Editing Joe's Garage

{{short description|1979 studio album by Frank Zappa}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Joe's Garage
| type         = studio
| longtype     = with live elements
| artist       = [[Frank Zappa]]
| cover        = Zappa Joe's Garage.jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = Original cover art for Act I; used on front cover of triple album set
| released     = September 17, 1979 <small>(''Act I'')</small><br /> November 19, 1979 <small>(''Acts II & III'')</small>
| recorded     = March–June 1979
| studio       = [[Village Recorders|Village Recorders "B"]], Hollywood
| venue        = 
| genre        = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length       = {{Duration|m=115|s=14}}
| label        = [[Zappa Records|Zappa]]
| producer     = [[Frank Zappa]]
| prev_title   = [[Orchestral Favorites]]
| prev_year    = 1979
| next_title   = [[Tinsel Town Rebellion]]
| next_year    = 1981
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Joe's Garage
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Joe's Garage (song)|Joe's Garage]]
 | single1date = October 29, 1979
 | single2     = Stick It Out
 | single2date = 1979
}}
}}

'''''Joe's Garage''''' is a three-part [[rock opera]] released by American musician [[Frank Zappa]] in September and November 1979. Originally released as two separate [[album]]s on [[Zappa Records]], the project was later remastered and reissued as a [[triple album]] box set, '''''Joe's Garage, Acts I, II & III''''', in 1987. The story is told by a character identified as the "Central Scrutinizer" narrating the story of Joe, an average adolescent male, from [[Canoga Park, Los Angeles]], who forms a [[garage rock]] band, has unsatisfying relationships with women, gives all of his money to a government-assisted and insincere religion, explores sexual activities with appliances, and is imprisoned. After being released from prison into a [[dystopia]]n society in which music itself has been criminalized, he lapses into insanity.

The album encompasses a large spectrum of musical styles, while its lyrics often feature satirical or humorous commentary on American society and politics. It addresses themes of individualism, free will, [[censorship]], the music industry and human sexuality, while criticizing government and religion, and satirizing [[Catholicism]] and [[Scientology]]. ''Joe's Garage'' is noted for its use of [[xenochrony]], a recording technique that takes musical material (in this instance, guitar solos by Zappa from older live recordings) and [[overdub]]s them onto different, unrelated material. All solos on the album are xenochronous except for "Crew Slut" and "[[Watermelon in Easter Hay]]", a signature song that Zappa described as the best song on the album, and according to his son [[Dweezil Zappa|Dweezil]], the best guitar solo his father ever played.

''Joe’s Garage'' initially received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising its innovative and original music, but criticizing the scatological, sexual and profane nature of the lyrics. Since its original release, the album has been reappraised as one of Zappa's best works.

== Background ==
After being released from his contractual obligations with [[Warner Bros. Records]], [[Frank Zappa]] formed [[Zappa Records]], a label distributed at that time by [[Phonogram Inc.]] He released the successful double album ''[[Sheik Yerbouti]]'' (1979, recorded 8/1977-2/1978), and began working on a series of songs for a follow-up album.<ref name=Lowe /><ref name=Schinder />{{rp|370|date=December 2012}} The songs "Joe's Garage" and "Catholic Girls" were recorded with the intention that Zappa would release each as a single.<ref name=Lowe /><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Swenson|first=John|date=December 13, 1979|title=Frank Zappa: The Myth Of 'Joe's Garage'|magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> Throughout the development of ''Joe's Garage'', Zappa's band recorded lengthy [[Jam session|jams]] which Zappa later formed into the album.<ref name=Courrier>{{cite book|last=Courrier|first=Kevin|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjkUAQAAIAAJ |title=Dangerous Kitchen: The Subversive World of Zappa|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=1-55022-447-6}}</ref>{{rp|331|date=December 2012}} The album also continued the development of [[xenochrony]], a technique Zappa also featured on ''[[One Size Fits All (Frank Zappa album)|One Size Fits All]]'' (1975), in which aspects of older live recordings were utilized to create new compositions by [[overdub]]bing them onto studio recordings,<ref>{{cite book|last=Gulla|first=Bob|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DL3I9qQWdeAC&pg=PA254 |title=Guitar Gods: The 25 Players Who Made Rock History|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35806-7}}</ref><ref name=Mix>{{cite magazine |url=http://mixonline.com/recording/business/audio_mothers_sound/ |title=We are the Mothers...and This Is What We Sound Like! |author=Michie, Chris |date=January 1, 2003 |magazine=[[Mix (magazine)|Mix]] |access-date=February 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211053234/http://www.mixonline.com/recording/business/audio_mothers_sound/ |archive-date=February 11, 2012 }}</ref> or alternatively, selecting a previously recorded solo and allowing drummer [[Vinnie Colaiuta]] to improvise a new drum performance, interacting with the previously recorded piece.<ref name=Mix />

