Hot Rats | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 10, 1969 | |||
Recorded | July 18 – August 30, 1969 T.T.G., Los Angeles Sunset Sound, Los Angeles Whitney Studios, Glendale using 16-track | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:11 | |||
Label | Bizarre/Reprise | |||
Producer | Frank Zappa | |||
Frank Zappa chronology | ||||
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Frank Zappa (solo) chronology | ||||
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Singles from Hot Rats | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Great Rock Bible | 9/10 [5] |
MusicHound Rock:The Essential Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
OndaRock | 8/10 [7] |
Record Collector | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Tom Hull | B+ [10] |
Uncut | 9/10 [11] |
The Village Voice | C [12] |
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa,released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original version of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental,while "Willie the Pimp" features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes,Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".
Zappa dedicated the album to his newborn son,Dweezil. In February 2009,Dweezil's tribute band to his father,Zappa Plays Zappa,won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for their rendition of "Peaches en Regalia". [13]
Because Hot Rats largely consists of instrumental jazz-influenced compositions with extensive soloing,the music sounds very different from earlier Zappa albums,which featured satirical vocal performances with extensive use of musique concrète and editing. Besides Zappa,multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood and guitarist Lowell George are the only members of the Mothers to appear on the album,with Underwood being Zappa's primary musical collaborator. Other featured musicians were bassists Max Bennett and Shuggie Otis (who was only 15 years old at the time of the session);drummers John Guerin,Paul Humphrey and Ron Selico;and electric violinists Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Jean-Luc Ponty.
This was the first Frank Zappa album recorded on 16-track equipment and one of the first albums to use this technology. Machines with 16 individual tracks allow for much more flexibility in multi-tracking and overdubbing than the professional 4 and 8-track reel-to-reel tape recorders that were standard in 1969.
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd &The Story of Prog Rock,the album was number 13 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". [14] It was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [15] In 2000 it was voted number 123 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums . [16]
Zappa used advanced recording equipment to create an album of outstanding technical and musical quality. The album was recorded on what Zappa described as a "homemade sixteen track" recorder;the machine was custom built by engineers at TTG Studios in Hollywood in late 1968. Additional tracks made it possible for Zappa to add multiple horn and keyboard overdubs. Only a few musicians were required to create an especially rich instrumental texture which gives the sound of a large group. It was this use of advanced overdubbing that was the main motivation for Zappa,who hated playing in a studio. [17]
The colorful,psychedelic aura of the late sixties is apparent in the graphic design and photography of Hot Rats. This one-disc album had a gatefold featuring the elaborate artwork of Cal Schenkel,at a time when gatefold covers were less common and just coming into vogue. The front and back cover photos by Andee Nathanson use infrared photography and reflect Zappa's taste for striking visual images,combined with the absurdly humorous. The woman pictured on the cover is Christine Frka,alias Miss Christine of The GTOs. For years these cover photos were incorrectly credited to Ed Caraeff.
The LP was released on the blue Bizarre label in the United States in 1969. The inside of the original gatefold LP cover has a collage of color pictures,many of which were taken during the recording sessions. In 1973 the album was re-issued by Reprise Records. This version was deleted in 1981 when Zappa's contract with record distributor Warner Bros. Records ended.
In 1987 Zappa remixed Hot Rats for re-issue on CD by Rykodisc. On this edition many of the photos were removed,and the few that were included were printed in black and white. "Willie the Pimp" is edited differently during the introduction and guitar solo. "The Gumbo Variations" is four minutes longer;it includes an introduction and guitar and saxophone solo sections which were left out of the LP version. On "Little Umbrellas",the piano and flute are more prominent than on the LP. Other differences include significant changes to the overall ambiance and dynamic range. The 1995 CD reissue restored the full gatefold artwork.
A 2008 remaster of the original mix was used for a 2009 limited edition audiophile LP by Classic Records and for the 2012 Universal Music CD reissue. [18] Zappa Records reissued the album in a 180 gram LP in 2016,remastered by Bernie Grundman. On 20 December 2019,Zappa Records released The Hot Rats Sessions ,a 50th anniversary 6 CD box set of music recorded during the sessions for the album which included the no longer available 1987 mix and many previously unissued takes and mixes.
The album was a top ten hit in Britain and the Netherlands in 1969–1970.
