THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: BURNT WEENY SANDWICH

In 1969 Zappa decided to disolve the 'Mothers Of Invention' ,mainly due to financial problems and from july to september Zappa recorded his first solo record with Ex-Mother and multinstrumentalist Ian Underwood, Don Sugarcane Harris and guests. Zappa had always recorded a lot for his personal archives and for the rest of the year he compiled 'Mothers' material from 1968 and 1969 for the release of two records : 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich' (released in dec.1969) and 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh' (released in Feb 1970). Despite the fact that both records contain older material, the tracks are no leftovers but carefully assembled masterpices, edited often from several source tracks( live and studio) , spiced with the typical Zappa humour. 'BWS' represents more the neo- classical Zappa side, 'WRMF' the Free-Jazz inspired side.

The record starts and ends with two Doo-wop tracks, ' a genre that Zappa loved :'WPLJ' (White, Porto, Lemon-Juice) and 'Valeri'. Both tracks are covers, the first from the '4 Deuces' and the second from 'Jacqui &The Starlites', featuring Roy Estrada on falsetto vocals.

Next section : two small neo-classical compositions in Stravinsky style : 'Igor's Boogie, Phase One & two' featuring Ian Underwood on clarinette.

The theme for 'Overture to a Holiday in Berlin' and 'Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown' is one of the oldest Zappa compositions and was written around 1960 for the film 'The World Greatest Sinner'. The theme appeared also later on '200 Motels' as 'Would You Like A Snack ? 'The 'Berlin' title comes from the 1968 tour and refers to a concert in Berlin, when the students asked Zappa to support their ideas and actions and on a refusal by Zappa, they throw tomatoes and assorted stuff on stage. BTW on the official boot 'Freaks and Motherf...'is a version with lyrics telling the story. The music itself another brillant neo- classical piece , integrating in the fullblown version a march for speeded up marimba and a Zappa solo in the second half.

'Theme from Burnt Weeny Sandwich' a live track integrating a great Zappa solo and featured percussion.

'Aybe Sea' is a beautiful composition featuring harpsichord in the first half and later acoustic guitar and piano...

... seguing into the long masterpiece 'Little House I Used to Live In', a track that alternates live and studio material . The piano introduction by Ian Underwood( reminding strongly Debussy's 'Etudes') gives place to the main theme (live) featuring organ, guitar and sax. A rhythm change introduces a jerky dance tune, followed by a Zappa solo, then a long Sugarcane Harris solo on electric violin, a piano solo and the second part of the Harris solo, before a reprise of the main theme (studio) on harpsichord, marimba, clarinette and sax. The track ends with an organ solo by Zappa himself. During the following applause an audience member criticizes some soldiers in uniform among the audience and gets a typical Zappa answer in return : "Don't fool yourself, everybody in this room is wearing a uniform!"

A great compilation of the '1968 Mothers' !

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