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
Producer	Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa chronology
Tinseltown Rebellion (1981) Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981) Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (1982)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar
Q

Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar is a triple vinyl album, originally issued mail order-only as three separate volumes, 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.

Background

After the release of Joe's Garage, Frank Zappa set up his home studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, and planned to release a triple LP live album called Warts and All. As Warts and All reached completion, Zappa found the project to be "unwieldy" due to its length. Zappa later conceived the Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar series, which contained two tracks originally prepared for Warts and All.

Content

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.

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

Release history

The album was released in 1981 as three separate volumes. After the album's success, Zappa decided to reissue it as a box set with different artwork (with the original US LP covers now being used as inner sleeves) and with liner notes including a review of the original three-volume edition. It was issued on CD by Rykodisc 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.

Legacy

The album's success led Zappa to produce two more albums solely consisting of guitar solos: Guitar, which was released in 1988, and Trance-Fusion, released posthumously in 2006. Additionally, Zappa assembled the compilation The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa for Guitar World magazine. In 1997, Dweezil Zappa assembled another compilation of Zappa's guitar-based songs and solos, Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute.

Track listing

All songs by Frank Zappa except "Canard Du Jour" which was improvised by Zappa and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Disc 1 (Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar)

Side one

1. "five-five-FIVE" – 2:35 (1979-02-19)
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

Musicians

• Frank Zappa - Lead Guitar, Bouzouki
• Tommy Mars – Keyboards
• Patrick O'Hearn – Bass, Dialogue
• Denny Walley – Rhythm Guitar
• Ray White – Rhythm Guitar
• Bob Harris – Keyboards
• Peter Wolf – Keyboards
• Ed Mann – Percussion
• Ike Willis – Rhythm Guitar
• Arthur Barrow – Bass
• Terry Bozzio – Drums, Dialogue
• Vinnie Colaiuta – Drums
• Warren Cuccurullo – Rhythm Guitar, Electric Sitar
• Roy Estrada – Vocals
• Bob Harris – Keyboards
• Andre Lewis – Keyboards
• Eddie Jobson – Keyboards
• Steve Vai – Rhythm Guitar
• Jean-Luc Ponty – Baritone Violin

Production staff

• Frank Zappa – Arranger, Composer, Conductor, Producer
• Kerry McNabb – Engineer
• Steve Nye – Engineer
• Jo Hansch – Mastering
• John Swenson – Liner Notes
• John Livzey – Photography
• John Vince – Graphic Design
• Bob Stone – Remixing
• Joe Chiccarelli – Engineer, Mixing, Recording
• George Douglas – Engineer
• Tom Flye – Engineer
• Mick Glossop – Engineer

External links

• Recording details
• Release history