Midway through recording the new album, Zappa decided that the songs connected coherently and wrote a story, changing the new album into a [[rock opera]].<ref name=Lowe>{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Kelly Fisher|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAYfqgGf4yYC|title=The Words and Music of Frank Zappa|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-0-8032-6005-4}}</ref>{{rp|149|date=December 2012}} ''Joe's Garage'' was the final album Zappa recorded at a commercial studio.<ref name=Mix /> Zappa's own studio, the [[Utility Muffin Research Kitchen]], built as an addition to Zappa's home, and completed in late 1979, was used to record and mix all of his subsequent releases.<ref name=Mix />

== Style and influences ==
=== Lyrical and story themes ===
{{quote box|align=right|quote=Eventually it was discovered, that God did not want us to be all the same. This was Bad News for the Governments of The World, as it seemed contrary to the doctrine of ''Portion Controlled Servings''. Mankind must be made more uniformly if The Future was going to work. Various ways were sought to bind us all together, but, alas, same-ness was unenforceable. It was about this time, that someone came up with the idea of Total Criminalization. Based on the principle, that if we were all crooks, we could at last be uniform to some degree in the eyes of The Law. [...] Total Criminalization was the greatest idea of its time and was vastly popular except with those people, who didn't want to be crooks or outlaws, so, of course, they had to be Tricked Into It... which is one of the reasons, why music was eventually made Illegal.|source=—''Joe's Garage Acts II & III'' liner notes, 1979|width=50%}}

The lyrical themes of ''Joe's Garage'' involve [[individualism]], sexuality, and the danger of [[Big government|large government]]. The album is narrated by a government employee identifying himself as The Central Scrutinizer, who delivers a [[cautionary tale]] about Joe, a typical adolescent male who forms a band as the government prepares to criminalize music.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|150|date=December 2012}} The Central Scrutinizer explains that music leads to a "slippery slope" of drug use, disease, unusual sexual practices, prison, and eventually, insanity.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|150|date=December 2012}} According to Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz, Zappa's narrative of censorship reflected the [[Censorship in Iran|censorship of music]] during the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979, where rock music was made illegal.<ref name=Schinder>{{cite book|last=Schinder|first=Scott|author2=Andy Schwartz|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzWE_J3ZZfoC&pg=PA370 |title=Icons of Rock|volume=2|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-33847-2}}</ref>{{rp|370|date=December 2012}}

The title track is noted as having an autobiographical aspect, as the character of Larry (as performed by Zappa himself) sings that the band plays the same song repeatedly because "it sounded good to me".<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|150|date=December 2012}} In real life, Zappa said he wrote and played music for himself, his sole intended audience.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|150|date=December 2012}} The song also takes lyrical inspiration from bands playing in bars like [[The Mothers of Invention]] once had, and shady record deals Zappa had experienced in the past.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|150|date=December 2012}} In "Joe's Garage", Joe finds that the music industry is "not everything it is cracked up to be".<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|151|date=December 2012}} The song refers to a number of music fads, including [[New wave music|new wave]], [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]], [[disco]] and [[glitter rock]], and is critical of the music industry of the late 1970s.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|151|date=December 2012}}

"Catholic Girls" is critical of the [[Catholic Church]], and satirizes "the hypocrisy of the myth of the good Catholic girl."<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|151|date=December 2012}} While Zappa was in favor of the [[sexual revolution]], he regarded himself as a pioneer in publicly discussing honesty about sexual intercourse, stating <blockquote>"American sexual attitudes are controlled as a necessary tool of business and government in order to perpetuate themselves. Unless people begin to see through that, to see past it to what sex is really all about, they're always going to have the same neurotic attitudes. It's very neatly packaged. It all works hand-in-hand with the churches and political leaders at the point where elections are coming up."<ref name=Miles284>{{cite book |last=Miles|first=Barry|url=https://archive.org/details/zappa0000mile |url-access=registration|title=Zappa|year=2004 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=0-8021-1783-X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/zappa0000mile/page/284 284]–285}}</ref></blockquote> This view inspired the lyrical content of "Crew Slut", in which Mary, Joe's girlfriend, falls into the [[groupie]] lifestyle, going on to participate in a [[wet T-shirt contest]] in the following track, "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt".<ref name=Miles284 /><ref name=Slaven />

"Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" was written in the summer of 1978.<ref name=HurtWhenIPee>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/why-does-it-hurt-when-i-pee-t3004204 |title=Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref> Zappa's road manager, Phil Kaufman, alleged, that the song was written after Kaufman had asked that very question; within the context of the album's storyline, it is sung by Joe after he receives a [[sexually transmitted disease]] from Lucille, "a girl, who works at the [[Jack in the Box]]".<ref name=HurtWhenIPee /> The Central Scrutinizer continues to express the hypothesis that "girls, music, disease, heartbreak [...] all go together."<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|155|date=December 2012}} Halfway through the album's libretto, Zappa expressed the belief that governments believe that people are inherently criminals, and continue to invent laws, which gives states the legal grounds to arrest people, leading to the fictional criminalization of music which occurs towards the end of the album's storyline.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|155|date=December 2012}}

