Vocal Performances was a 12" EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 released by Pere Ubu

Pere Ubu (band)

Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. Despite many long-term band members, singer David Thomas is the only constant...

 frontman David Thomas

David Thomas (musician)

David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs , where he went by the name of Crocus Behemoth, and of punk group Pere Ubu . He has also released several solo albums...

 in 1981. The EP was released on Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...

 as Trade 5/12. As per its title, Vocal Performances features two (mostly) a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 recordings from Thomas.

The first track, "Petrified", argues that evolutionary thinking and Latin nomenclature have poorly captured the charm and dignity of dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s such as the Haplocanthosaur, Pterosaur

Pterosaur

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...

 and Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx , sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel , is a genus of theropod dinosaur that is closely related to birds. The name derives from the Ancient Greek meaning "ancient", and , meaning "feather" or "wing"...

. The second track is "Sloop John B", a cover of the traditional song made famous on Pet Sounds

Pet Sounds

Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...

by the Beach Boys. Thomas has argued elsewhere that Pet Sounds is the greatest album of music ever recorded.

"Petrified" was recorded at Bushflow Studio in Akron

Akron, Ohio

Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, and features a clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

 solo by Ralph Carney

Ralph Carney

Ralph Carney is an American musician. While his primary instruments are various saxophones and clarinets, Carney collects and plays many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones....

. An ensemble version of the track appears on the Pere Ubu album Song of the Bailing Man

Song of the Bailing Man

Song of the Bailing Man is the fifth Pere Ubu album, and their final work before disbanding for the first extended period. Anton Fier replaced Scott Krauss on drums for this album; his only appearance with Pere Ubu...

. "Sloop John B" was recorded on a portable cassette recorder at the Hotel Slavia in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. A copy of this performance was later overdubbed with drums and trumpet, and released on Thomas's album, The Sound of the Sand and other songs by the Pedestrians

The Sound of the Sand

The Sound of the Sand & Other Songs of the Pedestrian is David Thomas' debut solo album.-Track listing:#"The Birds Are a Good Idea"#"Yiki Tiki"#"The Crickets in the Flats"#"Sound of the Sand"#"The New Atom Mine"#"Big Dreams"#"Happy to See You"...

.

Track listing

1. "Petrified" (Pere Ubu, lyrics by David Thomas)
2. "Sloop John B" (traditional, arr. David Thomas)