Frank Zappa: Sleep Dirt (Discreet)
As is usually the case, my studio/mancave is in a total state of disarray. I'm as disorganized a person as you will encounter. But I do need to pick up after myself sometimes. I was filing some records away, including Jazz From Hell, and I noticed this record. I realized I'd never laid stylus to vinyl, so here we are.
Frank Zappa was going through a label dispute at this time. Warner Brothers released three sessions in quick succession with no personnel or recording information. I remember Orchestral Favorites from the cut-out bins, which might have also been true for this album and Studio Tan. I had former as a teen. I liked some of the pieces on it (specifically "Strictly Genteel"), sold it off in a record purge, only to buy another copy later. All three albums had cover paintings by Gary Panter. I like all three. Gary is someone whose work I'd know better through Ralph Records; my first Ralph was the "Buy or Die" #3, with Gary's Tyrannosaurus front image. In this case Gary's painted an image of Hedorah (the Toho movies' Smog Monster) emerging from a bed.
Frank would later refer to these albums as bootlegs. That's only half true; there was a contract, but it was in dispute. Some of the tracks of those three albums were collected in the album Läther, though not everything. In short, it's confusing.
Frank lived such a relatively short life, and was such a workaholic, that one can break down periods of his work into years rather than decades. He's in instrumental mode here, somewhat jazzy but through a rock lens.
The mix is at times terrible. "Regyptian Strut" is very bass and drums heavy, with the essential horn melody lurking in the background. Now that I hear the mix on that piece, I know that I have had this vinyl on before.
Frank's guitar is prominent in some pieces, particularly "Filthy Habits", "Time Is Money" and "Sleep Dirt". All bristle with nervous energy. That was certainly Frank's signature.
The personnel information is available online. Without looking, I definitely detect both Ruth Underwood and Terry Bozzio. That places this in a particular time between the Napoleon Murphy Brock bands (Roxy and Elsewhere) and Zoot Allures.
This is only a few years from the albums Frank produced thatIi either dislike or downright loathe. I found Zoot Allures to be a mixed bag, but the title track and "Black Napkins" rank among his best instrumental pieces. Sheik Yerbouti is also mixed but falling on the negative side for me. It wasn't long after that he released Joe's Garage, which I largely loathe. I think of it as a bad rock opera, and largely self aggrandizing. It does have one or two great works on it, but I just can't largely stand it. The same goes for most of his "rock" albums for the rest of his life.
I do like some of his orchestral works, and many of the instrumentals. Shut up n' play your guitar!
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