"[[A Token of My Extreme]]" satirizes [[Scientology]] and [[L. Ron Hubbard]], as well as [[new age]] beliefs and the sexual revolution.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|155|date=December 2012}}<ref>{{cite book|editor1=Bould, Mark |editor2=Butler, Andrew M |year=2009|chapter=L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86)|title=Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-43950-3}}</ref>{{rp|114|date=December 2012}} It describes an insincere religion, which co-operates with a "malevolent totalitarian regime."<ref name="prince">{{cite journal  | last = Prince  | first = Michael J.  | title = The Science Fiction Protocols of Frank Zappa  | journal = Chapter&Verse  | publisher = PopMatters Media, Inc.  | date =Spring 2005  | url = http://www.popmatters.com/chapter/Issue3/zappa.html }}</ref> "Stick It Out" contains lyrical references to Zappa's songs "What Kind Of Girl", "Bwana Dik", "Sofa No. 2", and "Dancin' Fool".<ref>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/stick-it-out-t3004208 |title=Stick It Out |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref> "Dong Work For Yuda" was written as a tribute to Zappa's bodyguard, John Smothers, and features [[Terry Bozzio]] imitating Smothers' dialect and speech.<ref name=DongWork>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/dong-work-for-yuda-t3004210 |title=Dong Work for Yuda |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref> "Keep It Greasy" is a lyrical tribute to [[anal sex]].<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|157|date=December 2012}} Following Joe's imprisonment and release, the libretto describes a dystopian future, accompanied musically by long guitar solos, which Joe imagines in his head.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|159|date=December 2012}} The penultimate song, "Packard Goose", criticizes rock journalism, and features a philosophical monolog delivered by an apparition of the character Mary, who had been absent since the first act.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|158–159|date=December 2012}} In the epilogue song "[[A Little Green Rosetta]]," Joe gives up music, returns to sanity, hocks his imaginary guitar and gets "a good job" at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Facility (a self-reference to Zappa's own personal studio). The Central Scrutinizer sings the last song on the album in his "regular voice", and joins in a long musical number with most of the other people that worked with Zappa around 1979.

=== Plot ===

==== Act I ====

At the beginning of the album, we are introduced to "[[My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama|The Central Scrutinizer]]", the album's narrator, who brings us a "special presentation" on music's bad influences on man. We are introduced to Joe, the main character in the presentation. Joe used to be the lead singer in a garage band, which eventually broke up ("[[Joe's Garage (song)|Joe's Garage]]"). Joe continues playing his music until a neighbor calls the police, who tell Joe to "stick closer to church-oriented social activities." Joe starts going to the [[Catholic Youth Organization]] (CYO) at the Catholic Church, held by Father Riley, and falls in love with a girl named Mary ("Catholic Girls").

One day, Mary skips the church club and goes to the Armory. She becomes a groupie for a band called [[Toto (band)|Toad-O]] ("Crew Slut"). Eventually, Mary, unable to keep up with the band's laundry, is dumped in Miami. With no money to get home, she signs up for the local [[Wet T-Shirt Contest]] at the Brasserie, hosted by Father Riley (who has since changed his name to Buddy Jones) ("Wet T-Shirt Nite"). Mary wins first place in the contest and wins fifty bucks, enough money to go home. However, Warren, a former member of Joe's Garage Band, finds out about Mary's "naughty exploits" and sends a letter to Joe telling him about it ("Toad-O Line"). Joe, heartbroken, "falls in with a fast crowd" and gets seduced by Lucille, a girl who works at the [[Jack in the Box]], and has sex with her, only to catch [[gonorrhea]] ("Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?"). Discouraged, he sings about Lucille and his feelings for her ("Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up").

==== Act II ====

Joe is in "a quandary, being devoured by the swirling cesspool of his own steaming desires" and seeks redemption; he decides to "pay a lot of money" to the First Church of [[Scientology|Appliantology]], owned by [[L. Ron Hubbard|L. Ron Hoover]], an amount of fifty bucks ("[[A Token of My Extreme]]"). He learns from Hoover that he is a "Latent Appliance Fetishist", learns German, dresses like a housewife and goes to a club called the "Closet", filled with sexual appliances. Joe meets Sy Borg, a "Model XQJ-37 [[Nuclear Power|Nuclear Powered]] [[Pansexuality|Pansexual]] Roto-Plooker", who looks like a "Cross between an Industrial [[Vacuum Cleaner]] and a Chrome-Plated Piggy Bank with [[Sex toy|marital aids]] stuck all over it", and falls in love with him ("Stick It Out"). They go back to Sy's apartment and have sex, only for Joe to accidentally kill him when a "[[Urolagnia|golden shower]]" causes his master circuit to [[short circuit|short out]] ("Sy Borg").