All tracks are written by Frank Zappa
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Peaches en Regalia" | 3:38 |
2. | "Willie the Pimp" | 9:21 |
3. | "Son of Mr. Green Genes" | 8:58 |
Total length: | 21:57 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
4. | "Little Umbrellas" | 3:06 |
5. | "The Gumbo Variations" | 12:53 |
6. | "It Must Be a Camel" | 5:15 |
Total length: | 21:14 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Peaches en Regalia" | 3:37 |
2. | "Willie the Pimp" | 9:16 |
3. | "Son of Mr. Green Genes" | 8:58 |
4. | "Little Umbrellas" | 3:04 |
5. | "The Gumbo Variations" | 16:55 |
6. | "It Must Be a Camel" | 5:15 |
Total length: | 47:05 |
Credits are adapted from Hot Rats liner notes. [19]
Chart (1969-70) | Position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report) [20] | 19 |
Billboard 200 | 173 |
UK Albums (OCC) [21] | 9 |
We're Only in It for the Money is the third album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on March 4, 1968, by Verve Records. As with the band's first two efforts, it is a concept album, and satirizes left- and right-wing politics, particularly the hippie subculture, as well as the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, and Uncle Meat.
Dweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Zappa developed a strong affinity for playing the guitar and producing music. Able to learn directly from guitarists such as Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen, Zappa released his first single at the age of 12.
Johnny Shuggie Otis is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and multi-instrumentalist.
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Fillmore East – June 1971 is a live album by The Mothers, released in 1971. It is the twelfth album in Frank Zappa's discography, and was produced by Zappa and mixed by Toby Foster.
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Apostrophe (') is the sixth solo album and eighteenth in total by Frank Zappa, released in March 1974 in both stereo and quadraphonic formats. An edited version of its lead-off track, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow", was the first of Zappa's three Billboard Top 100 hits, ultimately peaking at number 86. The album itself became the biggest commercial success of Zappa's career, reaching number 10 on the US Billboard 200.
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets is the fourth album by the Mothers of Invention, and fifth overall by Frank Zappa, released under the alias Ruben and the Jets. Released on December 2, 1968 on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it is a concept album, influenced by 1950s doo-wop and rock and roll. The album's concept deals with a fictitious Chicano doo-wop band called Ruben & the Jets, represented by the cover illustration by Cal Schenkel, which depicts the Mothers of Invention as anthropomorphic dogs. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, We're Only in It for the Money and Uncle Meat.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is the seventh album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, and the ninth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It consists of both studio and live recordings. Following the Mothers' split in late 1969, Zappa assembled two albums of unreleased recordings by the band - this album and its follow-up Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses mostly on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions, while Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses mostly on live recordings and loose/improvisational pieces. Both albums also include some outtakes/leftovers from the sessions for Zappa's 1969 solo album Hot Rats.
Weasels Ripped My Flesh is the eighth album by the American rock group the Mothers of Invention, and the tenth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. Following the Mothers' late 1969 split, Zappa assembled two albums - Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh - from unreleased studio and live recordings by the band, as well as some outtakes/leftovers from his 1969 solo album Hot Rats. While Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses mostly on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions, Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses mostly on live recordings and loose/improvisational pieces.
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Zappa in New York is a double live album by Frank Zappa released on his own DiscReet Records label, distributed by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded in December 1976 at a series of concerts at the Palladium in New York City.
"Willie the Pimp" is a song from Frank Zappa's 1969 album Hot Rats. It features an idiosyncratic Captain Beefheart vocal and one of Zappa's classic guitar solos. It is the only track that is not instrumental on the album, though the track features a long guitar solo.
Tinsel Town Rebellion is a double live album released by Frank Zappa in May 1981. The album was conceived by Zappa after he scrapped the planned albums Warts and All and Crush All Boxes, and contains tracks that were intended for those albums.
"Peaches en Regalia" is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by Frank Zappa. It was initially released on Zappa's album Hot Rats in 1969 and has been recorded many times since.
The Hot Rats Sessions is a 6-CD box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Frank Zappa album Hot Rats. It was released on December 20, 2019.
a missing link between the fiery, fusion-meets-blues-rock swirl of Hot Rats and the freewheeling musical buffet of Chunga's Revenge.
an instrumental rock album played mostly by jazz musicians