THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: BURNT WEENY SANDWICHFrank ZappaRIO/Avant-Prog |
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From these two trios come some of ZAPPA's most brilliant and ambitious music, with Burnt Weeny in the top half of that group, and thus one of ZAPPA's essential recordings.
WPLJ starts off as something that sounds like it got left off of Cruising With Ruben & The Jets. There are a few instrumentl compositions on here, notably the Holday in Berlin's and the Igor's Boogie's. Holiday in Berlin Full Blown being the real winner out of the four. Each of the compositions feature a signature melody but also concentrate on Frank's favored experimental sound effects. So in that aspect, they're not as strong as a lot of previous Frank compositions. Aybe Sea is a beauitful piece with an engaging melody, an overlooked Frank tune. Valarie is another Doo Wop song Frank wrote, and sometimes performed live.
However the real winner on this is The Little House I Used To Live In, taken from a few shoes where the song was played, seguing solos over the main melody of the song together. It's one of Frank's best melodies and features a lot of great solos.
All in all, Burnt Weeny Sandwich is nowhere near as strong due to their being some kind of lack of focus on the substance of the music melodically in my opinion, but where this record shines, it shines.
On the plus side, however, there are a lot of great instruments used on the album, particularly Underwood piano on Aybe sea, which is gorgeous (but still, the song is short ). Another great song: "Theme from Burnt Weenie Sandwich", which creates an interesting prog atmosphere which is pretty different to the usual Zappa chaos...
It is a good album to listen to, but not an essential one. 3.4/5.0
I have been listening this song for years never getting tired of it. I read once an "expert" comment who said that this song has Zappa�s most subtle solo and I tend to agree.
While I am a true fan of FZ I never listened this record that often, but the song I mentioned at the beggining justifies the whole album IMHO.
Released in 70', Zappa was at the end of the "collage" period and just before its great jazz-rock era which culminates with the two masterpieces: "Waka / Jawaka" and "The gran wazzo" in 1972.
"Burnt weeny sandwich" offers an original blend of 50's pop song's parody (the humorous side), contemporary music and beautiful Zappa's guitar at its most inspired.
Kind of collage, the music alternates from ridiculous parody moments to experimental inventive contemporary interludes to reach the top with progressive flights leaded by Zappa's sublime guitar work: Never Zappa's solos has been so moving and subtle, especially on the beautiful "Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich" and "Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown", the two highlights.
The long piece "Little House I Used to Live In" offers something different: a furious jazz-rock tune leaded by Don "Sugarcane" Harris violin.
Overall, an essential album from the best period.
The record starts and ends with two Doo-wop tracks, ' a genre that Zappa loved :'WPLJ' (White, Porto, Lemon-Juice) and 'Valeri'. Both tracks are covers, the first from the '4 Deuces' and the second from 'Jacqui &The Starlites', featuring Roy Estrada on falsetto vocals.
Next section : two small neo-classical compositions in Stravinsky style : 'Igor's Boogie, Phase One & two' featuring Ian Underwood on clarinette.
The theme for 'Overture to a Holiday in Berlin' and 'Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown' is one of the oldest Zappa compositions and was written around 1960 for the film 'The World Greatest Sinner'. The theme appeared also later on '200 Motels' as 'Would You Like A Snack ? 'The 'Berlin' title comes from the 1968 tour and refers to a concert in Berlin, when the students asked Zappa to support their ideas and actions and on a refusal by Zappa, they throw tomatoes and assorted stuff on stage. BTW on the official boot 'Freaks and Motherf...'is a version with lyrics telling the story. The music itself another brillant neo- classical piece , integrating in the fullblown version a march for speeded up marimba and a Zappa solo in the second half.
'Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich' a live track integrating a great Zappa solo and featured percussion.
'Aybe Sea' is a beautiful composition featuring harpsichord in the first half and later acoustic guitar and piano...
... seguing into the long masterpiece 'Little House I Used to Live In', a track that alternates live and studio material . The piano introduction by Ian Underwood( reminding strongly Debussy's 'Etudes') gives place to the main theme (live) featuring organ, guitar and sax. A rhythm change introduces a jerky dance tune, followed by a Zappa solo, then a long Sugarcane Harris solo on electric violin, a piano solo and the second part of the Harris solo, before a reprise of the main theme (studio) on harpsichord, marimba, clarinette and sax. The track ends with an organ solo by Zappa himself. During the following applause an audience member criticizes some soldiers in uniform among the audience and gets a typical Zappa answer in return : "Don't fool yourself, everybody in this room is wearing a uniform!"
