You Are What You Is

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You Are What You Is
Studio album by Frank Zappa
Released	September 23, 1981
Recorded	July - September, 1980 UMRK
Genre	Hard rock, comedy rock, progressive rock
Length	67:11
Label	Barking Pumpkin Records
Producer	Frank Zappa
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Frank Zappa chronology
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981) You Are What You Is (1981) Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (1982)

You Are What You Is is an album by Frank Zappa. It was originally released as a two-record set in 1981 and later by Rykodisc as a 20-song CD. The album relies on a heavy use of overdubbing. This album was the first one to feature material recorded using Zappa's home studio Utility Muffin Research Kitchen.

The title track "You Are What You Is" is an up-tempo pop rock style song that was released as a music video in 1984. Although the film clip used advanced color graphics on normal dance and singing type footage, its circulation was restricted due to parts of it where an actor, who was made to look like Ronald Reagan, was sitting in what looked like an electric chair whilst applying hair creme and singing. The song also contained the word nigger, which likely also had an effect on its broadcast.^{[citation needed]}

The album was first issued on CD by EMI in the mid 1980s, albeit only in the UK and Japan. It received a worldwide release on both Ryko and Zappa Records CD in 1990, and was standardized under the Ryko banner in 1995. However, the digital master prepared for both the original Ryko/Zappa release and the later Ryko 1995 release suffered from several severe audio problems that appear to be caused by an overuse of digital techniques like compression and reverb, and also contained a shortened version of the track "Dumb All Over." In 1998, the problems of these previous CD issues were fixed in a "silent remaster", and the guitar solo from "Dumb All Over" was mostly restored.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Side one 1.2 Side two 1.3 Side three 1.4 Side four 2 Personnel 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Side one

1. "Teen-Age Wind" – 3:02
2. "Harder Than Your Husband" – 2:28
3. "Doreen" – 4:44
4. "Goblin Girl" – 4:07
5. "Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear" – 3:34

[edit] Side two

1. "Society Pages" – 2:27
2. "I'm a Beautiful Guy" – 1:56
3. "Beauty Knows No Pain" – 3:02
4. "Charlie's Enormous Mouth" – 3:36
5. "Any Downers?" – 2:08
6. "Conehead" – 4:24

[edit] Side three

1. "You Are What You Is" – 4:23
2. "Mudd Club" – 3:11
3. "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" – 3:10
4. "Dumb All Over" – 5:45

[edit] Side four

1. "Heavenly Bank Account" – 3:44
2. "Suicide Chump" – 2:49
3. "Jumbo Go Away" – 3:43
4. "If Only She Woulda" – 3:48
5. "Drafted Again" – 3:07

[edit] Personnel

• Tommy Mars – Keyboards, Vocals
• David Ocker – Clarinet (Bass), Clarinet
• Mark Pinske – Vocals, Engineer
• Motorhead Sherwood – Sax (Tenor), Vocals
• Allen Sides – Engineer
• Craig "Twister" Stewart – Harmonica
• Denny Walley – Vocals, Slide Guitar
• Ray White – Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
• Ahmet Zappa – Vocals
• Moon Unit Zappa – Vocals

• Jo Hansch – Mastering
• Dennis Sager – Digital Engineer
• Santi Rubio – ?
• Amy Bernstein – Artwork
• John Livzey – Photography, Cover Photo
• Thomas Nordegg – Engineer
• John Vince – Artwork, Graphic Design
• Ed Mann – Percussion

• Jimmy Carl Black – Vocals
• Ike Willis – Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
• Bob Stone – Remixing, Digital Remastering
• Arthur Barrow – Bass
• George Douglas – Assistant Engineer
• Frank Zappa – Arranger, Composer, Vocals, Producer, Main Performer, Guitar
• Bob Harris – Boy Soprano, Trumpet
• David Logeman – Drums
• Steve Vai – Strat Abuse

[edit] Notes

• "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" was covered by The Persuasions on their 2000 tribute to Zappa.

• A music video was shot for the title track, featuring a Ronald Reagan lookalike given the death penalty by electric chair. MTV rarely played the video because of this, although it turned up during an episode of Beavis and Butt-head. It was also included in Zappa's VHS release Video from Hell.

[edit] References

v • d • e Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention Main albums Freak Out! • Absolutely Free • We're Only in It for the Money • Lumpy Gravy • Cruising with Ruben & the Jets • Uncle Meat • Hot Rats • Burnt Weeny Sandwich • Weasels Ripped My Flesh • Chunga's Revenge • Fillmore East - June 1971 • 200 Motels • Just Another Band from L.A. • Waka/Jawaka • The Grand Wazoo • Over-Nite Sensation • Apostrophe (') • Roxy & Elsewhere • One Size Fits All • Bongo Fury • Zoot Allures • Zappa in New York • Studio Tan • Sleep Dirt • Sheik Yerbouti • Orchestral Favorites • Joe's Garage • Tinseltown Rebellion • Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar • You Are What You Is • Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch • The Man from Utopia • Baby Snakes • London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1 • Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger • Them or Us • Thing-Fish • Francesco Zappa • Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention • Does Humor Belong in Music? • Jazz from Hell • London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2 • Guitar • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 • Broadway the Hard Way • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 • The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 • Make a Jazz Noise Here • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 • Playground Psychotics • Ahead of Their Time • The Yellow Shark Posthumous albums Civilization Phaze III • The Lost Episodes • Läther • Mystery Disc • Everything Is Healing Nicely • FZ:OZ • Halloween • Joe's Corsage • Joe's Domage • Joe's XMASage • Imaginary Diseases • Trance-Fusion • Buffalo • The Dub Room Special • Wazoo Compilations Mothermania • The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa • Strictly Commercial • Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute • Have I Offended Someone? • Strictly Genteel • QuAUDIOPHILIAc • The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAA Birthday Bundle Box sets The Old Masters Box One • The Old Masters Box Two • The Old Masters Box Three • Beat the Boots • Beat the Boots II • The MOFO Project/Object Films and videos 200 Motels • Baby Snakes • The Dub Room Special • Video from Hell • Does Humor Belong in Music? • The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels • The Amazing Mr. Bickford • Uncle Meat Related articles Cultural references to Frank Zappa • Frank Zappa discography • The Real Frank Zappa Book • The Rage and the Fury • Dance Me This • Zappa Plays Zappa