Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar

Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar
Live album by Frank Zappa
Released	May 11, 1981 (US)
Recorded	1972; February 1976; February 1977 - December 11, 1980
Genre	Instrumental rock, hard rock
Length	106:52
Label	Barking Pumpkin Records
Producer	Frank Zappa
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar link Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More link Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar link Q Aug. 95
Frank Zappa chronology
Tinseltown Rebellion (1981) Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981) You Are What You Is (1981)

Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar is a triple vinyl album featuring live material recorded by Frank Zappa between February 1977 and December 1980. The final track, "Canard du Jour", is a duet with Frank Zappa on electric bouzouki and Jean-Luc Ponty on baritone violin dating from a 1972 studio session.

The album was released in 1981 and reissued by Rykodisc on CD in 1986 as a two disc set and again in 1995 as a three disc box. There is a widely held belief that the order of the tracks "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" and "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More" were swapped on the two disc set; in fact, this is not the case. The source of the confusion may be the back cover of the 2-CD set, which lists the two tracks as swapped. The inside booklet, however, lists the tracks in correct order, and the actual track timings and contents confirm that "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" (5:38) is on disc 1 and "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More" (6:53) is on disc 2.

The album is entirely instrumental and features mainly guitar solos, hence the title. It is, however, interspersed with brief verbal comments between tracks, many of which also appear on Läther, as was originally intended. Each disc is titled after a variation on the album's name, which is shared with the title track found on each respective disc.

Most solos on the album are culled from performances of another song. The three title tracks are derived from successive renditions of "Inca Roads"; various other solos were taken from readings of "Conehead", "Easy Meat", "The Illinois Enema Bandit", "City of Tiny Lites", "Black Napkins", "The Torture Never Stops", "Chunga's Revenge", and "A Pound for a Brown on the Bus". "Ship Ahoy" was the coda from a performance of "Zoot Allures" the first part of which appears on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3.^[1]

The opening track, "five-five-FIVE", is built around a musical idea that involves two measures of playing in 5/8 time followed by one measure in 5/4, thus explaining the song's name.

Some of the solos from these albums are featured in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book.

Similar albums: Guitar, Trance-Fusion, Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute, The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa.

Track listing

All songs by Frank Zappa except "Canard Du Jour" which was improvised by Zappa/Ponty.

Disc 1 (Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar)

Side one

1. "five-five-FIVE" – 2:35 (1979-02-19)^[1]
2. "Hog Heaven" – 2:46 (1980-10-18)
3. "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" – 5:35 (1979-02-18)
4. "While You Were Out" – 6:09 (1979)

Side two

1. "Treacherous Cretins" – 5:29 (1979-02-17)
2. "Heavy Duty Judy" – 4:39 (1980-12-05)
3. "Soup 'n Old Clothes" – 7:53 (1980-12-11)

Disc 2 (Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More)

Side one

1. "Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression" – 3:56 (1980-12-11)
2. "Gee, I Like Your Pants" – 2:32 (1979-02-18)
3. "Canarsie" – 6:06 (1979-02-19)
4. "Ship Ahoy" – 5:26 (1976-02-03)

Side two

1. "The Deathless Horsie" – 6:18 (1979-02-19)
2. "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More" – 6:52 (1979-02-17)
3. "Pink Napkins" – 4:41 (1977-02-17)

Disc 3 (Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar)

Side one

1. "Beat It With Your Fist" – 1:39 (1980-10-30)
2. "Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" – 8:45 (1979-02-19)
3. "Pinocchio's Furniture" – 2:04 (1980-12-05)
4. "Why Johnny Can't Read" – 4:04 (1979-02-17)

Side two

1. "Stucco Homes" – 8:56 (1979)
2. "Canard Du Jour" – 10:12 (1972)

Personnel

• Tommy Mars – Keyboards, Vocals
• Kerry McNabb – Engineer
• Steve Nye – Engineer
• Patrick O'Hearn – Wind, Bass
• Denny Walley – Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar
• Ray White – Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar
• Jo Hansch – Mastering
• John Swenson – Liner Notes
• Bob Harris – Keyboards
• Peter Wolf – Keyboards
• John Livzey – Photography
• John Vince – Graphic Design
• Ed Mann – Percussion
• Ike Willis – Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar
• Bob Stone – Remixing
• Arthur Barrow – Bass
• Terry Bozzio – Drums
• Joe Chiccarelli – Engineer, Mixing, Recording
• Vinnie Colaiuta – Drums, Percussion
• Warren Cuccurullo – Guitar (Rhythm), Electric Sitar, Guitar
• George Douglas – Engineer
• Roy Estrada – Vocals, Bass
• Frank Zappa – Arranger, Composer, Conductor, Keyboards, Vocals, Producer, Main Performer, Bouzouki, Guitar
• Tom Flye – Engineer
• Mick Glossop – Engineer
• Bob Harris – Keyboards
• Andre Lewis – Keyboards
• Eddie Jobson – Keyboards, Vocals, Violin
• Steve Vai – Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar
• Jean-Luc Ponty – Keyboards, Baritone Violin, Violin

External links

• Recording details
• Release history

References