1970: A Year of Death, Disappointment, Some Good Music

By Roy Goodman

The Bryn Mawr-Haverford College News, 29 January 1971

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Album of the Year

While a few of rock's top guitarists had pretty good years last year, only one had his best to date. This was Frank Zappa, whose latest edition of the Mothers of Invention is going very strong and whose album "Hot Rats" isn't the best album of 1970 only because that title goes to his "Chunga's Revenge."

"Transylvania Boogie" opens the album, and nobody who expects weird music from Zappa will be very surprised by it. Weirdness aside, it is a fine example of boogie (collective improvisation). Zappa takes the term "lead guitar" literally as he leads his sidemen from his own strange brand of flamenco into a variety of unclassiable styles. Guitar dominates the next cut as well; "Road Ladies" is Zappa's first serious blues outing, something guitar nuts have long awaited. Here Zappa demonstrates his talent in the universal currency of rock; his playing is admirably creative, stunningly vicious, and, in a nod towards blues traditions, surprisingly conventional.

Cigars

"Twenty Small Cigars" is reminiscent of the "Hot Rats" track "Peaches En Regalia." It is one of those catchy little instrumentals Zappa writes so well and a fine example of his technique of using two instruments in unison for unusual sounds. Here he has chosen the odd but pleasing combination of guitar (an acoustic guitar miked through a wah-wah pedal) and harpsichord.

From a meticulously produced studio cut, the album shifts to some highly improvisationa live music. "The Nancy And Mary Music" is highlighted by Zappa's taut solos, but what lifts it far out of the ordinary is interaction. Ian Underwood and George Duke play an improvised duet on two electric pianos, and Duke doing vocal drum imitations (pioneered incidentally by John Mayall), trades rhythms with drummer Aynsley Dunbar and with the enthusiastic audience. Unfortunately, the piece had to be truncated to fit on the album, and some exciting music was undoubtedly lost.

Side two opens with two fine examples of Zappa's 1950s style as he implores "Tell Me You Love Me" and asks the musical question "Would You Go All The Way?" When Zappa sends his brainwaves back two decades even the lyrics are period pieces; here he has combined plenty of heaviness with delicate, floating vocal harmonies.

 Revenge

The title song follows and turns out to be a long instrumental that alternates explosive rock with sinuous jazz. Ian Underwood, perhaps the most talented of Zappa's brilliant cohorts, plays his electric alto sax through a wah-wah pedal for an extremely unpleasant sound but a worthwhile solo; Zappa has some exciting solos as well. "Chunga's Revenge" runs straight into "The Clap," a percussion piece that is the album's only weak spot. The idea behind it and the execution are fine, but it never catches fire.

The vocals on this album are from Zappa's forthcoming rock musical "200 Motels," and " Rudy Wants To Buy Yez A Drink" is a perfect example of what "Hair" might have been had its composer shared Zappa's talent and ability to integrate diverse styles. Delivered in first person by a gangsterish union man, the song is magnific ently insincere and features some wild inebriated trombone from George Duke.

The album ends on a strong note with "Sharleena," another number that features 1950s harmonies. Zappa's purpose here is not ridicule: the harmonics work well, so he uses them. Meanwhile, his guitar accounts for some of the most desperate riffs ever.

Sidemen

Zappa is the composer, arranger, producer, and featured soloist, so naturally the focus of the album is on him, but his supporting cast deserves plenty of credit for the album's success. In addition to Dunbar, Underwood, and Duke, most titles feature the muscular bass guitar of Jeff Simmons and the voices of The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, who are right at home with Zappa's unusual and difficult vocal writing. Max Bennett guest-stars on bass in a few cuts; John Guerin and Sugar Can Harris make brief appearances on drums and organ, respectively.

"Chunga's Revenge" is, I feel, the best rock album to come along all year and one of the best of all time. And if you react to it by buying a copy of "Hot Rats," as I did, you won't be disappointed.