Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Encyclopedia
Weasels Ripped My Flesh is an album
by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1970
.
Given Zappa's already stated penchant for expressing his music in "phases"—We're Only in It for the Money
was written up as "phase one of Lumpy Gravy
"—conceptually, Zappa fans occasionally label this album Phase Two of Burnt Weeny Sandwich
. Both albums consist of previously unreleased Mothers tracks released after Frank Zappa disbanded the original group in 1969. Whereas all but one of the pieces on Burnt Weeny Sandwich have a more planned feel captured by quality studio equipment, five tracks from Weasels Ripped My Flesh capture the Mothers on stage, where they employ frenetic and chaotic improvisation characteristic of avant-garde
free jazz
. The album's much-discussed closer and title track consists of every player on stage producing as much noise and feedback as they can for two minutes. An audience member is heard yelling for more at its conclusion. The All-Music Guide concludes that the track is "perfectly logical in the album's context." The album also contains Don "Sugarcane" Harris's straight-ahead blues violin and vocal performance of "Directly From My Heart to You" (which is actually an outtake from the sessions for the Hot Rats album).
Contemporary reviews of the record call it "far-out" (Billboard
, August 29, 1970) and a "random collection of editing room snippets recorded at the Mothers' concerts" (Rolling Stone
, October 1, 1970). Now placed in its historical context, modern reviewers tend to appreciate it more critically. A typical example of such appreciation is Christgau's Record Guide (from 1981), which grades the album a B+.
The CD version of the album features different versions of "Didja Get Any Onya?" and "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask", which featured music edited out of the LP versions. Some of this extra music was used (in a different studio recording) as the backing track for "The Blimp" on the Captain Beefheart
album Trout Mask Replica
, produced by Frank Zappa.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh were also reissued together on vinyl as 2 Originals of the Mothers of Invention, with the original covers used as the left and right sides of the inner spread, and the front cover depicting a pistol shooting toothpaste onto a toothbrush.
to create a subversive image based on a cover story from the September 1956 issue of Man's Life, a men's adventure
magazine. After showing Neon a copy of the magazine, Zappa inquired, "This is it. What can you do that's worse than this?" Neon's answer was to craft a parody of an advertisement for Schick
brand electric razor based on the "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" theme. The record company released the album despite its reservations about the album cover.
The Man's Life cover had been given to Zappa by a youthful acolyte, Dan O'Brien, who had acquired it from his brother, a musician and aspiring Zappa protege who had found it while working a day job at a porno publishing house. Dan also was the originator of the term "chunga" which he had used in a song to describe mutants after the Hiroshima blast.
German releases of the album featured an album cover showing a metal baby caught in a rat trap. This cover was not approved by Zappa.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1970
1970 in music
- Events :*January 3**Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees**Former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett releases his first solo album The Madcap Laughs....
.
Given Zappa's already stated penchant for expressing his music in "phases"—We're Only in It for the Money
We're Only in It for the Money
We're Only in It For the Money is the third studio album by The Mothers of Invention, released in March 1968. The album peaked at number thirty on the Billboard 200...
was written up as "phase one of Lumpy Gravy
Lumpy Gravy
Lumpy Gravy is the first solo album by Frank Zappa, originally released in 1967, but not generally available until May 1968. Zappa was credited as conductor on the album cover and he described the contents as "a curiously inconsistent piece, which started out to be a BALLET, but probably didn't...
"—conceptually, Zappa fans occasionally label this album Phase Two of Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Burnt Weeny Sandwich is a live and studio compilation album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1970 ....
. Both albums consist of previously unreleased Mothers tracks released after Frank Zappa disbanded the original group in 1969. Whereas all but one of the pieces on Burnt Weeny Sandwich have a more planned feel captured by quality studio equipment, five tracks from Weasels Ripped My Flesh capture the Mothers on stage, where they employ frenetic and chaotic improvisation characteristic of avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
. The album's much-discussed closer and title track consists of every player on stage producing as much noise and feedback as they can for two minutes. An audience member is heard yelling for more at its conclusion. The All-Music Guide concludes that the track is "perfectly logical in the album's context." The album also contains Don "Sugarcane" Harris's straight-ahead blues violin and vocal performance of "Directly From My Heart to You" (which is actually an outtake from the sessions for the Hot Rats album).
Contemporary reviews of the record call it "far-out" (Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, August 29, 1970) and a "random collection of editing room snippets recorded at the Mothers' concerts" (Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, October 1, 1970). Now placed in its historical context, modern reviewers tend to appreciate it more critically. A typical example of such appreciation is Christgau's Record Guide (from 1981), which grades the album a B+.
The CD version of the album features different versions of "Didja Get Any Onya?" and "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask", which featured music edited out of the LP versions. Some of this extra music was used (in a different studio recording) as the backing track for "The Blimp" on the Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
album Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica is the third album by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released in June 1969. Produced by Beefheart's friend and former schoolmate Frank Zappa, it was originally released as a double album on Zappa's Straight Records label...
, produced by Frank Zappa.
Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh were also reissued together on vinyl as 2 Originals of the Mothers of Invention, with the original covers used as the left and right sides of the inner spread, and the front cover depicting a pistol shooting toothpaste onto a toothbrush.