Having given all his money to Hoover, Joe cannot pay to fix Sy and is arrested and sent to a special prison filled with people arrested due to music, who spend all day "snorting detergent and plooking each other". At the prison, he meets Bald-Headed John, "King of the Plookers" ("Dong Work for Yuda"). Joe is eventually [[Prison rape|"plooked"]] by the executives at the prison ("Keep It Greasey"). Having "a long time to go before [he's] paid [his] debt to society", he decides to be "sullen and withdrawn" and sits around dreaming up imaginary guitar notes ("Outside Now"), until he is released from prison (a bit of art imitating life, as Zappa himself did just that during his own prison sentence in 1965).

==== Act III ====

Joe is released from prison into a dystopian society where music has been made illegal and "[walks] through the parking lot in a semi-catatonic state", dreaming guitar notes. Eventually, he hears the voice of his neighbor Mrs. Borg taunting him in his head ("He Used to Cut the Grass"). Joe becomes scared of rock journalists and sings about them. He sees a vision of Mary appear and deliver a lecture ("Packard Goose"). Joe goes back to his house and dreams his last imaginary guitar notes ("[[Watermelon in Easter Hay]]"). Afterward, he "[hocks his] imaginary guitar and [gets] a good job" at the [[Utility Muffin Research Kitchen]], where he squeezes icing [[rosette (design)|rosette]]s onto muffins. As an epilogue, the Central Scrutinizer turns off his plastic megaphone and sings the final song on the album, "[[A Little Green Rosetta]]", with most of the people who worked at Village Recorders around 1979, with the song growing more chaotic as it goes as "proof" that music is dangerous.

=== Music and performance ===
[[File:FRANK ZAPPA3.jpg|thumb|''Joe's Garage'' is noted for its extensive guitar-oriented work, including live improvisations which were incorporated into new studio compositions using [[xenochrony]].]]
The music of ''Joe's Garage'' encompassed a variety of styles, including [[blues]], [[jazz]], [[doo wop]], [[lounge music|lounge]], [[orchestral music|orchestral]], [[rock music|rock]], [[pop music|pop]] and [[reggae]].<ref name=Lowe /> "Catholic Girls" makes musical reference to Zappa's controversial song "[[Jewish Princess (song)|Jewish Princess]]", as a [[sitar]] plays the melody of the earlier song during the fadeout of "Catholic Girls".<ref name=Lowe /> "Crew Slut" is performed as a slow blues song, with [[slide guitar]] riffs and a [[harmonica]] solo.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|152–153|date=December 2012}}<ref name=Courrier />{{rp|333|date=December 2012}} According to Kelly Fisher Lowe, the song is "more Rolling Stones or Aerosmith than it is Gatemouth Brown or Guitar Watson".<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|152–153|date=December 2012}} The extended three and a half minute, two-part guitar solo in "Toad-O-Line" is taken from Zappa's earlier song, "Inca Roads."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/songs/Inca_Roads.html|title=Inca Roads|website=globalia.net}}</ref>

"A Token Of My Extreme" originated as an instrumental song played during improvised conversations by saxophonist [[Napoleon Murphy Brock]] and [[George Duke]] on keyboards. It typically opened Zappa's concerts in 1974; a recording of this version of the piece was released under the title "Tush Tush Tush (A Token of My Extreme)" on ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2]]''.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|155|date=December 2012}}

"Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up" first appeared on [[Jeff Simmons (musician)|Jeff Simmons]]' [[Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up|album of the same name]], on which its writing is credited to "La Marr Bruister", one of Zappa's pseudonyms.<ref name=Lucille>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/lucille-has-messed-my-mind-up-t3004205 |title=Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref> The ''Joe's Garage'' arrangement is radically different, and is played in a reggae style.<ref name=Lucille /> "Stick It Out" originated as part of the Mothers of Invention's "[[Sofa (Frank Zappa song)|Sofa]]" routine in the early 1970s.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|120|date=December 2012}} The ''Joe's Garage'' version is musically influenced by [[funk]] and disco, with its lyrics performed first in German, and then in English.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|156|date=December 2012}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Watson|first=Ben|year=1996|title=Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play|url=https://archive.org/details/frankzappanegati00wats|url-access=registration|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-14124-0}}</ref>{{rp|270|date=December 2012}} "Sy Borg" derives from funk, reggae and [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]].<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|154, 156|date=December 2012}}

