Doesn’t it sometimes surprise you that Frank Zappa never took drugs? I mean, Zappa has to be Exhibit A against the notion that you need artificial stimulants to be artistically creative.
This three disc collection is from one of Zappa’s most fertile periods, when he put out Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh and Uncle Meat. Recorded mostly at The Record Plant in early 1970, this 3 disc set has Zappa singing and playing guitar in a series of jams with the jazz fusioned team of Don Harris/voc-violin-org, Ian Underwood/key-sax/g, Max Bennett/b and Aynsley Dunbar/dr. The album from which we get the title, is the first disc, and who knows why it was shelved, as you have some bluesy pieces like “Funky Nothingness”, the driving “ Basement Jam” and a hoot of Twist nostalgia on “Work With Me Annie/Annie Had A Baby”.
Culled from the Hot Rats sessions, the last two discs include a couple un-edited masters of “The Clap” and a musical arm wrestling match between Dunsbar and Zappa for 22 minutes. Zappa stretches out on “Sharleena” and Underwood grinds the organ with Zappa’s ax on “Chunga’s Revenge”. The unedited takes give you a feel for what it was like to be in Zappa’s band back then, and what eventually stuck to the wall when things were thrown at it. Lots of fun!