The 1969 album Hot Rats was a watershed release in Frank Zappa’s soon-to-be-storied career.
This was his first proper solo album, since 1967’s Lumpy Gravy consisted for the most part of the Mothers of Invention contributions mixed into a delightfully wonky collage. Hot Rats broke free from the measured chaos associated with his output via the Mothers, introducing more freewheeling guitar workouts and a jazz-rock sensibility to his compositions.
The album also highlighted Zappa’s compositional imaginativeness and introduced him as a future guitar legend, as evidenced by such extensive, dynamic, and richly creative guitar segments such as the extended, sinuously satisfying solos on “Willie the Pimp” (featuring a raucously cool Captain Beefheart on vocals) and “Son of Mr. Green Genes.” While no major hit in the United States, Hot Rats entered the Top 10 in the U.K. and was highly popular across Europe, widening Frank Zappa’s fan base considerably.
Funky Nothingness, the 66th posthumous release (yes, you read that right) through the Zappa Family Trust, is (unfortunate title aside) an intriguing look at the Hot Rats-era Zappa output. The music was recorded just before he was hijacked by the motion picture and soundtrack 200 Motels and his (to this fan) very unfortunate year-and-some-long stint with ex-Turtles vocalists Flo & Eddie.
What makes Funky Nothingness a treasure amongst the reams of posthumous releases is that it contains several original tracks. (Most of the posthumous output consists of previously unreleased live material.)
The cover of Lightnin’ Slim’s “I’m a Rollin’ Stone” features some tasteful bluesy soloing, with the song’s vamp transmogrifying into “Stinkfoot” on the highly popular Apostrophe (‘) album some years later. Soloing duties are shared with Don “Sugarcane” Harris, who burns throughout the three discs with his trademark distorted filigreed violin outings.
Disc 1’s version of “Chunga’s Revenge” is a touch lackluster and plodding, lacking the assertive guitar riffs of its later incarnations, but Takes 5 and 8, on Discs 2 and 3 respectively, are excellent, featuring blistering guitar, violin and organ solos. Another keeper for Zappa-philes is the previously unreleased, unedited take of the deliciously eastern jam “Transylvanian Boogie,” an edited version of which would grace 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge.
The juiciest treat of the treat-a-thon that is Funky Nothingness rests in the inclusion of around half-a-dozen original tracks.
The true gem amongst these originals is “Twinkle Tits,” a true sparkler which bears the idiosyncratic, delicious traits of Frank Zappa’s post-’71 output, when jams were increasingly left behind in favor of his complex and delightfully demanding compositions. As with much of this epic three-disc release, “Twinkle Tits” offers delectable guitar solos in all three of its variations from the man who would entirely reinvent the guitar in the early-late ’70s.
The “Tommy Vincent duo” tracks – manifested in three takes on the three-disc release – are also excellent, showcasing Frank Zappa’s fondness for percussion, and his innate gift for writing tracks for drums and percussion. This once again belies the fact that before picking up the guitar he was a talented drummer, a fact further evidenced in the three takes of “The Clap” – another percussion-centric piece, which, like “Sharleena” and several others, would officially be included on 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge.
“Halos and Arrows” is a slight, but subtly beautiful little composition, with a focus on differing sonic textures, including some – very rare for Frank Zappa – acoustic guitar strumming, while the aptly titled “Moldred” sees some dark, scruffy distortion guiding Zappa’s fretboard-exploring fingers, and features some unfamiliar Zappa lead work.
In the end, Funky Nothingness is not to be missed by Zappa fans, particularly those fascinated by the arcs of his compositional and soloing evolution. All fans of progressive rock and fusion will also find delight here. It’s one of the very best of the vault releases from the last decade.
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