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Uncle Meat
2 CD
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Uncle Meat
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Track Listings
Disc: 1
1 | Uncle Meat (Main Title Theme) |
2 | The Voice of Cheese |
3 | Nine Types of Industrial Pollution |
4 | Zolar Czakl |
5 | Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague |
6 | The Legend of the Golden Arches |
7 | Louie Louie [At the Royal Albert Hall in London] [Live] |
8 | The Dog Breath Variations |
9 | Sleeping in a Jar |
10 | Our Bizarre Relationship |
11 | The Uncle Meat Variations |
12 | Electric Aunt Jemima |
13 | Prelude to King Kong |
14 | God Bless America [Live at the Whisky a Go Go] [Live] |
15 | A Pound for a Brown on the Bus |
16 | Ian Underwood Whips It Out [Live Onstage in Copenhagen] [Live] |
17 | Mr. Green Genes |
18 | We Can Shoot You |
19 | If We'd All Been Living in California |
20 | The Air |
21 | Project X |
22 | Cruising for Burgers |
Disc: 2
1 | Uncle Meat Film Excerpt, Pt. 1 |
2 | Tango Na Minchia Tanta |
3 | Uncle Meat Film Excerpt, Pt. 2 |
4 | King Kong Itself, Pt. 1 |
5 | King Kong, Pt. 2 |
6 | King Kong, Pt. 3 |
7 | King Kong, Pt. 4 |
8 | King Kong, Pt. 5 |
9 | King Kong, Pt. 6 |
Editorial Reviews
Official Release #6
Originally Released: March 1969
Produced by: FZ
The Mothers of Invention:
Frank Zappa: guitar, low grade vocals, percussion
Ray Collins: swell vocals
Jimmy Carl Black: drums, droll humor, poverty
Roy Estrada: electric bass, chesseburgers, Pachuco falsetto
Don (Dom De Wild) Preston: electric piano, tarot cards, brown rice
Billy (The Oozer) Mundi: drums on some pieces before he quit to join RHINOCEROS
Bunk (Sweetpants) Gardner: piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, bassoon (all of these electric and/or non-electric depending)
Ian Underwood: electric organ, piano, harpsichord, celeste, flute, clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax, special assistance, copyist, industrial relations & teen appeal
Artie (With the Green Mustache) Tripp: drums, timpani, vibes, marimba, xylophone, wood blocks, bells, small chimes, cheerful outlook & specific enquiries
Euclid James (Motorhead/Motorishi) Sherwood: pop star, frenetic tenor sax stylings, tambourine, choreography, obstinance & equipment setter-upper when he's not hustling local groupies
Special thanks to:
Ruth Komanoff who plays marimba and vibes with Artie on many of the tracks, and
Nelcy Walker the soprano voice with Ray & Roy on Dog Breath & The Uncle Meat Variations
Uncredited:
Pamela Zarubica as Suzy Creamcheese
Product details
- Language : English
- Product Dimensions : 5.63 x 4.92 x 0.39 inches; 4.59 ounces
- Manufacturer : Zappa Records
- Item model number : 25343314
- Original Release Date : 2012
- SPARS Code : DDD
- Date First Available : June 14, 2012
- Label : Zappa Records
- ASIN : B008BDZP08
- Number of discs : 2
- Best Sellers Rank: #66,948 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #29,603 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)
- #30,539 in Rock (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
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"Uncle Meat" marks an important part in Zappa's history as it is the last record to feature the original Mothers in full swing ("Weasels Ripped My Flesh" and "Burnt Weeny Sandwich" were considered posthumous releases, as they were mostly comprised of outtakes, not new material). Also, it is the debut of Ruth Underwood on vibes (then Ruth Komanoff), who later became a featured member of Frank's ensembles into the mid-70's. In addition, it marked the first time that good ole Uncle Frank began breaking heavily into the realms of classical and jazz, while still retaining the heavy rythmn and blues and doo wop styles of the earlier records. Lyrically, this album is dense and full of inside jokes and references, sandwiched in between passages graced with trumpets, clarinets, and saxophones. As Frank himself states in the liner notes on the double LP gatefold, this is primarily an instrumental record and meant to serve as a soundtrack to a movie that The Mothers had not yet acquired the money to finish. Although I've never seen the film, I'm sure it is as just as surreal, dense, and off-kilter as the music heard on the album.
But on to the music. The opener, "Uncle Meat: Main Theme" is a vibe-led instrumental, backed by harpsicord and some snare work from Jimmy Carl Black (yes, the Indian of the Group!!), with some instruments that can't be identified (I'm not kidding ... look it up!), ending with some of Frank's sound effects and leading into a conversation with Susie Creamcheese, who explains her absence from the last two records and adds to FZ's "conceptual continuity", immediately segueing into "9 Types of Industrial Cheese", a rare glimpse into Frank's acoustic guitar stylings. Next, is the quirky "Zolar Czakl", an oddly metered, entirely indescribable piece of music that ends in a brief 45 seconds, before moving onto the screaming sax doo-wop of "Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague", which is genre-defying in it's own way, breaking into some high-pitched vocals, and into some heavy classical in the middle section. As I'm sure you can tell, the music is utterly stunning and completely unlike anything heard before, either by contemporary music or Frank himself.
"The Legend of the Golden Arches" is a Frank Zappa classic, played for years by the man himself in various lineups, even by his Ensemble Modern. The mid section is where the "Meat" is; Ian Underwood's screaming clarinet is out of this world and full of some of the most passionate playing on a Frank Zappa album ever, before breaking into some harpsichord dissonance. The album slows down a bit with "Louie Louie", which provides some laughs as the Mothers distort the classic at The Royal Albert Hall, before moving onto "The Dog Breath Variations", one of Zappa's favorite compositions. Instrumentally speaking, its more of the same, but the music is unbelievable. You must buy this to understand just how unique this is! "Sleeping in a Jar" is The Mothers at their most haunting, with a distant trumpet-sound soloing above - again under 45 seconds.