A great compilation of the '1968 Mothers' !
That being said, the best track here have to be the 18-minute epic, "The Little House That I Used To Live In", one of Zappa's very best tracks from his work with The Mothers. The rest of the album is also very good with the two Igor Stravinsky tributes "Igor's Boogie Pahse 1" and "Phase Two" being two humouristic stand-outs here. This album is very much recommended, both for older and newer Zappa fans. 4.25/5
"Igor's Boogie Phase One" is a tribute to one of ZAPPA's heroes Igor Stravinsky, and the percussion is pretty cool. "Igor's Boogie Phase Two" is much like the first one. "Overture To A Holiday In Berlin" has some nice orchestration and a brief but well done sax solo. "Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich" is such a good instrumental that is guitar driven with some orchestration.
"Holiday In Berlin Full Blown" is a beautiful display of sax, xylophone, piano and guitar solos. Great tune. "Aybe Sea" I suppose d, e, f should follow. Anyway Ian Underwood gives us some excellent piano melodies on this one but not before we are treated to some harpichord. "Little House I Used To Live In" is almost 19 minutes long and opens with a long piano melody that has been continued from the previous song. The song becomes uptempo with drums, horns, piano and most of all electric violin melodies. Just a brilliant tune.
This one surprised me, I wasn't expecting so much serious and amazing instrumental music. If you can put up with the two doo-wop songs you'll find a treasure of instrumental music.
Igor�s boogie phase I A weird filler. Not even a minute in length, this is an uninspired horn instrumental. 0 stars
Overture to a holiday in Berlin Out of tune, but on purpose. In fact, the melody is fine, even with the slightly out of tune playing, and it�s pretty charming as well. 4 stars
Theme from burnt weeny sandwich seems like a leftover from Hot rats. Wah wahed lead guitar from Zappa and overall similar to that album both in approach with melody (which isn�t all that great), but the mood is nice. as well. 5 stars
Igor�s boogie phase II Ok, more of the same as phase I . 0 stars
Holiday in Berlin full blown Develops further the melody of the overture. The horns laden intro part gets on my nerves after a short time as it seems to go nowhere, but the guitar driven part with great drumming has a nice melody to it, and the mood is great as well. 4 stars
Aybea sea A lovely, relaxed instrumental based on great evocative piano playing from Ian Underwood. 5 stars
Little house I used to live in A fine instrumental with interchanging slower and faster passages. Features fine solos by Frank, the violinist Don Harris (he does especially great), and Underwood again. The track is everything but coherent and without a main melody to it, but the solos are nice, and the mood and improvisational feel are fine, and jazzy. 5 stars
Valerie A parody on fifties/early sixties pop once again by Frank. SSweet and hilarious at te same time. Nevertheless the vocals are gorgeous and I really like it, perhaps because it sounds so out of place in comparison with all the other tracks on the album. 5 stars
Overall rating: 3 STARS
GOOD, BUT NON-ESSENTIAL
With Burnt Weeny Sandwich Zappa put the hold on his jazz/rock fusion to create a sound that isn't as clearily identifiable. In a way, I like to think of it as mix of Uncle Meat, We're Only In It..., and Hot Rats (but a more subtle jazziness instead of the hot fusion that dominates Hot Rats). Or if you care to look at it from later works, this is a more subdubed and controled Weasels Ripped My Flesh. These of course are just generalizations, and the sound is really hard to pinpoint. The main culprits at play are classical, avant, jazz, and rock, which IMO makes this a great introduction to Franks classical works.