Album cover
Frank Zappa recruited artist Neon ParkNeon Park
Neon Park was an American artist and illustrator, best known for the images that have strongly defined covers for nearly every Little Feat album except for the band's self-titled first album. He also created the cover of Weasels Ripped My Flesh for Frank Zappa, as well as covers and graphics for...
to create a subversive image based on a cover story from the September 1956 issue of Man's Life, a men's adventure
Men's adventure
Men's adventure is a genre of magazines that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. Catering to a male audience, these magazines featured glamour photography and lurid tales of adventure that typically featured wartime feats of daring, exotic travel or conflict with wild animals.These magazines are...
magazine. After showing Neon a copy of the magazine, Zappa inquired, "This is it. What can you do that's worse than this?" Neon's answer was to craft a parody of an advertisement for Schick
Schick (razors)
Schick is a brand of safety razors by Wilkinson Sword, a subsidiary of Energizer Holdings. It was founded in 1926 by Jacob Schick as the Magazine Repeating Razor Company. In 1934, Schick introduced its highly successful single blade safety razor system, that stored ten blades in a steel injector...
brand electric razor based on the "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" theme. The record company released the album despite its reservations about the album cover.
The Man's Life cover had been given to Zappa by a youthful acolyte, Dan O'Brien, who had acquired it from his brother, a musician and aspiring Zappa protege who had found it while working a day job at a porno publishing house. Dan also was the originator of the term "chunga" which he had used in a song to describe mutants after the Hiroshima blast.
German releases of the album featured an album cover showing a metal baby caught in a rat trap. This cover was not approved by Zappa.
Side one
- "Didja Get Any Onya?" – 3:42 (6:51 on the CD version)
- recorded live on March 2, 1969 at the Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, PA
- Includes 'Charles Ives', and, only on the compact disc re-issue, 'The Jelly', and 'The Blimp' written by Don Van VlietCaptain BeefheartDon Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
.
- "Directly from My Heart to You" (Richard Wayne PennimanLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
) – 5:16- recorded c. July 1969 at T.T.G. Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
- "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" – 3:47
- recorded live on October 25, 1968 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
- "Toads of the Short Forest" – 4:47
- 1st half recorded c. August 1969 at Whitney Studios, Glendale, CA &
- 2nd half recorded live on February 7–8, 1969 at Thee Image, Miami, FL
- "Get a Little" – 2:31
- recorded on February 13, 1969 live at The Factory, The Bronx, New York, NY
Side two
- "The Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
Memorial Barbecue" – 6:52- recorded on June 1969 at A&R Studios, New York, NY
- "Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula" – 2:12
- recorded on December 1967-February 1968 at Apostolic Studios, New York, NY
- "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your MamaMy Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama (song)"My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" is a song written by Frank Zappa and originally recorded by The Mothers of Invention in 1969. The song was included on 1970's Weasels Ripped My Flesh, a compilation LP of sorts that included various recordings by the band from 1967 to 1969...
" – 3:32- = the original version recorded on February(?), 1969 at Criteria Studios, Miami, FL
- with final overdubs recorded c. August–September 1969 at T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, CA & at Whitney Studios, Glendale, CA
- "Oh No" – 1:45
- recorded on December 1967-February 1968 at Apostolic Studios, New York, NY
- "The Orange County Lumber Truck" – 3:21
- 1st part recorded live in 1969 from an unknown performance &
- the rest recorded live on October 25, 1968 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
- "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" – 2:08
- recorded live on May 30, 1969 at the Town Hall, Birmingham, UK
Personnel
- Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Jimmy Carl BlackJimmy Carl BlackJimmy Carl Black , born James Inkanish, Jr., was a drummer and vocalist for The Mothers of Invention.-Career: 1960s-1990s:Born in El Paso, Texas, Black was of Cheyenne heritage...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Ray CollinsRay Collins (rock musician)Ray Collins was born on November 19, 1936 and grew up in Pomona, California singing in his school choir, the son of a local police officer. He quit high school to get married. He started his musical career singing falsetto backup vocals for various 'doo-wop' groups in the Los Angeles area in the...
– vocals - Roy EstradaRoy EstradaRoy Estrada is an American musician and backing vocalist, best known for his bass guitar work with Frank Zappa and for co-founding Little Feat.-Biography:With drummer Jimmy Carl Black and Ray Collins, Estrada was an original member of Frank Zappa's...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Bunk Gardner – tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Lowell GeorgeLowell GeorgeLowell Thomas George was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, who was the main guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Little Feat.- Early years :...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, vocals - Don "Sugarcane" Harris – vocals, electric violin
- Don PrestonDon PrestonDonald Ward Preston also known as Dom DeWilde or Biff Debrie born September 21, 1932 in Flint, Michigan. Preston is an American jazz and rock and roll musician.-Biography:Preston was born into a family of musicians and began studying music at an early age...
– organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, electronic effects - Buzz Gardner – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and flugel horn - Motorhead SherwoodEuclid James SherwoodJim "Motorhead" Sherwood is an American rock musician notable for playing soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, tambourine, vocals and vocal sound effects in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention...
– baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, snorks - Art Tripp – drums
- Ian UnderwoodIan UnderwoodIan Robertson Underwood is a woodwind and keyboards player. He began his career by playing San Francisco Bay Area coffeehouses and bars with his improvisational group the Jazz Mice in the mid 1960s before he became a member of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in 1967 for their third studio...
– alto saxophone
Production
- Producer: Frank Zappa
- Art Direction: John Williams
- Cover art: Neon Park
- Photography: John Williams
- Digital art: Bob Stone
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Pop Albums | 189 |