Sleep Dirt

I was surprised when I read the reviews for “Sleep Dirt” at Ground and Sky. Both Bob Eichler and Gary Niederhoff were effusive with their praise for this recording.

“Sleep Dirt remains one of Zappa’s better works,” writes Eichler.

“This is a great Zappa album,” writes Niederhoff.

And then Robert Christgau gives the album a B+. “For what it's worth, I thought I'd mention that this collection of outtakes showcases more good music than any Zappa album in years,” opines Christgau.

Wow. I wasn’t as enthusiastic about this “collection of outtakes” as these guys. To me, “Sleep Dirt” is mediocre at best. Was I missing something?

Curiously, the All Music Guide review of the album gives it 3.5 stars, compared to the 3 stars it awarded for “Studio Tan.” Ironically, I think “Studio Tan” is the better collection. Yet, I am comforted by Francois Couture’s words when he writes, “There are strong guitar solos, but the whole thing lacks panache (and the cover artwork is truly awful).”

And I was disappointed that Mark Prindle omited both albums from his litany of reviews. I was hoping I might find some common ground with Mark; we at times disagree on a few albums, but by and large I respect his thoughts on Zappa’s works.

So I gave it another listen to make sure I was certain about my opinion. By the way, I have the album version, which is deliciously devoid of lyrics and singing.

The album opens with “Filthy Habits,” which starts with a forlorn and dolorous sound that is almost painful, but don’t take that as a criticism. When this song begins, I am extraordinarily optimistic about my listening experience with this album. This is one of the leftovers from “Zoot Allures.” The chilling guitar work is clearly stylistically connected to the dark and ponderous sound that dominated that album.

Then comes “Flambay,” a song filled with promise, opening with a pretty piano introduction, but which devolves into the style of extraordinarily bland lounge music. I can picture myself in a bar while the band plays this piece, and I can hear the chatter of all the patrons rising above the musicians because the music just isn’t interesting enough to warrant rapt attention. And for me, that is what Zappa’s music is all about: it requires your rapt attention, and most of the time you are willing to give it because the music is so damned interesting and stimulating. I’m sure the musicians are playing this piece expertly; you can’t argue with Ruth Underwood’s skill. It’s just a tune that doesn’t grab me.

“Spider of Destiny” isn’t any better, and in fact, sounds like a somewhat more robust relative of “Flambay.” But frankly, I think I’m being kind in saying that. I do like George Duke’s delicate piano when he provides a tinkling interlude.


I’m feeling optimistic again when “Regyptian Strut” comes along. Bruce Fowler’s horns really add some class to this song. Unfortunately, this would sound so much better if it weren’t associated with the two previous tunes, “Spider of Destiny” and “Flambay.” The melodic similarity between the pieces detracts from “Regyptian Strut”’s strength. Nonetheless, I am feeling better when this tune comes along.

“Time is Money,” however, resumes my disappointment. The timbre is just wrong. In fact, I think this would likely sound better performed by a string quartet or small orchestra, rather than the band Zappa used.

Ah, but I get a reprieve with “Sleep Dirt.” It’s not often you get to hear Zappa play acoustic guitar, and the duet he plays with James Youman is just freaking excellent! And you don’t feel let down when Youman caves and the piece stops, as he explains that “my fingers got stuck.” It is an awesome piece.

Both “Sleep Dirt” and the final cut on the album, “The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution” are leftovers from “Zoot Allures,” and frankly, it is these songs that were cut from that album that are best pieces on the album “Sleep Dirt.” The last cut is great jazz fusion; Patrick O’Hearn’s bass playing is outstanding. Such a simple song in terms there are just three musicians on this (Terry Bozzio is on drums), but it is quintessential Zappa in that it demands your delighted attention. And the guitar solo is stellar too.

So my conclusion? I’m still sticking with my original opinion, and that is overall, “Sleep Dirt” the album is just mediocre. It has three outstanding pieces that definitely project themselves beyond the other rather dull tracks.

I rate this album three out of five stars. Add your own rating below.


Released Jan. 19, 1979, DiscReet Records.