The bread of this sandwich are two doo-wop tracks. They are somewhat enjoyable, but don't really add anything to the mix (but don't take away either), except for making this album a literal sandwich. The real fun begins with the weenies. From Igor's Boogie to Aybe Sea this album stakes its claim as a classical rock record. This is done to near perfection. The Igor's Boogies along with Aybe Sea, show more of the classical side of this record, with Aybe Sea being a classic Zappa song in every respect featuring excellent guitar and piano. Theme From Bunrt Weeny Sandwich emphasizes the rock in this equation with Frank giving a great solo over some demented percussive sounds. Then we have The Holiday In Berlin songs. These two make a nice blend of classical and rock influences (with jazz, waltz, big band, avanty influences, as well) and create some special moments throughout. Holiday In Berlin (Full Blown) is again, a classic Zappa track. However, the show is stole by the monster of Little House I Used To Live In. This jazz- rock critter (still with classical influences) never fails to dissapoint. Great percussion work, violin solo, guitar solo, and one of my favorite melodies that Zappa created all make this track another Zappa classic (especally with the ending).
All in all, this album is filled with goodies that should be heard. One of the Zappa's first more classical albums makes this somewhat interesting in a histroical regard. This one also provides more edvince of the great song writer/arranger Zappa was. Fans of any of the styles above (with the excpetion of doo-wop) will find plenty to love about Burnt Weeny Sandwich. And once again, this album seems to be a bit underrated by Zappa fans, or at least underappreciated. I believe this album's diversity and progressiveness earn this album a very strong 4 stars. Recommended.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is almost entirely instrumental but very different from the jazz/ rock of Hot Rats which was the previous album Frank Zappa released. That was of course a solo release and shouldn�t be counted when we�re talking about The Mothers of Invention and since the songs on Burnt Weeny Sandwhich is likely recorded a while before Hot Rats it�s understandable.
The album consists of nine songs. The first and the last track are fifties doo woop/ r�n�b songs with vocals while the rest of the songs are instrumental mostly theme based songs. WPLJ and Valarie are both very enjoyable little doo woop/ r�n�b songs and especially WPLJ takes the price as one of the best in this style Frank Zappa ever made. Most of the songs are pretty short typical Mothers Of Invention instrumental songs which reminds me a bit of some of the songs from Uncle Meat. Aybe Sea is a bit different as it is a piano song which serves as a showof of Ian Underwood�s considerable piano talents. Little House I Used to Live In is a 18:41 minutes long and starts out with some great playing of an instrumental theme. Later there�s a great violin solo from Don Sugarcane Harris and some great piano playing from Ian Underwood. Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich is a vehicle for a Frank Zappa guitar solo and it kind of reminds me of Nine Types of Industrial Pollution from Uncle Meat as Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich also has some strange percussion in the background of the mix. There are also some Conceptual Continuety here or rather some of the themes here are used later in some of Zappa�s songs. For example Would You like a Snack ? from 200 Motels uses the theme from Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown. The theme is instrumental on Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown while it is sung by Flo & Eddie on Would You like a Snack ? from 200 Motels. I like both versions very much.
The Mothers of Invention were exceptional musicians and prove it here once again. But as on Uncle Meat Ian underwood steals the picture more than anyone with his beautiful piano playing.
The sound quality is very good. Fully on par with the previous albums from The Mothers of Invention.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is an excellent album from The Mothers of Invention, and even though it�s not a complete masterpiece in my ears, it�s definitely a must for fans of Frank Zappa. This is not just a fan thing though as other people might enjoy this one too. I�ll rate Burnt Weeny Sandwich 4 stars without hesitation for the great songs and the excellent musicianship.
We begin with the grinning singalong of 'WPLJ' - one of those half-tender, half-smirking doo-wop re-enactments that Zappa threw out now and again, just because he could, I guess. A bit of mischief-making to start proceedings off and probably to confound all those 'serious listeners' who might be expecting to hear something more right-on.
After that, it's on to 'Igor's Boogie, Phase One' - a palate-cleansing morsel of neo-classical confectionery to take the sugary taste of 'WPLJ' away. There is no time to savour it though, as we are already late for...
...'Overture to A Holiday in Berlin', with its queasy, out of tune fairground sound and bleating drunken wind instruments. 'Holiday in Berlin' refers to an incident at a Mothers concert in Berlin in 1968, when some aggrieved student activists had a bit of a tantrum over Frank Zappa's unwillingness to collude with them in a planned act of vandalism. This piece and the later reprise of it, further down the running order, was Zappa's riposte - a cynical sigh, a belittling glance, in musical form. I'm always impressed with how Zappa's music can tease so mercilessly, just by the way it sounds, without the need for comedy lyrics. (Indeed, some people would prefer it if Zappa had never written any lyrics!)
