Great Rock Albums of 1979: Frank Zappa- Sheik Yorbouti

It may have been down to the success of "Zappa in New York," but whatever the case, in 1979, Frank Zappa put out another live album in the form of "Sheik Yerbouti." This turned out to be Zappa's most commercially successful album and I am not surprised at this. As was the case with his previous live album, Zappa has always been brilliant live, just ask anyone who has seen him and while a live album can't actually truly capture the same feeling as actually being there, this one comes pretty close.
"Sheik Yerbouti" was the first album made after Zappa parted with Warner Bros records and set up his own label, Zappa Records. Not being under the constraints of a corporate record company definitely paid dividends for him with this album. He was free to record what he wanted, even if some prudes out there thought he was being too risque. As a result, many of the songs not only push the boundaries, they shatter them. I still remember the shock/horror I had when I first heard the track, "Bobby Brown," which is about a man who becomes homosexual. However, after the intial shock, I laughed my rear end off through it. It was the same with "Dancin Fool," a song that takes the piss out of the 70s disco scene and "Jewish Princess" landed him in some hot water, but if you don't take it seriously, the song is a great laugh. "Sheik Yerbouti" has some of my favourite Zappa tunes on it.

Track Listing:

1. I Have Been in You

2. Flakes

3. Broken Hearts are for Assholes

4. I'm So Cute

5. Jones Crusher

6. Whatever Happened to All the Fun in the World

7. Rat Tomago

8. Wait a Minute

9. Bobby Brown

10. Rubber Shirt

11. The Sheik Yerbouti Tango

12. Baby Snakes

13. Trying to Grow a Chin

14. City of Tiny Lites

15. Dancin' Fool

16. Jewish Princess

17. Wild Love

18. Yo Mama

Frank Zappa- lead guitar, lead vocals, arranging, composer

Adrian Belew- rhythm guitar, vocals

Patrick O'Hearn- bass, vocals

Terry Bozio- drums, vocals

Ed Mann- percussion, vocals

Tommy Mars- keyboards, backing vocals

Andre Lewis- keyboards, backing vocals

Peter Wolf- keyboards

David Ocker- clarinet

Napolean Murphy Brock- backing vocals

Randy Thornton- backing vocals

"Sheik Yerbouti" not only marked a major turning point in Frank Zappa's career, it proved that, given the freedom, he could make music fun. It's another reason why listening to Zappa was practically a requirement at my high school.

 

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