A5 Igor's Boogie, Phase Two
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A6
Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown
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A7 Aybe Sea
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B1
Little House I Used to Live In
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B2 Valarie
1 May 2024
30 Apr 2024
26 Apr 2024
25 Apr 2024
24 Apr 2024
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