You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Volumes 1-6 + Sampler
No real (as in: demonstrable) differences between old and new CDs. Volumes 5-6 were not even remastered for the 1995 re-release. One track on Volume 5 also appears on Mystery Disc, in a slightly different, "seriously unedited version", and one and a half guitar solo from Volume 5 alo appears on Guitar.
ESSENTIAL VERSIONS FOR COMPLETISTS: Any (CD) version will do, though volumes 1-4 were "remastered" for the 1995 re-release (they may or may not sound different) and have "more accurate" liner notes the second time around. The sampler also contains unique material. [completist's guide]
Issues
Sampler
- LP (Barking Pumpkin D1 74213 in the US, Zappa Records ZAP 7 in the UK, June 1988)
- CD? (Zappa Records CDZAP 7, June 1988) (NOTE: We're now almost 100% positive this was never actually released)
- cassette (Barking Pumpkin 74213 in the US, Zappa Records TZAPPA7 in the UK)
Volume 1
- Original CD (Ryko RCD 10081/82 in the US (imported into Australia by Festival Records and re-stickered Ryko D70283/4), Zappa Records CDDZAP 8 in the UK, May 1988; VACK 10081/2 in Japan)
- 1995 CD (Ryko RCD 10561/62, May 16 1995; VACK 5138/9 in Japan, renumbered 5273/4 in 1998)
- Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition (VACK 9005, Feb 16 2004)
Volume 2 - the Helsinki Concert
- Triple vinyl box (Barking Pumpkin BPR 74217 in the US (July 1988?); Zappa Records ZAPPA9 in the UK, 1988)
- Original CD (Ryko RCD 10083/84 in the US, October 1988 (imported into Australia by Festival Records and re-stickered Ryko D70285/6); Zappa Records CDDZAP 9 in the UK, 1988; VACK 10083/4 in Japan)
- Cassette
- 1995 CD (Ryko RCD 10563/64, May 16 1995; VACK 5140/1 in Japan, renumbered 5275/6 in 1998)
- Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition (VACK 9006, Feb 16 2004)
Volume 3
- Original CD (Ryko RCD 10085/86 in the US, Zappa Records CDDZAP 17 in the UK, November 1989; VACK 10085/86 in Japan; Ryko D70287/8 in Australia, 1989)
- 1995 CD (Ryko RCD 10565/66, May 30 1995; VACK 5142/3 in Japan, renumbered 5277/8 in 1998)
- Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition (VACK 9007, Feb 16 2004)
Volume 4
- Original CD (Ryko RCD 10085/86 in the US, Zappa Records CDDZAP 40 in the UK, May 1991; VACK 10087/88 in Japan; Ryko D70289/90 in Australia, 1991)
- Double cassette (Zappa Records TZAPPA40)
- 1995 CD (Ryko RCD 10567/68, May 30 1995; VACK 5144/5 in Japan, renumbered 5279/80 in 1998)
- Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition (VACK 9008, Feb 16 2004)
Volume 5
- Original CD (Ryko RCD 10089/90 in the US, Zappa Records CDDZAP 46 in the UK, July 1992; VACK 10089/90 in Japan; Ryko D70293/4 in Australia, 1992)
- 1995 CD (Ryko RCD 10569/70, May 30 1995; VACK 5146/7 in Japan, renumbered 5281/82 in 1998)
- Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition (VACK 9009, Feb 16 2004)
Volume 6
- Original CD (Ryko RCD 10091/92 in the US, Zappa Records CDDZAP 47 in the UK, July 1992; VACK 10091/92 in Japan; Ryko D70295/6 in Australia, 1992)
- 1995 CD (Ryko RCD 10571/72, May 30 1995; VACK 5148/9 in Japan, renumbered 5283/4 in 1998)
- Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition (VACK 9010, Feb 16 2004)
Box Editions
- "Road Box" for the six original non-slimline double CD cases (July 1992?)
- Similar Japanese box (VACK 5901-12, April 12 1994)
Relation to MYSTERY DISC & GUITAR
"Underground Freak-Out Music" on Volume 5 also appears on Mystery Disc, where it's called "Black Beauty" - a slightly different, "seriously unedited version". The "Advance Romance" solo appears on Guitar as "Jim & Tammy's Upper Room", and a different (shorter) edit (and mix) of the "Black Page #2" solo appears on Guitar as "Which One Is It" (CD only).