Album release:

Side One
1.Filthy Habits (7:33)
2.Flambay (5:02)
3.Spider Of Destiny (2:54)
4.Regyptian Strut (4:15)

Side Two
1.Time Is Money (2:52)
2.Sleep Dirt (3:20)
3.The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution (13:20)

CD release:

1.Filthy Habits (7:34)
2.Flambay (4:54)
3.Spider Of Destiny (2:33)
4.Regyptian Strut (4:13)
5.Time Is Money (2:49)
6.Sleep Dirt (3:21)
7.The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution (13:20)

Personnel:

Frank Zappa (guitar, keyboards)
Dave Parlato (bass)
Terry Bozzio (drums)
George Duke (keyboards)
Patrick O'Hearn (bass)
Ruth Underwood (percussion)
Chad Wackerman (drum overdubs on CD)
Thana Harris (vocals overdubs on CD)
Bruce Fowler (all brass)
James Youman (bass)
Chester Thompson (drums)

Studio Tan

“Studio Tan” is a studio album that Frank Zappa released that largely features leftovers from other releases that were either withheld because Zappa had second thoughts, or because he faced resistance from the record companies. The latter issue largely concerns Zappa’s original vision for “Lather.” But even that is open to debate. However, my blog is not to sort through, nor clarify, the legal issues, obstacles, problems and shenanigans that Zappa faced during the mid- to late-1970s when his recording and production efforts were gradually morphing into a completely independent company and publishing firm.

It’s about the music. And the most important observation that can be made about “Studio Tan” can be summed up in one song title: “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary.” There’s a lot going on in this piece, and its sheer brilliance makes purchasing “Studio Tan” worth the price.

To begin with, “Greggery Peccary” is an immense musical piece, filled with complexity that calls forth images within the listener to match the comedic story line. It’s literally like a cartoon, but unlike any cartoon you have likely seen. And to liken this opus to a cartoon in no way besmirches its brilliance. This is no child’s cartoon; this ain’t Bugs Bunny. I find it rather amazing that this item was initially created with the thought that it would be performed as a ballet. Unsurprisingly, however, the piece is filled with classic “project/object” references from Zappa’s catalog, including “Billy the Mountain” and “Big Swifty.” There’s also a reference to the “short forest,” which alludes to “Weasels Ripped My Flesh.”

Despite the cartoonish nature of the composition, the seriousness is not lost, particularly with the “fourth movement,” which introduces the “New Brown Clouds” theme in all its gloriousness. This particular track appears also on the bootleg “Great Wazoo EP,” as well as the official release of “Wazoo!” covering the Grand Wazoo form of the touring band (The bootleg has only this fourth movement, while “Wazoo!” has the entire “Greggery Peccary.”)

After all this musical brilliance comes the rest of the album, which unfortunately launches into the inane “Let Me Take You to the Beach.” I mean, gee, after the sublime “Gregerry Peccary,” we get a cheesy song with lyrics like, “Eat a candy!/You are dandy!/Can I kiss you?/Maybe I’ll just hold your hand-dee!” Not one of Frank’s better compositions. “Wowie Zowie” from “Freak Out!” had more class than this.


Next comes “Revised Music for Guitar and Low Budget Orchestra” (which is in reverse order on the CD release). This has a very nice piano set piece early on by George Duke, but the piece is largely guitar-centric, despite a brief march-style segue about two minutes into the song. This is followed by a guitar theme that is very reminiscent of “Burnt Weeny Sandwich.” Just before the five-minute mark on this song, the sound takes on a very large feel, with a big band style in the likeness of “The Grand Wazoo.” This is good stuff. Interestingly, the composition also goes by the title “Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra,” with uncredited strings coming in toward the end.

“RDNZL” comes in to finish the album, a piece that has also appeared as “Redunzel” on the Beat the Boots release of “Piquantique,” and as “RDUNZL” on the LP release of this recording. This has a pretty decent guitar solo reminiscent of the style found on “One Size Fits All,” although it was written in 1972. Incidentally, RDNZL is a constellation in the “universe” of “One Size Fits All.” Check the original album cover. There’s been wide speculation as to what the title means or implies. Zappa allegedly has said it had something to do with the sequence of gears on an automatic. I think he was joking and nobody got it, especially Warner Bros., which changed the title to “Redunzel.”

I rate this album four out of five stars. Add your own rating below.


Released Sept. 15, 1978; DiscReet Records.