"Keep It Greasy" had been performed by Zappa since 1975; the ''Joe's Garage'' album version features a guitar solo from a March 1979 live performance of the song "City of Tiny Lights".<ref name=Lowe /> Another March 1979 guitar solo from "City of Tiny Lights" is incorporated into the song "Outside Now" using the same recording technique.<ref name=Lowe /> "Packard Goose", which Zappa wrote sometime in 1975, also uses xenochrony, with its guitar solo taken from a March 1979 performance of "Easy Meat".<ref name=Lowe />

The album concludes with a long guitar instrumental, "[[Watermelon in Easter Hay]]", the only guitar solo recorded for the album, in 9/4 time; every other guitar solo on the album was [[xenochrony|xenochronous]]—overdubbed from older live recordings.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|154|date=December 2012}}<ref name=Slaven />{{rp|381|date=December 2012}} In their review of the album, ''Down Beat'' magazine criticized the song,<ref name=Slaven />{{rp|376|date=December 2012}} but subsequent reviewers have championed the song as Zappa's masterpiece. Lowe called it the "crowning achievement of the album" and "one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever produced".<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|159|date=December 2012}} Zappa told Neil Slaven that he thought it was "the best song on the album".<ref name=Slaven />{{rp|376|date=December 2012}} The song's title is thought to have come from a saying used by Zappa while recording the album: "Playing a guitar solo with this band is like trying to grow watermelon in Easter hay".<ref name="watermelon">{{cite web | url = http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/Star_Special  | title = Star Special radio transcript| access-date=October 14, 2017 }}</ref> After Zappa died, "Watermelon in Easter Hay" became known as one of his [[signature song]]s, and his son, [[Dweezil Zappa]], later referred to it as "the best solo Zappa ever played".<ref name=Drenching>{{cite book|last=Drenching|first=T.H.F.|year=2005|chapter='Watermelon In Easter Hay': The Function of the Reverb Unit & the Poverty of the Individual Spirit|title=Academy Zappa: Proceedings of the First International Conference of Esemplastic Zappology |editor=Watson, Ben |editor2=Leslie, Esther |publisher=SAF Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-0-946719-79-2}}</ref>{{rp|90–91|date=December 2012}}

The song is followed by "A Little Green Rosetta", a song that was originally intended to appear on Zappa's shelved ''[[Läther]]'' album, but rerecorded with different lyrics for ''Joe's Garage''.<ref name=Lowe />{{rp|159|date=December 2012}}<ref>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/a-little-green-rosetta-t3004216 |title=A Little Green Rosetta |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref>

==== Guitar solo sources ====
{| class="wikitable"
!Song
!Source
!Notes
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|Toad-O Line/On the Bus
|style="text-align:center;"|March 21st,<br>Rhein-Neckar-Halle, Eppelheim, Germany
|extracted from "Inca Roads"
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|Keep It Greasy
|rowspan=1 style="text-align:center;"|March 31st (late show),<br>Rudi-Sedlmayer Sporthalle, Munich, Germany
| first section extracted from "City of Tiny Lites" (source also appears on ''[[Guitar (Frank Zappa album)|Guitar]]'' as "Outside Now (Original Solo)")
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|March 31st (early show),<br>Rudi-Sedlmayer Sporthalle, Munich, Germany
|second section extracted from "City of Tiny Lites"
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|Outside Now
|second solo extracted from "City of Tiny Lites"
|-
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|April 1st,<br>Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
|first solo extracted from "City of Tiny Lites"
|-
|rowspan =2 style="text-align:center;"|Packard Goose
|first section extracted from "Easy Meat"
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|March 27th (late show),<br>Rhein-Main-Halle, Wiesbaden, Germany
|second section extracted from opening solo ("Persona Non Grata")
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|He Used to Cut the Grass
|style="text-align:center;"|March 23rd,<br>Liebenau Station, Graz, Austria
|extracted from opening solo ("Persona Non Grata")
|}

== Release ==
[[File:Frank Zappa Joe's Garage Acts II & III.jpg|thumb|''Joe's Garage Acts II & III'' was released in November 1979, with cover art depicting a makeup artist applying makeup to Zappa's face.]]