Now we move swiftly on to 'Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich', which is a restrained and repetitive rock instrumental, used mainly as a backdrop for Zappa's leisurely guitar explorations. Not my favourite piece on the album, mainly because it is fairly repetitive, but it does give us a peaceful moment's breather before the next piece.
'Igor's Boogie, Phase Two' arrives, blaring its odd mixture of melancholy tootling and comedy noises, whereupon...
...We are now back in Berlin for 'Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown', which gives us a less comical and more straightforward rendering of the 'Holiday' theme. I love this, for its gear changes through atmospheres ranging from gentle and civilised, via purposefully cheesy and ironic, to all out musical sneering, with speeded up militaristic percussion (surely a dig at those idiotic rioters, marching-marching-marching for no reason whatsoever). At this point, you can be quite sure that Zappa is laughing at you. Of course, to counter that, there is a smattering of eloquent guitar, in which we get a glimpse of emotion (something that is rarely if ever admitted to in any other facet of Zappa's music).
Time now for 'Aybe Sea', a kind of faux sea shanty-cum-movie music hybrid. Zappa was apparently rather fond of real sea shanties, and this enjoyable pretend one could be soundtrack to a cartoon.
At last it's time for 'The Little House I Used To Live In', which opens with a delicious spoonful of ice-cold, contemptuous and yet melancholy piano. Probably in my top ten of Zappa moments! It's stark, bold, somehow emotional, and yet I can't help wondering if he's just being manipulative with it - pressing the listener's buttons a little, before the main theme bursts forth exuberantly, with no warning. We have suddenly been dragged from moody contemplation into a jazz rock cataclysm! This is brisk, proud stuff, with plenty of showing off. Ingredients include, but are not limited to, incensed guitar, dirty violin like nails being dragged down a grimy window, pounding piano and drums, affronted jazz... Later there is an incongruous moment of quietude with soft woodwinds and tinkly keyboards, a drip of sentiment tinged with bitterness... Then a sudden irruption of speeded-up chaos. It's almost like a self-parody of all the preceding phases of the piece. As the music mounts a squalling, ethnic-tinged ascent to its conclusion, we are met with rapturous audience noise, the tantalising announcement of a proposed attempt to play 'Brown Shoes Don't Make It', and then some disgruntled blithering from hecklers (who were apparently making their feelings known regarding some armed service personnel in the audience). Cue Zappa's immortal line, Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform and don't kid yourselves. And, following further hollering from the miscreants, You'll hurt your throat, stop it! Great stuff.
And with that rollercoaster-ride over and done with, we end our whistle stop tour of Zappa's musical domain, arriving back at the doo-wop check-point. This is where we get off, the portal back to normality! 'Valarie' is like an anodyne comedown after 'Little House'. An interesting contrast indeed.
Well then, time to sum up. This album offers a bitesize glimpse, a curious miniaturised scale model, of very many aspects of FZ's music from this period - it's like a sample vial of concentrated essence of Zappa, which might also make it a good choice as an entry point to the most bewilderingly prolific and varied discography of them all. All this music has its place, from a sweet pop song to an unbridled jazz rock explosion, and here, as ever, Zappa manages to pull off a whole heap of contrasting styles with his usual air of languid-ease-contradicted-by-sheer-effort. This album will probably not entertain you much if you like a gentle 'story arc' with your music, but if it's a variety performance you're after, give it a go - it's fun, flashy and well worth it for the magnificence that is 'Little House' alone. It's also a bit of a grower, methinks. When I first heard it, I wasn't exactly leaping up and down for love of it, but it's since become one of my most played Zappa albums. From me, four stars for this entertaining and quirky mixture.
On paper, this is, definitely, a really bizarre choice for a favorite Zappa album. It consists of nine tracks, two of which are regular doo-wop (these bookend the album), two of which are :36 each of dissonant interlude and one of which is an "overture" to another piece. The remainder, as far as I'm aware, is a mix of live instrumental improvisations, modern- classical and jazz-fusion outtakes, some of which were first recorded live and then taken into the studio. Except for the doo-wop numbers, there are no vocals at all, barring a moment at the end of "Little House" during the audience applause when there's a mildly tense moment between Zappa and an irritated fan.