After some more talking, the music moves onto "The Uncle Meat Variations", with more harpsichord and some munchkin voices. Hilarious and brilliant at the same time, this is my favorite composition of the album, which breaks into a guitar solo near the end and ends in an epic way. Very, very cool. "Electric Aunt Jemima" is more surrealism and high voices, and is a bit of a novelty song, admittedly, but has some trademark Zappa experimentation throughout. I once heard this song at a used vinyl place in Pittsburgh and it made my day. I absolutely love it. After some hilarious banter, "Prelude to King Kong" bursts from your speakers with some fast paced avant jazz from Ian Underwood on sax. After "God Bless America" at its most dissonant (more conceptual continuity), there is some scattered percussion, not unlike Gong's "Percolations" and moving onto "A Pound for a Brown", which is a faster-paced version of "Golden Arches" with some differences in instrumentation.
Ian Underwood, (the Straight Member of the Group) whips out a sax solo next, before the album moves onto the original version of "Mr Green Genes". More surrealism and lyrics relating to food (not unlike "Call Any Vegetable" and "Duke of Prunes") with some really nice vibe work and trumpets, along with some doo-wop vocals. The overall effect is surprisingly calming ... I can't help but smile when listening. The ending is strong and pseudo-epic, but effective. I like it a lot. After some more talking, (including Jimmy Carl Black complaining about not getting paid!), we move onto some straight doo-wop, right out of "Ruben and the Jets", "The Air", is very good doo-wop and very enjoyable. Its no wonder Frank loved this type of music; I can see why when I hear his version of it! "Project X" is some excellent avant garde, before leading into some really chill-inducing music. "Cruisin' For Burgers" is weird, very surreal, and beautiful ... some of my favorite Mothers' music ever. And to think, all of this creativity and not an ounce of drugs involved. Its amazing and ends Side 3 perfectly, before moving onto Side 4... Side 4 is the subject of another Frank Zappa classic, the 18 minute jazz odyssey, "King Kong". In many ways, its as threatening and monstrous as its namesake, with a bombastic head, leading to numerous solos from within the band. Everything is covered here: there's another Underwood solo, a Don Preston electric piano solo, and something that almost sounds like an electric kazoo! The whole thing comes to a thrilling conclusion in a live performance where the band rocks out "on a flat bed diesel in the middle of a race track at a Miami Pop Festival" and comes apart at the end. It doesn't end ... it falls apart, like the great beast himself, shot from the Empire State Building, very much a way to describe the end of the mammoth double set itself.
Overall, "Uncle Meat" is a challenging, eclectic listen, full of lots of twists and turns, that leave an involved listener on the edge of his or her seat, and out of breath at the end. The experience is unique to say the least and unforgettable. Its an experience that I am happy to return to, time and time again, and feel is essential to any Prog lover's collection, and certainly an album that no self-respecting Zappa fan can be without.
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Uncle Meat was the second two-album set from the Mothers, and very different from the first. The first, Freak Out!, was also the group's debut effort. The two disks broke out very neatly; the first was a collection of songs structured along traditional lines featuring decidedly non-traditional themes and lyrics. The second, which got very little airplay, was much more experimental, foreshadowing inspired lunacy to come. But, however demented and unorthodox, Freak Out! was a tightly integrated work.
Uncle Meat put an end to that for good, and introduced a Zappa that believed "anything can be music". Conversations among band members about sub-standard working conditions are cheek by jowl with exquisite scored orchestral segments, followed by tight doo-wop songs about suburban life. Zappa also introduces themes he would revisit later, a favorite techniques of his, and other composers. Mr. Green Genes makes his debut, we see him again on Hot Rats. Uncle Meat was noticed by a wide variety of players. The Persuasions, (who owe their start to Zappa), covered Electric Aunt Jemima memorably. And while King Kong in all its variations has merit, (especially the version played on the back of an ice cream truck), the last word on this melody belongs to Zappa friend and collaborator Jean Luc Ponty - I highly recommend tracking down his tribute CD - King Kong.
Those of you yet unconvinced that Zappa was arguably our most innovative composer after Monk, yet struggled through life with a level of sexual/emotional maturity an 11 year-old boy would find embarrassing - and have already translated Tengo Na Minchia Tanta - need only skim the 12-page booklet that comes with this 2 CD-set, a miniature replica of the original. That, my friends, is no way to treat a giraffe.
So many favorites, I wore this one white when it came out in 1969. The Air, Project X, Cruising For Burgers, Sleeping In A Jar, Ian Underwood Whips It Out, and many more. As with all music by Zappa and Mothers Of Invention, you simply have to embrace in its totality - mad as a March hare, brilliant, and absolutely unique.
If you are new to Zappa, don't be afraid to order this one. I has some CRAZY moments, but it all makes sense. You have to experience this one from cover to cover to understand the flow of the songs and how they relate to the artwork. The symphonic arrangements are HUGE and complex (as always) and the chaos seems to be contained at bay by the great tunes that surround it.
I get a real kick out of the second disc. This one is a departure from the musical flow of the first disc. It has a 37 minute track that is to be a sound track for a supposed movie called Unlce Meat. You listen to Zappa, Gail, and company rant on with lines form the movie and direction from Frank himself. It takes you away. You can really see what is happening the whole time. Frank has a way off performing audio-movies in a vivid and graphic manner.
BUY IT!!!! This album is toooooooo big to give it a true review without writting a 2 page introduction!!! From Chaos to Classical to Jazz to Hard Rock.....TRUE Zappa and the Mothers!!!!
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