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''Beat the Boots!'' is a
box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
by
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
. Released in 1991 through
Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company (formerly Rhino Records Inc.) is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded ...
, the set contains legal reissues of eight
bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...
s made between 1967 and 1982 and originally distributed illegally prior to this official release. A second box set of bootleg recordings, '' Beat the Boots! II'', was released through Rhino in June 1992.


Contents

''Beat the Boots!'' was released so that Zappa could reclaim financial and legal ownership of the recordings. By reproducing the exact contents and artwork of bootleg albums without any alterations, Zappa could claim any further reproduction of the recordings as a
counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...
, which would make further unauthorized distribution of his music easier to prosecute. The box set was released in limited
vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, ...
and
cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...
runs, and the titles were also released as individual
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...
s by
Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company (formerly Rhino Records Inc.) is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded ...
. ''Tis the Season to Be Jelly'' is a recording of a radio broadcast. ''The Ark'' had been produced from a soundboard recording that had been stolen from Zappa's studio. The same tapes also produced the bootleg ''Twenty Years Ago...Again'', distributed by bootlegger Evil Records, which contains a significantly longer version of the song " My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama", which is three minutes shorter on ''The Ark''. ''Piquantique'' contains audio from a TV broadcast highlighting a
jazz-funk Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat, electrified sounds, and analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creation of a genre that ranges from ...
incarnation of Zappa's band. ''Unmitigated Audacity'' is an audience recording. ''As An Am'' contains an excerpt from a radio interview in which Zappa criticized bootleggers and bootleg recordings.


Reception

''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
'' gave the box set a rating of 4 out of 5.


Track listing

All tracks by Frank Zappa, except where noted.


''As an Am''

Recordings are from three separate shows. Track 1 is from May 19, 1981, at Rockline, KLOS-FM,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
; tracks 2 and 3 are from May 21, 1982, at Sporthalle in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany, and tracks 4–6 are from October 31, 1981, at the Palladium in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. # "That Makes Me Mad" – 0:51 # "Young & Monde" ("Let's Move To Cleveland") – 11:24 # "Sharleena" – 9:09 # "Black Napkins" – 3:58 # " Black Page #2" – 7:12 # " The Torture Never Stops" – 11:03


''The Ark''

Recorded at The Ark in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
on July 8, 1969 (mislabeled as 1968). # "Intro" – 0:56 # "Big Leg Emma" – 3:42 # "Some Ballet Music" – 7:16 # "Status Back Baby" – 5:48 # "Valarie" (Clarence Lewis, Bobby Robinson) – 3:30 # " My Guitar" – 6:46 # "Uncle Meat/King Kong (Medley)" – 23:49


''Freaks & Mother*#@%!''

Recorded at
Fillmore East The Fillmore East was Promoter (entertainment), rock promoter Bill Graham (promoter), Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue near 6th Street (Manhattan), East 6th Street on the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, ...
in New York City on November 14, 1970. The original bootleg version was called ''Freaks and Motherfuckers''. # " Happy Together" (Gary Bonner, Alan Gordon) – 1:25 # "Wonderful Wino-with Dr. John Routine" (Zappa, Jeff Simmons) – 7:44 # "Concentration Moon" – 1:18 # "Pallidan Routine" – 1:14 # "Call Any Vegetable" – 8:56 # "Little House I Used to Live In" – 4:26 # "Mudshark Variations" – 1:10 # "Holiday in Berlin" – 3:33 # "Sleeping in a Jar" – 7:23 # "Cruisin' for Burgers" – 2:52


''Unmitigated Audacity''

Recorded at
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
on May 12, 1974. # "Dupree's Paradise/It Can't Happen Here" – 3:12 # "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" – 2:46 # "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" – 2:44 # "How Could I Be Such a Fool?" – 3:42 # "I Ain't Got No Heart" – 2:20 # "I'm Not Satisfied" – 2:18 # "Wowie Zowie" – 3:18 # "
Let's Make the Water Turn Black "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" is a patter song which first appeared on the 1968 Mothers of Invention album '' We're Only in It for the Money'' and later on the 1995 compilation album '' Strictly Commercial''. An uptempo instrumental version ...
" – 2:23 # "Harry, You're a Beast" – 0:53 # "Oh No" – 8:14 # " More Trouble Every Day" – 7:53 # "Louie Louie" – 1:55 # " Camarillo Brillo" – 5:07


''Anyway the Wind Blows''

Recorded at Nouvel Hippodrome in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
on February 24, 1979.