Sampler
When this series took off, Zappa made an album with sample songs, which looked just like Volume 1, but it said "SAMPLER" instead of "VOLUME 1" on the cover. Some resources list it as having a short-lived CD release, but as we've never seen a copy, we now are pretty sure it doesn't exist.
1. Plastic People
2. The Torture Never Stops
3. Montana (Whipping Floss)
4. The Evil Prince
5. You Call That Music?
6. Sharleena
7. Nanook Rubs It
8. The Florida Airport Tape
9. Once Upon a Time
10. King Kong
11. Dickie's Such an Asshole [unique version]
12. Cosmic [sic] Debris [unique version]
Unique Versions of "Dickie's Such an Asshole" and "Cosmic [sic] Debris"
It has an otherwise unavailable version of "Dickie's Such an Asshole". It doesn't have the introduction by Marty Perellis, it doesn't have the ending sing-along, and the middle section is edited differently:
Only on the sampler:
Loaned a couple of Bebe Rebozo,
Loaned a couple of Pat Boone,
Loaned a couple to Ronald Reagan,
And loaned a couple to the new vice-president,
He said he'd be on my side,
He said he'd stand by me through thick 'n' thin ...
Until they impeach me,
And he said he'd never let 'em,
He said he'd never let 'em do it -
I said: "I believe you",
I said: "Hold on",
I said: "I never cheated on ya,
I never lied" ...Only on volume 3:
Bebe,
Somebody,
Ronald,
Somebody,
Who
Was it?
Who?
Also, the end of "Cosmic [sic] Debris" is from a different show. The edit occurs somewhere around "Don't Sri Chin, Don't Sri Chinmoy on me" (thanks to Mike Keneally for the correction here).
Liner Notes
"You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore in its complete form has a playing time of more than 13 hours. It was designed primarily for release on CD (six double sets, with each disc including more than one hour of material).
From the beginning we have been asking ourselves: "How will we ever cram all this stuff into a normal vinyl release?" The only practical answer seems to be this double LP sampler.
For those of you who don't own CD players yet, this release provides an 80 minutes sneak preview of material from Volume One, as well as future You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore releases.
We hope you enjoy it, and that it provides some incentive for the acquisition of a CD player, and that eventually you get to hear the whole collection in the medium for which it was created."
Volume 2 - The Helsinki Concert
3-LP Box
From "yestrecord":
The records come inside a cardboard box. There is also a 12" x 12" color flat inside that has all the album info on one side and an ad for Frank's movies UNCLE MEAT and 200 MOTELS on the other. There is also an 11" x 11" 4-page order form to order other items by Frank Zappa.
Cassette
After Volume 2 - The Helsinki Concert had been issued as a triple-LP box, it also came out on a much shorter single cassette (side one was 42:46, side two was 47:54). Here is the track list, courtesy of JWB:
1. Inca Roads
2. RDNZL
3. Village of the Sun
4. Echidna's Arf (of You)
5. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? [not listed]
6. The Idiot Bastard Son
7. Cheepnis
8. Dupree's Paradise
9. Satumaa (Finnish Tango)
10. T'mershi Duween
11. The Dog Breath Variations
12. Uncle Meat
13. Building a Girl [not listed]
14. Montana (Whipping Floss)
15. Big Swifty
(A 1992 catalogue lists a double cassette, TZAPPA9, to be released that year, and in the 1993 catalogue it is listed as released. But was it ever.) From Jim Kelly:
This album was released in a single cassette version, but I don't see why. Not only was it much shorter than the double-CD version, but it cost $20 - yes, TWENTY AMERICAN DOLLARS for one cassette!! That is why I never bought it until I got a CD player.
Volume 6
From Ryan Davenport:
Just a small, silly point here - I was playing my English Zappa Records copy, and noticed that the second disk has an error in the track indexing. The back cover insert shows 15 songs on disc 2, same as the US version, but the disc itself only has 14 songs. The audience track (#1) has been combined with "Enema Bandit" (track #2).