In short, then, one might wonder how such a hodge-podge collection could ascend to such a lofty place in terms of my regard for Frank and Co.; indeed, there was a good while after I realized how much I loved the album where I'd start to play it and try to remember what on earth it was that had made me so ga-ga over it in the first place. I mean, the doo-wop tracks ("WPLJ" and "Valerie;" both are covers, despite me being told initially that the latter was a Mothers original) are hardly spectacular, nor do I think they're meant to be; aside from a funny monologue at the end of the former, they would completely pass me by on another album. Same goes for "Igor's Boogie (Phase One)" and "Igor's Boogie (Phase Two);" it's very likely that on another album I might even be actively complaining about these two tracks.
But you know what? I don't (in general) review collections of individual tracks; I review albums, and this is a clear case (in my mind) of the distinction between the two. The collection and sequencing of the tracks on this album absolutely amazes me, because Frank accomplishes three significant tasks in doing so (which I will address one by one), all the while throwing in a bonus trait for good measure. The first regards the tension and release thereof throughout; the second regards the symmetry of the album (though actually this is very tied to the first, and could be called trait 1a); the third regards the way Frank creates a "proxy" for the band's overall work. The fourth is that there's actually a strong dose of un-ironic emotion on here, an accomplishment for sure from Frank, but I'll get into that.
First, the tension and release aspect. One of the aspects I enjoyed the most about Freak Out! was the way Frank played on the inherent expectation of a wild, crazy, mind-blowing experience by instead providing a bunch of pop and doo-wop parodies, thus making the later effect of "Help, I'm a Rock!" et al that much more pronounced. I realized after first reviewing it that that album was very much, in terms of building up to a storm, a sort of studio equivalent of Bob Dylan's Live '66 album, at least in terms of toying with the audience. Well, Frank does a similar thing here, though the actual purpose is slightly different (there isn't an explicit message here). The opening combination of "WPLJ" and "Igor's Boogie 1" works well along these lines, making the listener wonder why on earth Frank would put two tracks like that immediately together, and "Overture to a Holiday in Berlin" ups the ante by featuring a "romantic" theme that happens to have some of the instruments way, waaaaay flat. "Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich" (a very pleasant, hypnotic instrumental that mostly stars Zappa and his wah-wah pedal) acts as a pleasant "diversion" (one that just happens to really really rule), before "Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown" manages to "correct" the partial flatness of "Overture" in one of its parts (its many parts add up to one of the loveliest modern-classical/jazz instrumentals I can imagine; the last half of it features more of Zappa's guitar skills at their most hypnotic), thus releasing the tension that came specifically from that part earlier on.
But of course, that doesn't relieve all of the tension of the first side, and the very beginning of side two's "The Little House I Used to Live In" piles its own lump of tension into the pile as well. It's soooo intricate and so full of different moods and great melodies, even just within the first five minutes or so (which begins with a couple of minutes of piano improv), as it builds into a multi-instrumental extravaganza, then lets Frank's guitar take over for a bit ... and then we get it. I cannot stress enough how much I absolutely love the violin solo that then proceeds to own something like the next ten minutes of the track (it disappears for a little bit in favor of some piano, but let's not be picky). My preferred analogy to describe how I hear it is to say that it's as if the first half of the album has been placed upon on a sacrificial altar, and the violin solo is the soundtrack to the ritual act itself, but even then I'm not sure I'm accurately conveying my thoughts on it. It's just ... it's just unbelievable. It creates some tension as it goes along, yes, but it also (in my mind, anyway) manages to wipe away a huge chunk of its own tension and the remaining tension from the first side, which (along with being absolutely awesome on its own) is enough to make me adore it.
The piece goes on a bit more after the solo is done, dissolving a good 95% of the remaining tension, calling up some of the themes from side one for good measure (more later), and then ends to a thundering burst of applause. Then it's off to "Valerie," and we're done. Which brings me to point two, the symmetry of the album. Let's see, the album starts and ends with a doo-wop member. "Theme From Burnt Weeny Sandwich" is immediately preceded by "Igor's Boogie (One)" and "Overture to a Holiday in Berlin," and immediately followed by "Igor's Boogie (Two)" and "Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown." Side one ends with an extremely beautiful piano-and-harpsichord based instrumental in "Aybe Sea" (heh), then side two begins with a minute of piano improvisations. Ooh, and don't forget about the very end of "Little House" featuring not only a return to the same organ-driven instrumental texture as the start of the track, but which also quotes "Aybe Sea" in parts! Hell, there's probably more of these things that I'm forgetting about, and what's here is already impressive.
