Frank Zappa Tyou Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore

Overseen by the Zappa Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa Vaultmeister, Joe Travers, The Mothers 1970 collects together more than four hours of previously unreleased performances by the heralded line-up which lasted roughly seven months: Aynsley Dunbar (drums), George Duke (piano/keys/trombone), Ian Underwood (organ/keys/guitar), Jeff Simmons (bass/vocals) and Flo & Eddie aka Howard Kaylan (vocals) and Mark Volman (vocals/percussion) of The Turtles who performed under the aliases to skirt contractual limitations of performing under their own names. This iteration of The Mothers, which likely began rehearsals fifty years ago this month, came to an end in January of 1971 when Simmons quit the band during the making of the 200 Motels movie.

Frank Zappa - QuAUDIOPHILIAc (2004) [DVD-A] {ZFT}
DVD-9 (iso+.mds) -> 6.10 Gb | 5.1 MLP 24/96 / 5.1 DTS 24/96 / 2.0 LPCM 24/96
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 81 Mb
© 2004 ZFT / DTS Entertainment | 69286-01125-9-9
Rock / Experimental Rock

DVD-Audio may not be your preferred format, but here's a release that actually needs its special capabilities. There have been a number of high-profile albums that have been remixed to take advantage of Surround Sound, a case of retooling the recordings to take advantage of a new consumer format. Music consumers who began their music purchases during the digital era may not be aware that an attempt was made at "more than stereo" recordings back in the '70s, utilizing a four-channel system known as quadraphonic.

Released in 1988, Guitar may be the most important and ironically one of the least-known entries in Frank Zappa's voluminous discography – which spans over seven-dozen LPs as of this writing. His proficiencies as a composer and instrumentalist have long been lauded. However, anthologies of this nature provide an outlet for the remarkable breadth and depth of Zappa's manual dexterity and improvisational scope, which can now be enjoyed on a myriad of levels…

While most of the discussions of Frank Zappa have to do with his satirical and off-color lyrics, the fact remains that he was one of the finest and most underappreciated guitarists around. This collection places the spotlight squarely on Zappa's mastery of the guitar. Recorded for the most part in 1979 and 1980 (with a few tracks dating as far back as 1977), Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar is simply a collection of guitar solos. Even though most of the tracks were just edited out of their original song context, they fare well as stand-alone pieces, as Zappa was an ever-inventive player. Take, for example, the three versions of "Shut Up." These tracks were simply the guitar solos from "Inca Roads," but thanks to Zappa's ability for "instant composition," each version has its own complete story to tell, without ever being redundant…