HOT RATS

After the wonderful "Uncle Meat" album, Frank Zappa ventured even further into the jazz rock fusion genre. Here, he replaces the Mothers, except for Ian Underwood, with an array of musicians from the jazz and rock world.

The heavily composed music comprises the three shortest songs on the album, but all three are remarkable pieces. Peaches En Regalia needs no introduction, as it has become one of Frank's most famous works, but Little Umbrellas should also be recognized as one of his most beautiful pieces.

The remainder of the album are extended jams based on relatively simple riffs. But over these riffs you get some blazing solos from Zappa, Underwood and Sugarcane Harris.

Note 1: The CD releases are different edits. On the original Rykodisk CD, Peaches is the same as the LP, but all the rest of the tracks, save The Gumbo Variations fade out a bit earlier than the record. On both Ryko versions of the disk, Gumbo is about four minutes longer than the LP, and the later Ryko version restores about a half a minute back to Son Of Mr. Green Genes.

Note 2: It was the aforementioned Son Of Mr. Green Genes that spawned the rumor among the mundane that Frank's father was the actor who played Mr. Green Jeans on the "Captain Kangaroo" children's TV show. I'm surprised they didn't think his mothe was a Monster Magnet.