Part three regards the way Zappa manages to make the album so representative of The Mothers' career despite theoretically not doing so. He manages to bring in the doo- wop/sarcastic pop side, the occasional dissonance-for-its-own-sake side, the nods-to-jazz side, the genre-fusion side, the wow-that's-intricate-stuff side, and even the cultural-war side ("Take that uniform off!" "Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, and don't kid yourself."). To a large degree, one could argue that the whole gist of the band's career is summed up by those characteristics; it misses out on a lot of the finer details, of course, but for an album with only nine tracks, hitting that much of the band's essence is pretty impressive.
And, finally, there's an aspect here that is not routinely found in other Zappa albums, and that is actual emotional resonance (as opposed to mockery of resonance, which is the closest thing to it that was usually achieved in the other albums). There is unironic beauty to be found in tracks like "Holiday in Berlin," "Aybe Sea" and "Little House," and from a man like Zappa, who seemingly devoted most of his life to mocking beauty, that is truly something to behold.
So that's a good start to summarizing why I like this album so much, more than any other Zappa I've heard, and enough to put it in my overall top 50. I enjoy it to pieces, and it works on so many intellectual levels at the same time that I can't help but also feel wonder at its overall construction. A Zappa collection without this (and it can exist, because it doesn't get publicized as much as many of his other albums do) is really missing the heart and soul of the man.
An album that's often been (wrongly, IMHO) linked with Uncle Meat (probably due to the carnal artworks and titles), BWS doesn't start very well with that dumb doo-wop-like WPLJ tune, but from the very next track the album veers into a fantastic instrumental Overture/Theme BWS book-ended by the short Igor's Boogie pieces where the music alternates between modern classical and klezmer to jazz-rock. Then we get the Holiday In Berlin track where we'd gotten a theme preview with the previous Overture, where the semi-grotesque Oktoberfest-like music dominates at first, then leading into another fine jazz-rock instrumental, soon segueing in Aybe Sea (ABC), which is another good instrumental filled with Underwood's piano.
The flipside is mainly occupied by the lengthy Little House I Used To Live In, lasting almost 19-mins, which opens with a piano-dominated intro (Underwood again), before the piece- proper jumps into a wild instrumental passage that features a solid violin solo, care of Sugar Cane Harris (although I'd have preferred Ponty's intervention, but this is nitpicking), but not before Frank's outstanding guitar outing and Preston finishes the job on piano. The closing Valarie is a classically-inspired track that starts pastoral and acoustic but veers rockier and chaotic The ensuing live track starts doo-wop-ish on a parody of or pastiche of Barbara-Ann
Clearly one of the early line-up Mothers' best albums with Weasels, Burnt Weeny Sandwich is better compared to Rats, Chunga and the likes and if it didn't start so catastrophically, it could compare even more favourably.
The album opens and closes with light doo-wop style songs, similar to the pieces on Ruben & The Jets. WPLJ and Valerie were probably meant to get som airplay. But it's what's inside this sandwich that makes the album special.
The two Holiday In Berlin pieces are some of the finests classical works in Zappa's repertoire. He must have known that, as well, as theme from this popped up in works throughout the rest of his career. And the original, and best recording of Little House I Used To Live In is an amazing jazz fusion piece, despite the obvious splices from different performances.
In my opinion, this is a must have album in your Zappa collection.
These tracks are almost entirely instrumental, making this an album you'll absolutely love if, like me, you liked the instrumental tracks on Uncle Meat. What pushes it into the must-have category is The Little House I Used to Live In, an epic track that takes up most of the second side and takes us through the Mothers' entire sonic universe before depositing us at a live concert (where we get to see Zappa's good-natured handling of a heckler). Maybe it is a posthumous Frankenstein rising from the MOI's grave, but it's an expertly designed one.
