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Weasels Ripped my Flesh-Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention





Released after the original Mothers of Invention (Freak Out!, We're Only in it for the Money) disbanded in 1969, Weasels Ripped My Flesh is composed of both live largely improvisational pieces as well as studio pieces (some of which are remembered as quintessential moments in Zappa's catalogue).

As a studio record, Weasels is also one of the most difficult early Mothers' records as well as Zappa's solo releases. This is mostly because of the live studio works that showcase Zappa's interest in avant-garde classical composers and other forms of free-form experimentation. In fact the first selection off the record is a piece titled Didja Get Any Onya whose strangely timed and discordant riffs are accompanied by a free-form brass section that resemble the accompanying score to a fight scene in an old prehistoric movie. The improvisations are later joined by exaggerated operatic voices and speech that seem to be from the perspective of someone living during the rise of the Third Reich. The aggression of the music and the violence of the subject matter is made even more alien and incongruous due to the subtle (and crude) sexual nature of the title. This approach of juxtaposing the absurd and the sexual are found in other of the improvisational tracks as well. For example, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask borrows the title from the Claude Debussy piece most likely as a symbolic juxtaposition of the wild, cacophony of his own piece.

Other pieces on the album seem to resemble movie music in one way or another. Get a Little is a sleazy, psychedelic blues track that sounds like it was intended for some teenage, hippie era exploitation movie that was common at the time. Toads of the Short Forest (a title and piece that sounds like something that could be found in a Super Mario Bros. game) and Dwarf Nebula revisits the kind of modern-classical and orchestral works that characterize the Lumpy Gravy, Uncle Meat, and Burnt Weeny Sandwich releases. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque humorously earns its title through Zappa's Dolphy-like arrangement (in its chromatic-ish structure and use of the vibraphone as its main melodic center) that also occasionally resembles the score from a cheesy science fiction movie. The humor, of course being that the barbeque in the title is meant to signify the cheesy science fiction element (and Zappa's own acknowledgement of his musical pretensions). However, it may also be less about self-parody and more an expression of Zappa's conviction of the artistic credibility of what would then (and in some cases still) be considered art or creative endeavors that are merely commercial and lacking the aesthetic value of a Mahler or a Michelangelo.

Most listeners, I assume, will find the most interesting tracks (if there are any for them) to be My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama, Directly From my Heart to Yoursand Oh No. In that order. Guitar is a Rolling Stones inspired blues rock song about the protagonists frustration with his inability to get with his girl of choice because her Mother claims that he is no good and is a ruffian because of his musical addiction and the life that is involved with it (the irony being that this restriction leads him back to his guitar to try to expel the rage he feels towards her Mother). Probably most peoples favorite Mothers song because it is (surprisingly, given Zappa's often scathing attitude towards fifties and sixties rock music of all kinds) an absolutely remarkable example of the virtuosic ability of the band to take an already established form (the song is structured, in lyrics and form, like the Stones' Satisfaction) and stamp their trademark on it. The trademark being the solo sections in the middle of the otherwise very raw and gritty rock song. It's this kind of experimentation that arguably led to Zappa being remembered as an originator of more experimental rock that would be found in the 70s. It's influence can be directly or indirectly heard in everything from Black Sabbath to AC/DC to endless prog rock acts (Zappa was recently celebrated in Loudersound magazine as being the 18th greatest musician in prog rock history).

Directly from My Heart to Yours is another example of Zappa and co.'s fascination with rhythm and blues. The song is an interpretation of a Little Richard song but lacks the overt parody (stylistic or otherwise) that characterized many of the songs off the Freak Out! album. The song begins with an emotionally drenched violin solo that whines and moans like it had just taken a series of fists to the gut. The interpretation is largely straightforward, but in typical Mothers fashion the performance is slightly exaggerated and the musicians play their instruments as if they had been drinking. This has mostly an emotive effect on the song, giving it an extra edge that makes it especially compelling.

Oh No is an orchestral favorite of Zappa's that originally appeared on the Lumpy Gravy record but was revised repeatedly through the course of his career. The version on this recording features a vocal performance by Ray Collins who apparently didn't want to sing the lyrics Zappa had written. Often interpreted as a parody on the Beatles song "All You Need Is Love" it is arguably a definitive culmination of what Zappa saw as attitudes and rituals regarding love that could be found across the political spectrum which lacked authenticity of all kinds and were tantamount to some sort of self-induced dictatorship or self-inflicted mental illness (depending on which camp you were in). The song, relatively simple and melodic, given the nature of many other Mothers recordings, is musically symbolic of this. The main theme is conventionally written in D Major without any free-form improvisations, interval experiments, or even minor chromatic walkabouts. Despite the somewhat distant vocal performances by Ray Collins and the apparently unknown background vocalists (or at least uncredited for some reason), the song is written very straight and near its end even comes close to resembling the ensemble of a Sinatra or Dean Martin. At its close, the song becomes The Orange County Lumber Truck, which begins with more characteristically light and pleasant brass sections with the gradual accompaniment of some of Zappa's greatest solo guitar accomplishments to this point of his career (arguably ever).

For the casual Zappa listener (if such a thing exists in great quantity) or even someone not familiar with Zappa at all, Weasels is not the first choice. Try Apostrophe or Overnite Sensation or even the more crudely commercial Strictly Commercial. I personally bought this album in approximately 2015 and have only recently been able to properly digest it (I've been learning music theory and the like). It's strangeness and complexity will most likely confuse and alienate and lead the typical consumer to think nasty things about Zappa and his Mothers (something that always troubled Zappa, as he claimed that it was avant-garde music like Varese and Stravinsky that was the music that was most easily relatable to him without the assistance of musical training and a firm knowledge of musical history and theory). For those interested in art history though, Weasels is an album that fits in well with discussions of dadaism, hippiedom, the classical avant garde, the jazz avant garde, pop art, surrealism, socio-political criticism in the arts, and the place of popular culture and rock music in the university.

Rating: 5/5