The Hot Rats Book

by Bill Gubbins, Bill Gubbins

"A movie for your ears" is how rock icon Frank Zappa first described his album Hot Rats, which remains, 50 years after its release, not only one of Zappa's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums, but a stunning tour-de-force of the totality of his musical genius and legendary skills as a composer, lyricist, producer, arranger, studio innovator and virtuoso guitar player. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this much-loved LP, Ahmet Zappa and the Zappa Trust have teamed with Backbeat Books and Bill Gubbins, the only photographer to document the Hot Rats sessions, to create The Hot Rats Book, a deluxe, commemorative book packed with never-been-seen-before photos and an interview between Ahmet Zappa and Bill Gubbins documenting the Hot Rats sessions and last U.S. show of the original Mothers of Invention on August 10, 1969 at Cleveland's Musicarnival in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.

The Hot Rats Book is an official Frank Zappa book produced and written with the full cooperation and endorsement of the Zappa Trust.

Genres: Music

176 pages, Hardcover

Published December 30, 2019

Reviews

[Leonard Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice anecdote and some really nice
photos for sure! The recording of the historical album spun out too broadly. A fan’s encounter with the master, but no new insights.

[James P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in the early days of what we now call classic rock, there was more freedom. Artists, like Frank Zappa, could experiment and create album length musical adventures. The Hot Rats album is a good example, a piece of music that encompasses Zappa’s wide-ranging tastes and skill.

For Zappa fans, Gubbins’ book is their first look at the behind-the-scenes photos taken from the recording sessions for the Hot Rats album. Gubbins, a photographer, met and befriended Zappa (0r is that the other way around?) and spent time with Frank, both at his family home in L.A. and then in the studio.

Theirs was a casual, friendly series of days together, where Gubbins could interview Zappa for his college newspaper back in Ohio and take photographs. It was all very informal, and after he went back home, Gubbins filed the photos away.

Only recently did Gubbins contact the Zappa family and arrange to be interviewed by Zappa’s son Ahmet, and put together this book. Ahmet plays interviewer here, with Q and A interspersed with many of the photos Gubbins took.

It was a quick read, mostly, while many of the photos revealed the relaxed process of one of America’s most underrated—or is that misunderstood?--composers.

[Mark Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good photos and a terrific yarn about a youngster who meets Frank.

[Steve Klemz · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the great, i met a rock star, stories you will ever read. Frank Zappa sounds so cool and normal. Zappa fans have to have this book. Essential. The photo's are killer.