Guitar

Released: April 1988

Tracklist

  1. Sexual Harassment In The Workplace
  2. Which One Is It?
  3. Republicans
  4. Do Not Pass Go
  5. Challk Pie
  6. In-A-Gadda-Stravinski
  7. That’s Not Really Reggae
  8. When No One Was No One
  9. Once Again, Without The Net
  10. Outside Now (Original solo)
  11. Jim & Tammy’s Upper Room
  12. Were We Ever Really Safe In San Antonio?
  13. That Ol’ G Minor Thing Again
  14. Hotel Atlanta Incidentals
  15. That’s Not Really A Shuffle
  16. Move It Or Park It
  17. Sunrise Redeemer
  18. Varations on Sinister #3
  19. Orrin Hatch On Skis
  20. But Who Was Fulcanelli?
  21. For Duane
  22. GOA
  23. Winos Do Not March
  24. Swans? What Swans?
  25. Too Ugly For Show Business
  26. Systems Of Edges
  27. Do Not Try This At Home
  28. Things That Look Like Meat
  29. Watermelon In Easter Hay
  30. Canadian Customs
  31. Is That All There Is?
  32. It Ain’t Necessarily The Saint James Infirmary

9 thoughts on “Guitar”

  1. Excellent album, a personal favorite along with the Shut Up N’ Play Yer Guitar albums. Rock guitar playing like you’ve never heard before, and probably never will again.

  2. Guitar is FZ’s second and best album of guitar solos. This record contains solos from the’79, ’81, ’82 and ’84 tours. SU&PYG (his first album of solos) is excellent but at least to me, Zappa created more lush and beautiful tones on almost each and every solo in comparison to SU&PYG.

    Chalk Pie, Republicans, Sexual Harassment In The Workplace, Sunrise Redeemer, etc., practically supersedes the power for me to even describe the textures he utilizes on this release! I’m aware I’m in the minority on this because most fans will prefer SU&PYG but you just cannot go wrong with this record!

    Fans lucky enough to own the original vinyl edition of Guitar will take pleasure in knowing that there are around a dozen extra solos from Frank included on the cd release!

    Enjoy,

    Disco Boy

  3. More Guitar dazzlement than mere mortals can comprehend in FZ’s second set of extracted live solos.

  5. I’m moving towards rating this higher than SUNPYG. This album is incredible once you’ve got under it’s surface (which at first can seem quite harsh).

    Give it time to sink in and solos like Were We Ever Really Safe In San Antonio? & Winos Do Not March will shine through.

  6. As a long-term chronic guitar-hurtin’ bastard, I would surely hate to have to actually do something as sick as CHOOSE between this one & SUNPYG … but I don’t bloody have to, since I already have both. Ha HA!

    This is nearly worth it simply to hear the mighty Bino’s sonic frolics producing for our enjoyment such truly unique hybrids as “In-A-Gadda-Stravinski” or “It Ain’t Necessarily The Saint James Infirmary” … or utterly creepy shit like “Republicans” or “Canadian Customs” (ahem: we hate ’em at least as much as foreigners, since we can’t travel abroad WITHOUT dealing with ’em ) … yes indeedy, differentness aboundeth all over this tasty little sucker, kids.

    Get it?
    Fucking rights, get it. It smokes.

  7. Jim’s absolutely right. Get it. It smokes. When you’re done, get everything else. It all smokes. Record stores should have a special section just for Frank Zappa (as it is now in my parts, people have got to go to an independent record store to get their FZ fix). Just when I think Zappa can’t blow my mind any further with his audio compositions, he does so again and again with each and every listen.

  8. Even if you don’t like the other songs, you HAVE to get this for ‘Sexual Harassment In The Workplace’ if you are a hardcore Zappa fan.

  9. I enjoy “Guitar” immensely, and I also agree that “Sexual Harrassment In the Workplace” is a strong standout, but that may also have to do with the fact that the chordal vamp underneath is slightly blusier and less “two-chordy” than the instrumental solo vamps that are featured on most of the “Shut up…” series (let’s be blunt here: most of the solos on that original collection were culled from live versions of “Inca Roads”, “Black Napkins”, “Stinkfoot”, or any other Zappa original that settled into a 2-chord vamp for extended guitar solo purposes).

    That said, I am still a bigger fan of the “Shut Up and Play…” series over this release, but mainly because of Vinnie Colaiuta. Vinnie’s tenure in Zappa’s bands was all too short, and aside from “Shut Up…”. “Tinseltown Rebellion” and “Joe’s Garage”, we have precious little recorded testament to the man many (including myself) feel was Frank’s greatest single drummer. Thanks to recent Vault releases “Buffalo” and “Halloween”, we are getting more, but this fan could always take more Vinnie C. Frank material any day. Nothing against Chad W., but the way Vinnie has that “sixth sense” about where Frank is exploring rhythmically on the “Shut Up…” series is nothing short of astounding.

    SO—“Guitar” is excellent, but “Shut Up and Play…” is a lot closer to God (however you define it).

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