Frank Zappa - Sleep Dirt (1979)

Found this lovely little sleeper (sorry, couldn't resist) album lurking in the midst of Zappa's late 70s legal debacle with Warner Brothers.  Sleep Dirt is part of a group of contract-fulfilling albums which Zappa tried at one point to compile into a 4-LP set, eventually posthumously released as such on triple-CD.  Anyway, the seven instrumental tracks here were recorded in '74 and '76, meaning that my holy trinity of Zappa musicians (George, Chester & Ruth) make appearances.  Sounds promising already - as does the fact that Zappa had wanted to call this album Hot Rats III.

 

After an atmospheric, almost King Crimson-like guitar-based opener, a fantastic jazzy sequence of tracks spotlight my three faves named above; the Grand Wazoo-era composition Regyptian Strut is particularly enjoyable.  From the original side two, the title track is a very nice, almost proto-Windham Hill acoustic guitar duet, then the final track is simply magnificent.  After a fun catchy intro, The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution builds into a multi-tangent guitar-bass-drums jam (edited down from over 40 minutes to 13), with Zappa on uniquely-tuned Fender 12-string.  More FZ-shredding next week!

Come the 80s, with Zappa having regained control of his catalogue, he set about tweaking Sleep Dirt into how he'd always wanted it to sound.  By the time the album debuted on CD, there were drum overdubs, editing and remixing in places, and most drastically three tracks had gained a female lead vocal (performed by Thana Harris).  With lyrics from an unfinished theatrical project about an evil queen and a giant spider, these songs now suggested the monster-flick equivalent of classic Bond themes gone insane, and are loads of fun.  So which version of the album wins overall?  Only way to decide is to try both...

Original instrumental album (restored by 2012 CD)

Vocal/remix album (from 1995 CD)

pw for both: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:

Lumpy Gravy

Waka/Jawaka

The Grand Wazoo

Roxy & Elsewhere

One Size Fits All

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2: The Helsinki Concert

The Perfect Stranger (live 2018)