THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: BURNT WEENY SANDWICH

Burnt Weeny Sandwich were as well as Weasels Ripped my Flesh released after The Mothers of Invention was disbanded by Frank Zappa in 1969. This means that in both cases it´s archive recordings. Unlike most other artists who release archive recordings after the end of their career ( well Frank Zappa was still very active but The original Mothers of Invention had been disbanded) Burnt Weeny Sandwich is a very worthy purchase and almost fully on par with the regular studio albums from The Mothers of Invention. Many of the old Mothers on Invention albums were made this way anyway. The Mothers of Invention recorded a large bulk of songs at a time but they were not always released on the same album. Many of the songs on We´re Only In it for the Money, Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben and the Jets and Uncle Meat were recorded almost at the same time and then only later put together again for full albums. This is also the case with Burnt Weeny Sandwich.

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.