Disc one

# "Watermelon in Easter Hay" – 4:27 # "Dead Girls of London" – 2:38 # "I Ain't Got No Heart" – 2:11 # "
Brown Shoes Don't Make It "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" is a song by The Mothers of Invention, written by band leader Frank Zappa. It is the penultimate song on the second album ''Absolutely Free''. The song is one of his most widely renowned works, described by AllMusic as ...
" – 7:29 # " Cosmik Debris" – 4:11 # "Tryin' to Grow a Chin" – 3:34 # "City of Tiny Lites" – 9:25 # "
Dancin' Fool "Dancin' Fool" is a song by Frank Zappa from his 1979 album '' Sheik Yerbouti''. It was the first of two singles released from the album, followed by the second single " Bobby Brown (Goes Down)." The song premiered on stage on the 30th of October ...
" – 3:31 # "Easy Meat" – 6:40


Disc two

# "Jumbo Go Away" – 3:44 # "Andy" – 5:21 # " Inca Roads" – 5:42 # "Florentine Pogen" – 5:26 # "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" – 4:33 # "Keep It Greasey" – 3:31 # "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" – 3:24 # "Another Cheap Aroma" – 2:38 (Correct title: "For the Young Sophisticate") # "Wet T-Shirt Night" – 2:29 # "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" – 2:38 # "
Peaches en Regalia "Peaches en Regalia" is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by Frank Zappa. It was initially released on Zappa's album ''Hot Rats'' in 1969 and has been recorded many times since. Other versions Years later, in 1987, the piece was released ...
" – 3:40


''Tis the Season to Be Jelly''

Recorded at Konserthuset in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
on September 30, 1967. # "You Didn't Try to Call Me" – 3:12 # " Petroushka" (
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
) – 0:52 (for copyright reasons not on the European CD version) # " Bristol Stomp" ( Kal Mann, Dave Appell) – 0:45 # "Baby Love" – 0:47 # "Big Leg Emma" – 2:09 # "No Matter What You Do ( Tchaikovsky's 6th)" – 2:41 # "
Blue Suede Shoes "Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard (music), standard written and first recorded by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues ...
" (
Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...
) – 0:53 # " Hound Dog" ( Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 0:14 # " Gee" (William Davis, Viola Watkins) – 1:52 # "King Kong" – 14:18 # "It Can't Happen Here" – 9:18


''Saarbrücken 1978''

Recorded at Ludwigsparkstadion in
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...
, Germany, on September 3, 1978. # "
Dancin' Fool "Dancin' Fool" is a song by Frank Zappa from his 1979 album '' Sheik Yerbouti''. It was the first of two singles released from the album, followed by the second single " Bobby Brown (Goes Down)." The song premiered on stage on the 30th of October ...
" – 3:42 # "Easy Meat" – 5:05 # "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" – 4:15 # "Keep It Greasey" – 3:31 # "Village of the Sun" – 6:20 # "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing" – 3:45 # "City of Tiny Lites" – 6:43 # "Pound for a Brown" – 6:36 # " Bobby Brown Goes Down" – 2:56 # "Conehead" – 3:33 # "Flakes" – 5:01 # "Magic Fingers" – 2:30 # " Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" – 3:52 # " Nanook Rubs It" – 1:47 # " St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" – 6:42 #* ''comprising'': #** " Father O'Blivion" #** "
Rollo Rollo (, ''Rolloun''; ; ; – 933), also known with his epithet, Rollo "the Walker", was a Viking who, as Count of Rouen, became the first ruler of Normandy, a region in today's northern France. He was prominent among the Vikings who Siege o ...
" # "Bamboozled by Love" – 6:45


''Piquantique''

Recorded at Solliden in
Skansen Skansen (; "the Sconce") is the oldest open-air museum and zoo in Sweden located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was opened on 11 October 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) to show the way of life in the different parts ...
, Sweden, on August 21, 1973, with the exception of track 4, which is taken from a concert at the Roxy, December 1973. # "Kung Fu" – 2:12 (includes the opening theme from "The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue") # "RDNZL" – 4:26 # "Dupree's Paradise" – 11:25 # "T'Mershi Duween" – 1:55 # "Father O'Blivion" – 20:41 (including themes from the "Steno Pool" section of " The Adventures of Greggery Peccary", "The Be-Bop Tango" and a fast instrumental arrangement of "Cucamonga".)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beat The Boots 1991 live albums 1991 compilation albums Bootleg recordings Compilation album series Frank Zappa live albums Frank Zappa compilation albums Jazz-funk compilation albums Live album series Albums recorded at the Fillmore East Rhino Entertainment compilation albums Rhino Entertainment live albums