Juha S responds:
...but my disc 2 has 15 tracks i.e. audience track is "on it's own". My cd says "Made in Austria" though the back cover is "Printed in England".
Seems this confusion never stops, eh?
From JWB:
The 1995 pressing of volume 6 has an error-corrected booklet. "Farther O'Blivion" has been changed to "Father O'Blivion", and Bianca Odin has been changed to Bianca Thornton (which is still wrong ... she claims that her stage name is Lady Bianca). Oof course none of the other dozens of errors have been corrected.
Also, the first US pressing of volume 6 came with an advertisement insert for the empty purple box. It reads as follows:
"The Ultimate Road Case. Finely crafted from sturdy maple with a cool purple finish, white and day glo arc yellow logotype detailing and custom-tooled machine stamped hardware on all corners, this is one CD case that will stand up to the test of time, as well as the butt of a very large person and also look nifty, tough and bitchen on your shelf. Engineered to retrofit all six volumes of FZ's massive retrospective, known the world over as You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore. The box can be obtained through EARFUL mailorder for only $19.95 ...
Disclaimer: box shown on reverse is smaller than actual size ..."
Box Editions
Volumes 5 and 6 were both released in July 1992, and around that
time, a limited-edition wooden box was made available, specially designed to hold all six
double CD cases - the old, non-slimline versions. The picture of the empty box is courtesy
of Patrick David Neve.
From Steve Cobham:
I read in the Slaven book [Electric Don Quixote] last night that 5000 of these were issued, complete with volumes 5 and 6 of You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore. At the time, it was the only way of getting volume 6, although volume 5 was released individually then.
From JWB:
They were also sold without volumes 5 & 6. That's how I bought mine from Ryko, sometime in late 1995.
From Mike Keneally:
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore was indeed originally released on the Zappa label - in Europe, that is ... although I've never seen a European purple box, it's safe to say it came out on Zappa as well [as on Ryko]. (I have seen the Japanese You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore purple box, and it came packaged with a big ol' booklet containing all the words for the whole twelve discs. I wanted it bad.) [It cost 22 330 yen - Ed.]
The ever-fantastic Vaughn Smith alerted us to a box of the Japanese LP-sleeve issues that, among other things, comes with the entire Stage series (as well as Läther, Best Band/Jazz Noise, and Mystery Disc). To wit:
1995 CDs
Official Ryko statement on volumes 1-4: "New master; New timing sheet: Volumes 1-4" [full statement]. John Henley's statement:
I have replaced Stages 1, 2 and 4 with the newer issues, and I think they sound better, especially 2. There are no ... differences to the mix, I just think the newer masters sound a little more lifelike, a little less attenuated on the high end.
Some dissent from David G:
The only duplicate I have is volume II, and (apologies to John Henley) I am disappointed to report that the old Ryko and new Ryko of stage II are absolutely digitally identical.
Official Ryko statement on volumes 5-6:
In the case of the last two volumes of You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore (Vol. 5 & Vol. 6), Playground Psychotics, Ahead of Their Time and The Yellow Shark, new timing sheets were created, but because they had been mixed and mastered as recently as 1991-1993, the original masters were simply error-checked and OK'd (in other words, new masters weren't delivered on these). [full statement]
From JWB:
The 1995 pressing of volume 6 has an error-corrected booklet. "Farther O'Blivion" has been changed to "Father O'Blivion", and Bianca Odin has been changed to Bianca Thornton (which is still wrong ... she claims that her stage name is Lady Bianca). Oof course none of the other dozens of errors have been corrected.
From Adam Biser:
I noticed your misprint CD listing for The London Symphony Orchestra where the CD picture was tinted pink near the bottom. Disc 1 of my copy of You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore Volume 4 (1995) is missing both the cyan and magenta, so it's only black and yellow. Disc 2 is fine.
Additonal Informants
- Mikael Agardsson
- JWB
- Yakinezumi
- Thomas Marrot
Picture Credits
- Patrick David Neve (empty box picture)
Questions
- The double cassette from Zappa Records was never really released, was it?