Album: Hot Rats
Artist: Frank Zappa
Born: Baltimore, Maryland
Released: October 1969
Genre: Jazz Rock
Influenced: Black Sabbath, Parliament, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Frank Zappa really wasn't in it for the money. What I like about the early Mothers Of Invention albums is their attempt to inject humour into pop music. Those attempts weren't always that funny, and were often laced with envy and frustration that less talented musicians were selling more records, but when it worked it was very effective. Take Wowie Zowie on their '66 album, Freak Out, which satirises the inane lyrics of teen pop. Or the whole of We're Only In It For The Money, which was particularly scathing about some of the posturing associated with psychedelia. That said, having dipped into a lot of Zappa's music over the years, the album that I always come back to is Hot Rats, not least because of its associations with his childhood friend, Captain Beefheart. 1969 was a productive year for them both, with Zappa producing Trout Mask Replica and Beefheart contributing the inspired vocals on one of Hot Rat's best tracks, Willie The Pimp.
There's something completely uncompromising about Zappa's music. Willie The Pimp is one of his simpler riffs, but the combination of that violin opening, swampy guitar and Beefheart's peerless blues growl is incredible. Peaches en Regalia is also outstanding, straight from that unmistakeable introductory drum fill, moving free form like some sort of interplanetary soundtrack. Having listened to my fair share of prog rock (for my sins), you can see how influential Zappa's fusion of jazz and rock music was on the genre. Compared to the plodding, ponderous nature of a lot of prog though, Hot Rats is always vibrant and fun, and Zappa's guitar playing is completely virtuoso. When things get a bit too angular, like on It Must Be A Camel, I tend to switch off a bit, but the more loose jazz of The Gumbo Variations is far more enjoyable, especially Surgarcane's violin playing. The fact this album charted in the UK Top 10 is a sign of the exemplary taste of the British record-buying public at the time.
Frank Zappa really wasn't in it for the money. What I like about the early Mothers Of Invention albums is their attempt to inject humour into pop music. Those attempts weren't always that funny, and were often laced with envy and frustration that less talented musicians were selling more records, but when it worked it was very effective. Take Wowie Zowie on their '66 album, Freak Out, which satirises the inane lyrics of teen pop. Or the whole of We're Only In It For The Money, which was particularly scathing about some of the posturing associated with psychedelia. That said, having dipped into a lot of Zappa's music over the years, the album that I always come back to is Hot Rats, not least because of its associations with his childhood friend, Captain Beefheart. 1969 was a productive year for them both, with Zappa producing Trout Mask Replica and Beefheart contributing the inspired vocals on one of Hot Rat's best tracks, Willie The Pimp.
There's something completely uncompromising about Zappa's music. Willie The Pimp is one of his simpler riffs, but the combination of that violin opening, swampy guitar and Beefheart's peerless blues growl is incredible. Peaches en Regalia is also outstanding, straight from that unmistakeable introductory drum fill, moving free form like some sort of interplanetary soundtrack. Having listened to my fair share of prog rock (for my sins), you can see how influential Zappa's fusion of jazz and rock music was on the genre. Compared to the plodding, ponderous nature of a lot of prog though, Hot Rats is always vibrant and fun, and Zappa's guitar playing is completely virtuoso. When things get a bit too angular, like on It Must Be A Camel, I tend to switch off a bit, but the more loose jazz of The Gumbo Variations is far more enjoyable, especially Surgarcane's violin playing. The fact this album charted in the UK Top 10 is a sign of the exemplary taste of the British record-buying public at the time.
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