Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Zappa, Frank
Label: Rykodisc Records
Release: 1979
Duration: 38:39
Rating: 4.5/5
“Sleep Dirt” is one of those three Frank albums that, according to his original plans, should have come out as part of the enormously ambitious four-part project “Läther”. That one only got its official release, as a three-CD set, three years after the death of this legendary composer, visionary and multifaceted artist, and it finally delivered his original musical vision. Like its remaining studio “siblings”, namely “Studio Tan” (1978) and “Orchestral Favourites” (1979), “Sleep Dirt” is marked by a thoroughly idiosyncratic, highly experimental compositional style, home to brilliant and often breakneck Zappa instrumental finesse. It draws mostly on elements of jazz fusion, avant-garde, progressive rock and, here and there, even chanson, which makes it closest to everyone who counts “Hot Rats” (1969) and similar jazz rock fusion masterpieces among Frank’s finest achievements. It wasn’t far from being written into the books as one of his best, but a few logistical moves that Frank had no control over robbed it of that, so today it enjoys cult status at best.
Thanks to Warner Bros, with whom Frank fell out after a brief collaboration and broke his contract over their disregard for a mutual agreement, “Sleep Dirt” has quite a few deviations from his original ideas. The first is that the compositions on the album were originally recorded as instrumentals, and you can hear them in versions that are somewhat different from the ones on “Sleep Dirt” on “Läther” today. Warner Bros, especially for the CD release, hired a female vocalist, Thana Harris, for three tracks, “Flambay”, “Spider Of Destiny” and “Time Is Money”, and added drums performed by Chad Wackerman. The latter went down in the history of Frank’s collaborators only as a live drummer and doesn’t appear on any other studio release. Frank did originally plan to record vocals for all of these tracks and use them in his musical Hunchentoot (which then came to nothing), but he had no say in choosing the singer and the extra drummer, whom Warner Bros hired after the fact for these tracks on the CD release. The second unwelcome move from Warner Bros is that the album’s original title was supposed to be “Hot Rats III”, which speaks volumes about its ambitious nature, yet the label trampled on the mutual agreement once again.
I doubt Frank is spinning in his grave over it today, but the album undoubtedly suffered considerable damage this way, and it was a real blow to respect for the artist’s authorship and wishes. It would be unfair to blame it all on Thana’s vocals, though, since she’s a very good singer. Her powerful and richly expressive voice fits perfectly on all three tracks she appears on, but there probably isn’t a Zappa fan who wouldn’t agree that the album in a fully instrumental form would have been yet another masterpiece, entirely worthy of the “Hot Rats III” name. As it stands, it’s “only” a very good record, one that will please fans of his jazz fusion works the most. The third thing that never received Frank’s official approval, although he surely grew fond of it, is the hilarious cover art by Gary Panter. The monster on the cover is Hedorah, one of the grotesque creatures from the Japanese Godzilla movies, known for feeding on pollution and growing bigger the more polluted its surroundings were.
Most of the material was recorded between 1974 and 1976. Among Frank’s longtime star collaborators, the contributors include keyboard maestro George Duke, heavyweight drummers Terry Bozzio and Chester Thompson, woodwind player Bruce Fowler and percussionist Ruth Underwood. Of those names, only Bozzio was still working with him by the time the album came out. Besides the female vocals on three tracks, one of the main peculiarities of “Sleep Dirt” is that it’s dominated by an almost complete absence of Frank’s usual comic elements of social grotesque and absurdity. Apart from the more than obvious sarcasm in the lyrics of “Time Is Money”, you can’t detect anything markedly jokey, either in the lyrics or in the structures of the individual compositions. In that respect the album is almost something special, as it’s one of his most “serious” records, and as such it will appeal most to those who valued him as a composer, guitarist and musician but never understood his peculiar sense of humor.
Already on “Filthy Habbits”, the excellent opening jazz rock fusion instrumental, where Frank’s phantasmagoric guitar solos flourish alongside Bozzio’s drumming combinatorics, there isn’t a trace of the usual Zappa clowning. The mood of the composition is mysterious, at times almost gloomy and scary. Because of that, it sometimes feels like Robert Fripp and his King Crimson were involved. A midnight picture of an old, crumbling motel comes alive before your eyes, where unusual things go on behind the walls. That goes from the opening bars on waves of keyboards, which are soon joined by complex guitar passages and elaborate drum fills that slowly build an extremely dynamic course for the instrumental, while Dave Parlato’s sharpened bass lines wander around in the background. Frank’s guitar wizardry, from the fast-fingered runs up and down the scales to the witty solos, was played, as always, in his utterly unique way, one that none of his imitators will ever match, led by the “little Italian virtuoso”.