''Joe's Garage'' was initially released in separate units, beginning with the single [[LP record|LP]] ''Act I'' in September 1979. For the album artwork, Zappa was photographed in black makeup,<ref>{{cite book |title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa |author1=Neil Slaven |edition= |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-85712-043-4 |page=321 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4lNRIZm_baQC}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=4lNRIZm_baQC&pg=PT321 Extract of page 321]</ref> holding a [[mop]] for the car grease garage theme.<ref name=Slaven>{{cite book|last=Slaven|first=Niel|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4lNRIZm_baQC|title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa|publisher=Music Sales Group|isbn=0-85712-043-3}}</ref>{{rp|381|date=December 2012}} The gatefold sleeve of ''Act I'' was designed by John Williams, and featured a collage, which included a naked [[Maya peoples|Maya]], vague technical drawings, [[pyramid]]s and fingers on the fret of a guitar.<ref name=Slaven />{{rp|381|date=December 2012}} The lyric insert featured similar illustrations, which related to the content of the songs and storyline.<ref name=Slaven /> The title track was released as a single, with "The Central Scrutinizer" as its B-side. It did not chart.<ref>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/joes-garage-t3004199 |title=Joe's Garage |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref>

''Act I'' peaked at #27 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' Pop Albums chart.<ref name=ActICharts /> It was followed by the [[double album]] ''Acts II & III'' in November.<ref name=Lowe /> The gatefold of ''Acts II & III'' featured collages taken from a medical journal, while the cover for ''Acts II & III'' featured a makeup artist applying makeup to Zappa's face.<ref name=Slaven />{{rp|381|date=December 2012}} ''Acts II & III'' peaked at #53 on the Pop Albums chart.<ref name=Charts2>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r53159/charts-awards/billboard-album|pure_url=yes}} |title=Charts and Awards for ''Joe's Garage Acts II & III'' |access-date=August 22, 2008 |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>

''Joe's Garage'' was reissued in 1987 as a triple album, combining Acts I, II & III into a single box set, and as a [[double album]] on [[compact disc]].<ref name=Lowe /> The song "Wet T-Shirt Nite" received two alternate titles, when the album was released on CD: the libretto referred to the song as "The Wet T-Shirt Contest", while the back cover referred to the song as "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt".<ref name=WetTShirt>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/wet-t-shirt-night-t650622 |title=Wet T-Shirt Night |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref> In an interview, Zappa explained that the "fembot" was the name given to a [[Gynoid|female robot]] in an episode of the TV series ''[[The Six Million Dollar Man]]''.<ref name=WetTShirt /> The instrumental "Toad-O Line" was renamed "On the Bus".<ref>{{cite web|author=François Couture |url=http://allmusic.com/song/toad-o-line-t650623 |title=Toad O Line |website=AllMusic |access-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref> The Central Scrutinizer monolog at the end of "Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up", which concludes the story's first act, was indexed as its own track on the CD reissue, under the title "Scrutinizer Postlude".<ref name=Lucille />

== Reception and legacy ==
{{Album ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]] (''Acts I, II & III'')
| rev2 = [[AllMusic]] (''Act I'')
| rev3 = [[AllMusic]] (''Acts II & III'')
| rev1Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name=Huey>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r22599/review |title=Joe's Garage: Acts I, II & III&nbsp;— Frank Zappa &#124; AllMusic |first=S. |last=Huey |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |access-date=July 21, 2011}}</ref>
| rev2Score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref name=Ruhlmann1>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r22652/review |title=Joe's Garage: Act I&nbsp;— Frank Zappa &#124; AllMusic |first=W. |last=Ruhlmann |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |access-date=July 21, 2011}}</ref>
| rev3Score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name=Ruhlmann2>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r53159/review |title=Joe's Garage: Acts II & III&nbsp;— Frank Zappa &#124; AllMusic |first=W. |last=Ruhlmann |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |access-date=July 21, 2011}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Anon.|date=August 1995|pages=150–51|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|title=Joe's Garage}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Anon.|date=January 17, 2002|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|page=52|title=Joe's Garage}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Paul|year=1992|chapter=Van Morrison|editor1-last=DeCurtis|editor1-first=Anthony|editor-link1=Anthony DeCurtis|editor2-last=Henke|editor2-first=James|editor3-last=George-Warren|editor3-first=Holly|title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=0679737294|edition=3rd|page=800}}</ref>
}}
[[AllMusic]] gave 3 out of 5 stars for the individual releases ''Act I'' and ''Acts II & III''.<ref name=Ruhlmann1 /><ref name=Ruhlmann2 /> William Ruhlmann wrote of ''Act I'', "although his concern with government censorship would see a later flowering in his battles with the [[Parents Music Resource Center]] (PMRC), here he wasn't able to use it to fulfill a satisfying dramatic function."<ref name=Ruhlmann1 /> Ruhlmann also felt that ''Acts II & III'' "seems so thin and thrown together, musically and dramatically".<ref name=Ruhlmann2 />

