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Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Burnt Weeny Sandwich Audio CD

A fair review of the Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention "Burnt Weeny Sandwich" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention reviews here, or go back to the Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention tabs.

Band: Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
Title: Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Rating:

Release Date: 1995-05-02
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: WPLJ 2: Igor's Boogie, Phase One 3: Overture to a Holiday in Berlin 4: Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich 5: Igor's Boogie, Phase Two 6: Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown 7: Aybe Sea 8: Little House I Used to Live In 9: Valarie

instrumental stuff

His instrumental skills are quite different from, say, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes and Black Sabbath. Frank Zappa during his late 60's instrumental period is quite the special talent. Zappa has a unique style that's completely his own. Sometimes his instrumental playing sounds goofy, and it's totally intentional because he knew he had something special going, but there's enough diversity in his style and playing that any kind of intentional silliness doesn't really matter. What matters is that Frank Zappa has an original sound, and Burnt Weeny Sandwich captures him during his legendary classic period.

Picking a favorite song from Burnt Weeny Sandwich is pretty difficult. It's not an impossible task; it's just that each instrumental melody flows beautifully and oddly into the next one, and you have to take the entire album as a whole, and doing this makes it difficult to hear any obvious standout tracks.

It's not ALL instrumental playing- the vocal melody tracks are a great reminder of the late 50's slow dance scene.

With that said, this is probably not as good of an album overall compared to Hot Rats. Hot Rats is the obvious starting point for anyone just getting into Frank Zappa.

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Zappa Thrills Listeners!
. This album is hilarious at times with songs like WPLJ, and the instrumental arrangements are testaments to Zappa's skilled, unrestrained manner of musical expression.

This IS a Tasty Little Sucker
Cal Schenkl once told me that the fabulous Burnt Weeie Sandwich album cover was actually originally commissioned for an Eric Dolphy release. First, a bit of trivia. Now that IS interesting considering that Dolphy was one of Zappa's early influences. Ok. On with the review.

Burnt Weenie Sandwich along with Weasels Ripped My Flesh were put together by Zappa shortly after he called the band out to his house in Laurel Canyon to announce he was disbanding The Mothers. Both releases are definitely worth owning. Both would have been "assembled" during the period Zappa was working on Hot Rats. Both releases are made up of live and studio tracks recorded between 1967 and 1969. Weenie is more focused on some of Zappa's formal ensemble writing while Weasels has more of a jazz feel and more live tracks as well. I would say that Burnt Weenie Sandwich is probably the stronger of the two releases but they are both excellent.

As I wrote above, Burnt Weenie Sandwich seems to focus more on Zappa's "classical" and ensemble writing, in fact, some of this music found its way into 200 Motels a couple of years later; played by a full orchestra. The knowledgeable listener will recognize little pieces like the overture ( Semi Fraudulent/Direct From Hollywood Overture aka "When I Go Out On the Road to go Touring") There's a wide variety of musical styles here including a nostalgic rocker "WPLJ" and a doo-wop (perhaps a Ruben and the Jets out-take) called "Valerie". One of the "classic" pieces recalls Spike Jones in that it includes bicycle horns (the little squeeze bulb horn). There's even a "baroque" duet (Aybe Sea) with Underwood on piano and Zappa on acoustic guitar.

Now, the center piece is of Weenie is by far "The Little House I Used to Live In", a suite of pieces recorded both live and in the studio that are welded together into a single 15 + minute piece. Little House starts off with a piano introduction played by Ian Underwood, a sort of atonal "recital" type piece. This segues into a kind of prog rock thing that reminds me of European folk dance music. I swear, it sounds like 10,000 instruments playing in places here. There isn't a mellotron credited in the notes but it sure sounds like there is one present. This may just be the magic of the Wurlitzer organ that, at the time, was probably the most advanced piece of electronic equipment widely available for purchase (see Alice Coltrane to learn more about the Wurlitzer). Any way, this wild folk piece has its own little interlude that all Zappa fans will recognize as "The Mudshark" theme, then it's back into that sort of East European folk-dance thing - I almost expect guys with big wool hats, boots, and handle-bar mustaches to come leaping into the room dancing about whenever this plays. Ok, are you paying attention? Because This piece then develops into a scorching blues violin intro by Don Sugarcane Harris for a jazz-rocker with a REALLY jazzy piano solo by Ian Underwood (playing as I type these words in fact). Then that violin just keeps coming back again and again, building in blistering intensity each time he comes back in to do his "Sugarcane" thing. This is then followed by a wonderful ensemble interlude that has Zappa playing a wah-wah guitar over Don Preston playing harpsichord,Ian Underwood playing bassoon and Art Tripp on vibes. It's a beautiful, dreamy little piece of music that some how works right along with the jazz blues piece before it.

Little House is truly an amazing accomplishment, but then Zappa was THE master at making disparate things work wonderfully together. The whole thing is topped off with a wild Wurlitzer organ solo (played by Zappa himself) from a live performance, presumably in England as at the conclusion a disturbance breaks out and you can hear a "bobby" instructing an individual to return to his seat.

I consider both Burnt Weenie Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh important Mothers' releases and may reflect the very best performances by members of the first unit. If you are interested in Zappa's music then you MUST own them both. You WILL buy them now. Click!.

Was this one nominated for a Grammy?
Beginning and ending with doo-wop, the main content is classically-based progressive rock, with heavy reliance on a great pianist, Ian Underwood. Despite the bizarre album title, this is the main course (yeah, I said it) from that master. "Aybe Sea" and "Little House I Used To Live In" are really masterpieces, in that vein. I would think that Aaron Copeland himself would approve of these "soundscapes".
The "Holiday In Berlin" pieces are expertly arranged and manage to make off-key passages sound melodic, with beautifully integrated horns.
As Zappa & co. ventured into the '70s, the concept albums (I purchased) were also interesting, though heavily misanthropic lyrically and instrumentally. BWS conveys the musical/socially conscious mind of FZ with alot more open space for psychic exhaling, if you will. And the "FZ approved master, 1993" features crystalline sound and a perfect mix to make the headphone experience that much more rewarding.
CD also features Black, Harris, and Preston.

Classic Zappa
Especially WPLJ, a good remake of a 50's era song. Classic Frank Zappa. Zappa is as usual innovative. A good Zappa classic for your collection.

You can see a complete list of all Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention discography, or go back to the Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.