The album is mainly instrumental and at times the jam sessions hook into a hypnotic groove that entrance the listener. The trademark doo wop style is there as usual but it is not as laboured as other albums. The music ranges from neo-classical to straight out rock. Highlights include WPLJ, Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown and the epic Little House I Used to Live In. The opening track and epic finale are the best moments but overall the album is an enjoyable listen showcasing the virtuoso musicianship of the Mothers of Invention. The tracks blend together and come across as one seamless work of art. Zappa is notorious for chatting to the crowd and this is no exception as he backchats an audience member who complains about the soldiers in the arena; Zappa retorts "Don't fool yourself, everybody in this room is wearing a uniform." Another solid album for Zappa in a period where prog music was becoming defined and formulated.
Speaking of sandwich, a burnt weenie sandwich is a snack that FZ used to love and it was exactly what it says it is, with a little mustard added and a Hebrew National hot dog starring as the weenie.
So, except for the 1st and last tracks, this is entirely instrumental. And it is full of meter changes and strange meter combinations that FZ was famous for. There are a few places were you can tell things were pasted together, the editing not being very clean. But that adds to the novelty of this collection. The next release that would come from the FZ discography is part 2 of the collection of previously unreleased Mothers recordings, but it is a lot more scattered and messy where this album is a lot more concise and tight, even with the somewhat sloppy editing.
I really enjoy listening to this mostly because of the variety in the collection. It never gets boring and contains a lot of themes that FZ would use in later instrumentals and live shows. Get to know these themes if you are working on becoming an FZ aficionado, and it will make things a lot easier for you to understand....and with understanding will come enjoyment. Good stuff, I wish I had it on vinyl. I have to say, in order to understand FZ's music, this is an essential recording...not quite a masterpiece though because of the uneven editing, but close enough to be a 5 star in my opinion, because of the amazing musicianship, the mixing of jazz and classical, and an honest attempt to get the masses to listen to good quality music, which was FZ's mission. The rock and humor was always added in to attract the masses to listen to the real music.
The showcase piece, "Little House I Used to Live In" is wonderful; probably one of the all time great Zappa tunes. Running at 18 minutes it'll give you plenty to enjoy as it jaunts its way through myriad styles, tempos, instrument sections, and straight up jamming. Other songs aren't as strikingly good, instead being like quirky little melodies or interludes from TV or movies of the era. That may not sound appealing when compared to the sweeping or epic music of other prog groups, but Zappa's style as a composer, and the group of outstanding musician that he constantly surrounds himself with, creates a personality and charm that is irresistible.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is very accessible and a lot of fun. Despite being a little weird, it isn't so experimental that newcomers will be turned off by the Zappa sound. Highly recommended.
Songwriting: 4 - Instrumental Performances: 4 - Lyrics/Vocals: NA - Style/Emotion/Replay: 4
(Considering this an album by THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION and not a FRANK ZAPPA album)
This is like a purified version of "Uncle Meat". In February 1970, THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION released their sixth studio album "Burnt weeny sandwich", this album took the Avant-Garde sound of "Uncle Meat" but took away all the filler stuff and focused on the well-played, rehearsed, and mature music. While the first song of the album is a cover/parody version of THE FOUR DEUCES' song "WPLJ" and it brought back the weird comedy that THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION was talented for (the song ends with Roy ESTRADA's pachuco-Spanish talking that is absolutely hilarious), the rest of the album is absolutely Avant-Garde instrumental music with the exception of the ballad "Vallery" at the end.
As I said before: this is a purified version of "Uncle Meat", since it has the same kind of music but it doesn't get lost with a lot of filler songs and that makes this record a much more accessible one. This album proves that THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION were capable of being a serious band and they were filled with a talent to give to the world.
SONG RATING: WPLJ, 4 Igor's Boogie, phase one, 4 Overture to a holiday in Berlin, 5 Theme from Burnt weeny sandwich, 5 Igor's Boogie, phase two, 4 Holiday in Berlin, full-blown, 5 Aybe sea, 5 The little house I used to live in, 5 Valerie, 4
AVERAGE: 4.56
PERCENTAGE: 91.11
ALBUM RATING: 5 stars
FRANK ZAPPA The Mothers Of Invention: Burnt Weeny Sandwich ratings only
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