Don Shewey of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine wrote, "If the surface of this opera is cluttered with cheap gags and musical mishmash, its soul is located in profound existential sorrow. The guitar solos that Zappa plays in Joe's imagination burn with a desolate, devastating beauty. Flaws and all, ''Joe's Garage'' is Frank Zappa's ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''."<ref name=Shewey>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/frankzappa/albums/album/244234/review/6211828/joes_garage_acts_i_ii__iii |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090525130549/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/frankzappa/albums/album/244234/review/6211828/joes_garage_acts_i_ii__iii|archive-date= May 25, 2009 |title=Frank Zappa: Joe's Garage Acts I, II and III: Music Reviews : Rolling Stone|first=D. |last=Shewey |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]]|date=March 20, 1980|url-status= dead |access-date=May 10, 2012}}</ref> The collected ''Acts I, II & III'' release received 4.5 out of 5 stars from Allmusic's Steve Huey, who wrote "in spite of its flaws, ''Joe's Garage'' has enough substance to make it one of Zappa's most important '70s works and overall political statements, even if it's not focused enough to rank with his earliest Mothers of Invention masterpieces."<ref name=Huey />

For his performance on ''Joe's Garage'', Vinnie Colaiuta was named "the most technically advanced drummer ever" by ''[[Modern Drummer]]'', which ranked the album as one of the top 25 greatest drumming performances of all time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lackowski|first=Rich|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJGsMxYZf3MC&pg=PA58|title=On the Beaten Path, Progressive Rock: The Drummer's Guide to the Genre and the Legends Who Defined It|publisher=Alfred Music Publishing|isbn=978-0-7390-5671-4}}</ref>{{rp|58|date=December 2012}} On September 26, 2008, ''Joe's Garage'' was staged by the [[Open Fist Theatre Company]] in [[Los Angeles]], in a production authorized by the Zappa Family Trust.<ref>Morris, Stephen Leigh (2008), "[https://web.archive.org/web/20180429030826/http://www.laweekly.com/arts/frank-zappas-joes-garage-gets-its-premiere-29-years-on-2155852/ Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage Gets Its Premiere 29 Years On]", ''LA Weekly''.</ref>

The cover was parodied by Swedish rockabilly artist [[Eddie Meduza]] on his 1980 album ''[[:sv:Garagetaper|Garagetaper]]''.

== Track listing ==
{{Track listing
| headline = Act I<br>Joe's Exploits
| total_length = {{Duration|m=20|s=29}}
| all_writing = Frank Zappa
| title1 = [[My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama#The Central Scrutinizer|The Central Scrutinizer]]
| length1 = 3:27
| title2 = [[Joe's Garage (song)|Joe's Garage]]
| length2 = 6:10
| title3 = Catholic Girls
| length3 = 4:26
| title4 = Crew Slut
| length4 = 5:51
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Sex and Side Gigs
| total_length = {{Duration|m=20|s=14}}
| title5 = Wet T-Shirt Nite
| length5 = 5:26
| title6 = Toad-O Line
| length6 = 4:18
| title7 = Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?
| length7 = 2:35
| title8 = Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up
| length8 = 7:17
}}

{{Track listing
| headline = Act II<br>The Closet
| total_length = {{Duration|m=19|s=34}}
| title1 = [[A Token of My Extreme]]
| length1 = 5:28
| title2 = Stick It Out
| length2 = 4:33
| title3 = Sy Borg
| length3 = 8:50
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Prison
| total_length = {{Duration|m=19|s=44}}
| title4 = Dong Work for Yuda
| length4 = 5:03
| title5 = Keep It Greasey
| length5 = 8:22
| title6 = Outside Now
| length6 = 5:52
}}

{{Track listing
| headline = Act III<br>Dystopian Society
| total_length = {{Duration|m=20|s=41}}
| title1 = He Used to Cut the Grass
| length1 = 8:34
| title2 = Packard Goose
| length2 = 11:38
}}
{{Track listing
| headline      = Imaginary Guitar Notes
| total_length  = {{Duration|m=17|s=25}}
| title3        = [[Watermelon in Easter Hay]]
| length3       = 9:08
| title4        = [[A Little Green Rosetta]]
| length4       = 8:17
}}

{{Track listing
| headline = CD edition, disc 1
| title1 = [[My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama#The Central Scrutinizer|The Central Scrutinizer]]
| length1 = 3:27
| title2 = [[Joe's Garage (song)|Joe's Garage]]
| length2 = 6:10
| title3 = Catholic Girls
| length3 = 4:26
| title4 = Crew Slut
| length4 = 5:51
| title5 = Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt
| length5 = 5:26
| title6 = On the Bus
| length6 = 4:18
| title7 = Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?
| length7 = 2:35
| title8 = Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up
| length8 = 5:43
| title9 = Scrutinizer Postlude
| length9 = 1:35
| title10 = [[A Token of My Extreme]]
| length10 = 5:28
| title11 = Stick It Out
| length11 = 4:33
| title12 = Sy Borg
| length12 = 8:50
}}