On “Flambay”, which mixes elements of experimental jazz and chanson, Thana Harris makes her singing debut. Her voice has a big range and the necessary expressive color, in which irony and satire constantly mingle. Still, I’d probably be crossing the line of good taste if I called her Janis Joplin for intellectuals. Even though I’ll always maintain that this album without vocals would have been yet another perfect Frank victory, I think Thana was the best possible choice, and she pulled off an extremely difficult job very well in the end. Her singing is backed by juicy improvisations on guitar and percussion, a thick bass line and light piano accompaniment.
Without a break comes the short but highly dramatic “Spider Of Destiny”, where Thana’s vocal takes on unusually rough, I’d even say manly registers. Witty guitar passages and toothy riffs are layered underneath, and a pinch of humor comes from the use of all sorts of percussion. The phenomenal jazz rock fusion instrumental “Regyptian Strut” is perhaps even the funniest creation on the album. Unlike some of Frank’s earlier jazz fusion works, which usually featured a big band, here only Bruce Fowler’s woodwinds are added. Alongside Frank’s percussion, they bring a nice dose of humor in a great way, while Chester’s massive drum fills follow one another.
Well, the deliberately slightly paranoid “Time Is Money”, where Thana Harris returns with her singing, is also one of those rare, somewhat funnier moments on the album. Thana delivers the sarcastic lyrics in a great, intensely committed way, while witty and disjointed jazzy improvisations follow one another in the background. The title track, “Sleep Dirt”, is a short guitar duet between Frank and James “Bird Legs” Youman. James is mainly a bassist, but his rhythmic backing complemented Frank’s solos and witty scale runs well. Even though he’s only strumming various chords in the background, at the end, when Frank asks whether he’s tired, he answers in the negative, but complains that his fingers got tangled up in the meantime.
Finally comes the key piece of the album, the more than 13-minute instrumental “The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution”, a cross between jazz rock fusion and prog rock. The first part of the composition is dominated by Frank’s sci-fi guitar solo, his witty riffing, an exceptionally juicy bass line and Terry’s cataclysmic drum fills, while dreamy synthesizer passages can also be heard in the background. Numerous thrilling jazz-tinged improvisations follow one another. Among them is O’Hearn’s gastronomic bass solo, which Frank’s legendary guitar solo then completely overshadows. A true cosmic guitar nirvana that guitar virtuosos still drool over today, led by Steve Vai, Frank’s former powdered apprentice in ballet slippers and leopard skin, and his best-known imitator (much more will be said about him in upcoming Zappa reviews). After this phenomenal ending, there’s usually a slight tinge of bitterness that it’s suddenly over already.
“Sleep Dirt”, the album that was meant to be “Hot Rats III”, is, despite all the needless and tactless meddling by the Warner brothers, a treat for anyone into experimental rock and jazz rock fusion, delivered at the usual enviable instrumental and compositional level. The tracks with Thana’s vocals may also appeal to the occasional chanson fan. The almost complete absence of jokey musical elements, poetic satire and absurdity, along with the somewhat unnecessary but by no means harmful presence of female vocals, makes it a truly special and unique album in his discography. Anyone who faithfully follows the artist’s legacy knows that peculiarity, variation and an almost constant stylistic musical revolution are the essential qualities of his musical path. Thanks to Warner Bros’ “contribution”, “Sleep Dirt” didn’t fulfill its full potential (anyone who wants something close to the original perfection should listen to the versions of the tracks on “Läther”), but it’s still a singular achievement today, one that impresses most with its ambivalent nature.
Lineup
Frank Zappa – guitar, percussion, keyboards, synthesizer
Terry Bozzio – drums
George Duke – keyboards, backing vocals
Bruce Fowler – woodwinds
Patrick O’Hearn – bass guitar
Dave Parlato – bass guitar
Chester Thompson – drums
Ruth Underwood – percussion, keyboards
James “Bird Legs” Youman – bass guitar, guitar
Thana Harris – vocals (CD remix)
Chad Wackerman – overdubbed drums (CD remix)
Production
Frank Zappa
Tracklist
1. Filthy Habits
2. Flambay
3. Spider of Destiny
4. Regyptian Strut
5. Time Is Money
6. Sleep Dirt
7. The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution
