Frank Zappa - Hats Rot (1970)

Once I'd extracted all the best tracks for the 'Son Of Hot Rats' album, there were a number of pieces left over which were just too good to ignore. 'Transition' is one a number of tracks of this title recorded by the band, and this version is the full one, which originally incorporated a two minute section which later became 'Twenty Small Cigars', but which I've removed to leave just the unique portion of the track. We were also treated to the full ten minute take of 'Directly From My Heart To You', which eventually ended up in a truncated form on 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh'. As the 'song' part of the track is already available on an album, and because I was running long on playing time, I've extracted the excellent solos from the second half of the recording and re-titled it appropriately. 'Piano Music' is another piece that had various recordings, and this take is 'Section 3', which is very loosely based on the riff from 'Peaches En Regalia', but which then veers off into a totally different direction. Finally, we have the full 27 minute take of 'Another Waltz', which in an edited form became 'Little House I Used To Live In' on 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich', but which must have been difficult to edit as it all sounds so good. These four tracks make up a 41 minute album which completes the 'Hot Rats' trilogy, and while I'm the first to admit that it's not as good as the 'Son Of...' album, it's still well worth hearing if you're a fan of the original release. 

Track listing

01 Transition
02 Music From The Heart
03 Piano Music #3
04 Another Waltz