{{Track listing
| headline = CD edition, disc 2
| total_length = {{Duration|m=115|s=14}}
| title1 = Dong Work for Yuda
| length1 = 5:03
| title2 = Keep It Greasey
| length2 = 8:22
| title3 = Outside Now
| length3 = 5:52
| title4 = He Used to Cut the Grass
| length4 = 8:34
| title5 = Packard Goose
| length5 = 11:38
| title6 = [[Watermelon in Easter Hay]]
| length6 = 9:09
| title7 = [[A Little Green Rosetta]]
| length7 = 8:15
}}

== Personnel ==
=== Musicians ===
* [[Frank Zappa]]&nbsp;– [[lead guitar]], [[Singing|vocals]]
* [[Warren Cuccurullo]]&nbsp;– [[rhythm guitar]], vocals
* [[Denny Walley]]&nbsp;– [[slide guitar]], vocals
* [[Ike Willis]]&nbsp;– [[lead vocals]]
* [[Peter Wolf (producer)|Peter Wolf]]&nbsp;– [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]]
* [[Tommy Mars]]&nbsp;– [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]] ''(Act 1)''
* [[Arthur Barrow]]&nbsp;– [[bass guitar]], [[guitar]] (on "Joe's Garage"), vocals
* [[Patrick O'Hearn]]&nbsp;– [[bass guitar]] on "Outside Now" and "He Used to Cut the Grass"
* [[Ed Mann]]&nbsp;– [[Percussion instrument|percussion]], vocals
* [[Vinnie Colaiuta]]&nbsp;– [[Drum kit|drums]], combustible vapors, optometric abandon
* Jeff (Jeff Hollie)&nbsp;– [[tenor sax]] ''(all tracks Act 1)''
* Marginal Chagrin (Earle Dumler)&nbsp;– [[baritone sax]] ''(all tracks Act 1)''
* Stumuk (Bill Nugent)&nbsp;– [[bass sax]] ''(all tracks Act 1)''
* [[Dale Bozzio]]&nbsp;– vocals ''(Acts 1 & 3)''
* Al Malkin&nbsp;– vocals ''(all tracks Act 1)''
* Craig Steward&nbsp;– [[harmonica]] ''(all tracks Act 1)''

=== Cast ===
* [[Frank Zappa]]&nbsp;– Central Scrutinizer, Larry, L. Ron Hoover, Father Riley and Buddy Jones
* [[Ike Willis]]&nbsp;– Joe
* [[Dale Bozzio]]&nbsp;– Mary
* [[Denny Walley]]&nbsp;– Mrs. Borg
* Al Malkin&nbsp;– Officer Butzis
* [[Warren Cuccurullo]] and [[Ed Mann]]&nbsp;– Sy Borg
* [[Terry Bozzio]]&nbsp;– Bald-Headed John
* The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen Chorus&nbsp;– Al Malkin, Warren Cucurullo, Dale Bozzio, [[Geordie Hormel]], Barbara Issak and most of the people who work at [[Village Recorders]]

=== Production staff ===
* Ferenc Dobronyi&nbsp;– cover design
* Steve Alsberg&nbsp;– project coordinator
* [[Joe Chiccarelli]]&nbsp;– engineer, mixing, recording
* [[Norman Seeff]]&nbsp;– photography, cover photo
* John Williams&nbsp;– artwork
* [[Steve Nye]]&nbsp;– remixing
* [[Mick Glossop]]&nbsp;– remixing
* Stan Ricker&nbsp;– mastering
* Jack Hunt&nbsp;– mastering
* Thomas Nordegg&nbsp;– assistant
* Tom Cummings&nbsp;– assistant

== Charts ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1979)
!Peak<br>position
|-
|United States ([[Billboard 200]])<ref name=ActICharts>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r22652/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} |title=Charts and Awards for ''Joe's Garage Act I'' |access-date=August 22, 2008 |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
|align="center"|27
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=348}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|94
|-
|Canadian Albums ([[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]) (Act I)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/RPM/70s/1979/RPM-1979-11-24.pdf| title=RPM Magazine - November 24, 1979 - Page 9}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|16
|-
|Canadian Albums ([[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]) (Act II & III)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/RPM/80s/1980/RPM-Canada-1980-02-16.pdf| title=RPM Magazine - February 16, 1980 - Page 9}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|39
|}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1979)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Canadian Albums ([[RPM (magazine)|RPM]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/RPM/70s/1979/RPM-Canada-1979-12-22.pdf| title=RPM Magazine - December 22, 1979 - Page 14}}</ref>
| 98
|}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite news|last=Davis|first=Michael|date=February 1980|title=Zappa Busy As Ever While Coming Out of Joe's Garage|publisher=Record Review}}

{{Frank Zappa albums}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joes Garage}}
[[Category:1979 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Frank Zappa]]
[[Category:1970s concept albums]]
[[Category:Dystopian music]]
[[Category:Frank Zappa albums]]
[[Category:1970s German-language albums]]
[[Category:Rock operas]]
[[Category:Zappa Records albums]]