LP release:

Side One
Greggery Peccary (20:40)

Side Two
Let Me Take You To The Beach (2:44)
Revised Music For Guitar & Low Budget Orchestra (7:36)
REDUNZL (8:12)

CD release:

The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary (20:35)
Revised Music For Guitar And Low Budget Orchestra (7:37)
Lemme Take You To The Beach (2:45)
RDNZL (8:14)

Personnel:

Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals, percussion
George Duke – keyboards
John Berkman – piano
Michael Zearott – conductor
Pamela Goldsmith – viola
Murray Adler – violin
Sheldon Sanov – violin
Jerry Kessler – cello
Edward Meares – bass guitar
Bruce Fowler – trombone
Don Waldrop – trombone
Jock Ellis – trombone
Dana Hughes – bass trombone
Earle Dumler – oboe
JoAnn Caldwell – McNab bassoon
Mike Altschul – flute
Graham Young – trumpet
Jay Daversa – trumpet
Malcolm McNab – trumpet
Ray Reed – flute
Victor Morosco – saxophone
John Rotella – woodwind instruments
Alan Estes – percussion
Emil Richards – percussion
Tom Fowler – bass guitar
Chester Thompson – drums
Davey Moire – vocals
Eddie Jobson – keyboards, yodeling
Max Bennett – bass guitar
Paul Humphrey – drums
Don Brewer – bongos
James "Bird Legs" Youmans – bass guitar

The Ahoy, Rotterdam, May 24, 1980

This little gem I recently stumbled upon and was delighted at the sound quality, given that it is a bootleg. This was taken from a Dutch FM radio program, and, as it is with many bootlegs, appeared on the market in a variety of forms, often with erroneous information.

This site identifies the variety of bootleg incarnations – “Boot the Beats” being just one – the concert showed up as, including an item that incorrectly lists this concert as occurring on June 24, 1980. Even the “Boot the Beats” item contains misleading information, suggesting it was recorded in New York. Several sites note that the guitar solo during “The Illinois Enema Bandit” was interrupted on many of these boots; however, the one I listened to has a full guitar solo as far as I can tell, because the recording ends with the radio show outtake. After reviewing all these sites and the set lists put together by others, I’ve concluded that the concert recorded for the radio show was from May 24, 1980.

Zappa writes in his autobiography about working in The Ahoy, although not necessarily about this particular concert. He identifies this experience he writes about in “The Real Frank Zappa Book” as his “orchestral stupidity #2.” It was 1980 and he states that he was in Amsterdam at the time when he was propositioned on working with a few Dutch ensembles to perform his orchestral work.

Knowing the complexity of his work, Zappa demurred, saying that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the project unless he would be guaranteed a minimum of three weeks of rehearsal time. He got that commitment, as well as assurances that he wouldn’t have to spend any of his own money to pull it off.

On page 148, Zappa describes The Ahoy as “a charming sort of Dutch indoor bicycle racing arena with a concrete floor and a banked wooden track all around the room.” On page 149 he gives a timeline of the rehearsals, which were mixed in with a rock tour he would plan for the summer throughout Europe to raise money to pay the American musicians involved in the project. The final rehearsals were to occur in the final weeks of May just before the performance.


This site shows that Zappa played in Rotterdam on May 24, 1980, the only identified show in The Netherlands in May that year (note also that on June 24, 1980, he was traveling between shows in Germany, and would have no opportunity to do a live show in New York City as referenced on the boot cover I have posted). That was the rock concert recorded for Dutch radio and which was pressed into boots. The day before he performed in Brussels, Belgium; two days after the gig at The Ahoy, he was in Germany where he gave three concerts for three days in a row in three different locations. He was pretty busy until early July with the rock tour he put together, so it’s difficult to determine precisely when this meeting in Amsterdam occurred (he was very busy touring through the U.S. during April). But all that is moot because the orchestral project completely fell apart and Zappa writes in his autobiography that he pulled the plug on it.

