Ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch

281

5 Stars

***The cover art for the album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch by the artist Frank Zappa.***

The word genius is often banded around to far lesser talents. But in the world of music, Frank Zappa was most certainly a genius.

Born in 1940 and sadly taken from us in 1993, Frank Zappa crammed a lot into his years. He was a multi-instrumentalist, self-taught, a producer and songwriter, combining rock, pop, doo-wop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral, musique croncrete, in fact, any sort of music he decided to turn his hand to. He released over sixty albums in his lifetime, both as leader of the ‘Mothers of Invention’ and as a solo artist. He also produced full-length feature movies, music videos and took great relish in designing his own record sleeves.

His music was so eclectic that it was impossible to categorize. It may well be best summed up by the title of his first published recording, ‘Freak Out’ (1966).

No two albums followed the same direction, so it was difficult to work out who his followers exactly were.

As well as the official studio albums, there was also a wealth of live material, remastered albums done by the man himself, plus compilation albums all available, making being a Zappa collector a thankless and endless task.

***Zappa’s flair was only outmatched by his musical genius.***

Some of his albums in the language of the age were really far out there and therefore not really a commercial venture. The debate of which is Frank Zappa’s most essential album rages unchecked on social media.

But some of his albums were certainly more accessible than others. ‘Hot Rats’ and this album are prime examples.

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***Moon Unit Zappa co-wrote Valley Girl with her father.***

‘Ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch’ contains six pieces of music composed by Frank Zappa, apart from ‘Valley Girl,’ co-written with his daughter Moon Unit Zappa (and a hit single! New territory for Father Zappa.)

Although Frank Zappa was a fine guitarist, he still had a young Steve Vai on the sidelines to play the impossible parts. So it says on the album cover.

The first three songs (No Not Now, Valley Girl, I Come from Nowhere) were recorded in Frank Zappa’s Utility Research Unit. The remaining three (Drowning Witch, Envelopes, Teenage Prostitute) were taken from live recordings from Frank Zappa’s 1981 Fall Tour of the USA, although heavily edited. The title song alone had fifteen edits from different concerts.

Even though this was Zappa at his most commercial, there was still plenty of room for his customary weirdness involving convoluted guitar solos, stretching out, and abrupt changes in tempo and beat. Certainly not music to put on at a party. Unless it’s time for everybody to leave.