Sheik Yerbouti is a double album[1][2][3] by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records, distributed by Phonogram Inc. in the United States and Canada. The album was released in other countries by CBS Records. It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added in the studio. In an October 1978 interview, Zappa gave the working album title as Martian Love Secrets.[4] It was later released on a single CD.
The album has some of Zappa's most satirical and controversial lyrics. "Bobby Brown" was banned from US airplay[citation needed] due to its sexually explicit lyrics. "I Have Been in You" pokes fun at Peter Frampton's 1977 hit "I'm in You" while emphasizing an explicit meaning. "Dancin' Fool", a Grammy nominee, became a popular disco hit despite its obvious parodical reflection of disco music. "Flakes", about lazy union workers in California, includes a parody of Bob Dylan. "Jewish Princess", a humorous look at Jewish stereotyping, attracted attention from the Anti-Defamation League, to which Zappa denied an apology, arguing: "Unlike the unicorn, such creatures do exist—and deserve to be 'commemorated' with their own special opus".[6]
"Rat Tomago" was edited from a live performance of "The Torture Never Stops", which originally appeared on Zoot Allures (1976); likewise, "The Sheik Yerbouti Tango" is taken from a live version of "Little House I Used to Live in", originally recorded for Burnt Weeny Sandwich in 1970.
Some songs, such as "Rat Tomago", are linked by brief pieces of musique concrète, and studio dialog from Zappa band members Terry Bozzio and Patrick O'Hearn.[7] In making "Rubber Shirt", Zappa combined a track of Terry playing drums in one musical setting with one of Patrick playing the bass in another. The original performances differed in time signature and in tempo. Zappa described this technique as xenochrony.
The album was engineered by Joe Chiccarelli. He later explained: "[Zappa's] engineer couldn’t make the session and so he decided to take a chance on me. I’m so thankful ever since that day because he gave me a career."[8]
Initially, the album was met with mixed reviews, due to the lyrical content. Despite this, the album remains a cult favorite among Zappa fans to this day. The song "Bobby Brown" was extremely popular in Scandinavia. Zappa was reportedly so astounded by its success that he wanted CBS to hire an anthropologist to study why the song became such a big hit.[12]
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "If this be social 'satire,' how come its sole targets are ordinary citizens whose weirdnesses happen to diverge from those of the retentive gent at the control board? Or are we to read his new fixation on buggery as an indication of approval? Makes you wonder whether his primo guitar solo on 'Yo' Mama' and those as-unique-as-they-used-to-be rhythms and textures are as arid spiritually as he is. As if there were any question after all these years."[10]
Track listing
All songs composed, written and arranged by Frank Zappa except where noted.[13] Dates & venues infos from Information Is Not Knowledge
January 25–27 or February 28, 1978 – Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK. Ending cropped on some CD and cassette reissues, reducing the run time to 3:09; restored on 2012 reissue.
4:27
Total length:
18:57
Side two
No.
Title
Recording dates and venues
Length
5.
"Jones Crusher"
October 31, 1977 – The Palladium, NYC
2:49
6.
"What Ever Happened to All the Fun in the World"
incl. a quotation from "I Have Seen The Pleated Gazelle", recorded at Pinewood Studios, London, January–February 1971
0:33
7.
"Rat Tomago" (Composition co-credited to Frank and Ahmet Zappa on the 2012 CD – a note states that "'Rat Tomago' is Ahmet Zappa's title")
Guitar solo from "The Torture Never Stops" played live on February 15, 1978 – Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany
5:17
8.
"We've Got to Get into Something Real" (Listed under the title "Wait a Minute" on the CD version)
0:31
9.
"Bobby Brown" (Listed under the title "Bobby Brown Goes Down" on the CD version)
January 27, 1978 – Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK
2:49
10.
"Rubber Shirt" (Bozzio/O'Hearn/Zappa)
Bass part: recorded for a studio overdub on a guitar solo from September 25, 1974 – Gothenburg, Sweden
2:45
11.
"The Sheik Yerbouti Tango" (Listed as simply "The Sheik Yerbouti" on some CD copies)
Guitar solo from "The Little House I Used to Live in" played live on February 15, 1978 – Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany
Vocal sections February 28, 1978 – Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK; Guitar solo: February 25, 1978 – Hemmerleinhalle, Neunkirchen am Brand, Germany; Part of the backing track for the solo: January 27, 1978 – Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK
12:36
Total length:
16:45
Personnel
Musicians
Frank Zappa – lead guitar, lead (1–3, 9, 12, 15–18) and backing vocals, arranger, composer, producer, remixing
Davey Moire – lead (6, 8) and backing vocals, engineer
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