The show at The Ahoy was performed by a relatively small band by Zappa standards, and has some really good guitar solos by the master. That is evident with the concert starting off with the guitar-centric “Chunga’s Revenge.” Zappa’s solo is – using a word frequently cited to describe his playing – blistering. There is a bit of angry energy in it, and given the circumstances outlined above, I must wonder how much of that he transferred into his playing. After some brief introductions, he quickly launches into a couple songs from “Joe’s Garage,” including the dreamy guitar piece “Outside Now.” In fact, not surprisingly, the concert pulls material from several albums released at the time, including “Tinsel Town Rebellion,” to be released the following year, “Sheik Yerbouti,” and “You Are What You Is.” The performance of “City of Tiny Lights” on this boot is just OK to me, except for the guitar solo, which pulls it out of mediocrity. I don’t care much for Tommy Mars’ keyboards on this one; very uninspired. Of course, one must consider the fact that Mars is compensating for the lack of a horn section on this particular tour.


Following a perfunctory performance of “Teenage Wind,” we get the heavy, boogie-ish “Bamboozled by Love,” which had plenty of potential, but again gets marred by Mars’ keyboards. Makes me wonder why the song was included in the set because it would have sounded so much better backed by a strong horn section. Thank god for Zappa’s guitar coming in and re-inserting the heavy rock feel into this. He pulls off a bit of outside, atonal playing that grinds power into the song. Ike Willis, however, sounds a bit anemic. After “Pick Me I’m Clean” comes “Society Pages”, which quickly segues into “I’m A Beautiful Guy,” and then “Beauty Knows No Pain.” This “suite” from “You Are What You Is” is concluded with “Charlie’s Enormous Mouth.”

Zappa goes a bit retro with his next group of songs, reaching slightly into the past with “Cosmik Debris,” (which really suffers from the lack of Ruth Underwood) from “Apostrophe(‘),” but going way back to “Freak Out!” for “You Didn’t Try to Call Me” and “I Ain’t Got No Heart.” Not sure who’s playing the guitar solo on this performance of “Cosmik Debris.” It’s an excellent soaring blues interpretation of the song that lacks Zappa’s signature style, which leads me to think it was either Willis or Ray White. Disc One is completed with “Love of My Life,” from “Cruising with Ruben and the Jets.”

Disc Two returns the show to more contemporary selections from Zappa’s catalog, starting with the title track from “You Are What You Is.” There’s nothing remarkable about this performance; in fact, the musicians sound like they’re just going through the motions. Things perk up when the group launches into “Joe’s Garage.” The concert appears to end after “Why Does It Hurt When I Pee,” but an encore quickly develops with “Dancin’ Fool.” Something to note: When Zappa at the end of the show is re-introducing band members, he repeats Ray White’s name several times as though he was being introduced again and again as different individuals. Was Zappa playing with the fact that the band he was touring with was considerably smaller than what he normally travels with?

With “Dancin Fool,” the band manages to use its small size to its advantage. That song is followed by “Bobby Brown,” also from “Sheik Yerbouti.” In both songs, Zappa delivers well with his vocals. Even “Ms. Pinky” comes off well despite it’s missing the extraordinarily fuzzed and heavy guitar and bass from “Zoot Allures.” This boot also has one of the few pre-release recordings of a live performance of “I Don’t Want To Get Drafted.” The show finishes with “The Illinois Enema Bandit,” in a great performance with Ray White’s vocals and with Zappa’s guitar work. Zappa’s solo is searing in its precision. He gave the crowd at The Ahoy that night a real gift with that solo.

I give this recording four out of five stars. Add your own rating below.



I did some light editing on this post on May 26, 2009.

Frank Zappa: The Ahoy, Rotterdam NL, May 24, 1980

Disc One
01. Chunga's Revenge
02. Keep It Greasey
03. Outside Now
04. City Of Tiny Lights
05. Teenage Wind
06. Bamboozled By Love
07. Pick Me I'm Clean
08. Society Pages
09. I'm A Beautiful Guy
10. Beauty Knows No Pain
11. Charlie's Enormous Mouth
12. Cosmik Debris
13. You Didn't Try To Call Me
14. I Ain't Got No Heart
15. Love Of My Life

Disc Two
01. You Are What You Is
02. Easy Meat
03. Joe's Garage
04. Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?
05. (crowd)
06. Dancin' Fool
07. Bobby Brown
08. Ms. Pinky
09. (crowd)
10. I Don’t Want to Get Drafted
11. The Illinois Enema Bandit
12. (radio outro)

Personnel:

Frank Zappa, lead guitar, vocals
Ike Willis, guitar, vocals
Tommy Mars, keyboards and vocals
Arthur “Tink” Barrow, bass
Ray White, guitar and vocals
David Logeman, drums