Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention Uncle Meat CD

Full performer name: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention.
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, percussion); Roy Estrada (vocals, bass); Jimmy Carl Black (vocals, drums); Ray Collins, Nelcy Walker (vocals); Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood (tenor saxophone, tambourine); Bunk Gardner (piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, bassoon); Don Preston (piano); Ian Underwood (clarinet, flute, alto & baritone saxophones, piano, organ, harpsichord, celeste); Artie Tripp (vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, drums, tympani, wood blocks, bells, chimes); Ruth Komanoff (marimba).
Recorded from October 1967 to February 1968. Includes liner notes by Frank Zappa.
UNCLE MEAT was digitally remixed in 1987 with approximately 40 minutes of previously unreleased material from the original sessions.
Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion); Jim Sherwood (vocals, guitar, wind); Ray Collins (vocals, guitar); Roy Estrada (vocals, electric bass); Billy Mundi (vocals, drums); Nelly Walker (vocals); Walker, Nelcy (soprano); Ian Underwood (guitar, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, piano, celesta, harpsichord, organ, keyboards, wind); Aynsley Dunbar (guitar); Bunk Gardner (flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, wind); Euclid James Sherwood (tenor saxophone, tambourine); Don Preston (electric piano, keyboards); Ruth Underwood (keyboards, percussion); Art Tripp (vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, drums, timpani, wood block, percussion, bells, chimes); Ruth Komanofff (marimba, percussion); Jimmy Carl Black (drums, percussion).
Recording information: Copenhagen, Denmark (10/1967-02/1968); Royal Albert Hall, London, England (10/1967-02/1968); Sunset Sound, L.A., CA (10/1967-02/1968); Whisky A Go Go (10/1967-02/1968).
Unknown Contributor Role: Bunk Gardner.
Just three years into their recording career, the Mothers of Invention released their second double album, Uncle Meat, which began life as the largely instrumental soundtrack to an unfinished film. It's essentially a transitional work, but it's a fascinating one, showcasing Frank Zappa's ever-increasing compositional dexterity and the Mothers' emerging instrumental prowess. It was potentially easy to overlook Zappa's melodic gifts on albums past, but on Uncle Meat, he thrusts them firmly into the spotlight; what few lyrics there are, Zappa says in the liner notes, are in-jokes relevant only to the band. Thus, Uncle Meat became the point at which Zappa began to establish himself as a composer and he would return to many of these pieces repeatedly over the course of his career. Taken as a whole, Uncle Meat comes off as a hodgepodge, with centerpieces scattered between variations on previous pieces, short concert excerpts, less-realized experiments, doo wop tunes, and comedy bits; the programming often feels as random as the abrupt transitions and tape experiments held over from Zappa's last few projects. But despite the absence of a conceptual framework, the unfocused sprawl of Uncle Meat is actually a big part of its appeal. It's exciting to hear one of the most creatively fertile minds in rock pushing restlessly into new territory, even if he isn't always quite sure where he's going. However, several tracks hint at the jazz-rock fusion soon to come, especially the extended album closer "King Kong"; it's his first unequivocal success in that area, with its odd time signature helping turn it into a rhythmically kinetic blowing vehicle. Though some might miss the gleeful satire of Zappa's previous work with the Mothers, Uncle Meat's continued abundance of musical ideas places it among his most intriguing works. ~ Steve Huey
Over the two-record set, Zappa manages to cover the entire spread of his interests. Masquerading as a movie in progress, it is a way of highlighting the struggle of trying to keep the band together against a prettyRolling Stone (5/31/69, p.37) - "...a consummate piece of work...as instrumentation, it is artistry...expertly crafted cynicism...a serious piece of music..."
Down Beat - Recommended