Shakespeare My Butt... is a 1991 album by The Lowest of the Low

The Lowest of the Low

The Lowest of the Low is a Canadian alternative rock group formed in 1991 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were one of the most influential bands on the Canadian alternative music scene in the early 1990s, garnering widespread critical acclaim and radio play...

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At the time of its release, the album briefly became the best-selling independent release in Canadian history, although it was eclipsed later the same year by Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...

' The Yellow Tape. However, its melodic, jangly folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

-punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 has made it an enduring classic of Canadian music. In Chart

Chart (magazine)

ChartAttack is a Canadian online music publication. Formerly a monthly print magazine called Chart, which was published from 1991 to 2009, the web version continues operation....

s three Best Canadian Albums of All Time polls, Shakespeare My Butt... is one of six albums to have ranked in the top ten all three times. John K. Samson

John K. Samson

John Kristjan Samson is a musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is a singer-songwriter and currently the frontman of the Canadian folk punk band The Weakerthans...

 of The Weakerthans

The Weakerthans

The Weakerthans are a four-piece Canadian indie rock band.-History:The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by John K. Samson, after he left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P...

 wrote the album's blurb in the 2005 poll, citing it as a major influence on his own music.

The album was also ranked 84th in Bob Mersereau

Bob Mersereau

Bob Mersereau is a Canadian arts journalist.Mersereau is a music columnist and longtime arts reporter for CBC Television in New Brunswick. Since 1982, he has been a reporter on the East Coast music scene for CBC Radio, CBC Television, and the Telegraph-Journal...

's 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums

The Top 100 Canadian Albums

The Top 100 Canadian Albums is a book by Bob Mersereau, published in 2007 by Goose Lane Editions.Mersereau acknowledged that the list will cause heated debate among music fans across the country. "The important part is to talk about Canadian music and enjoy it", he said...

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British author John Donoghue

John Donoghue (writer)

John Donoghue is a British humourist and travel writer from Wales. He is best known for his 2004 book Shakespeare My Butt!, a humorous travelogue of unusual and oddly-named destinations in Great Britain...

's 2004 book Shakespeare My Butt!, a humorous travel memoir of quirky destinations in Great Britain, also took its name from the album; Donoghue acknowledges the band's influence in the book, and the cover features a blindfolded image of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 in homage to the blindfolded band photo on the album cover.

The album was remastered and re-released in 2010 on Pheromone Recordings

Pheromone Recordings

Pheromone Recordings is a Canadian independent record label, launched by Kim Cooke in 2008.In addition to artists releasing new music, the label has also issued a greatest hits compilation by Skydiggers and a 20th anniversary edition of The Lowest of the Low's classic 1991 album Shakespeare My...

, with an accompanying short film DVD "LowRoads" produced by the band's drummer, David Alexander.

Track listing

All songs written by Ron Hawkins

Ron Hawkins

Ron Hawkins is a musician from Toronto who is best known as a member of the band The Lowest of the Low, in which he is the frontman, primary songwriter, lead vocalist, and one of two guitarists...

, except where noted.

1. "4 O'Clock Stop" – 3:28
2. "So Long Bernie" – 3:55
3. "Just About 'The Only' Blues" – 4:29
4. "Salesmen, Cheats and Liars" – 3:28
5. "Rosy and Grey" – 5:03
6. "Kinda the Lonely One" – 2:51
7. "Eternal Fatalist" – 3:28
8. "For the Hand of Magdalena" – 3:35
9. "Subversives" – 3:14
10. "Bleed a Little While Tonight" – 5:17
11. "Bloodline" (Stephen Stanley
    Stephen Stanley
    Stephen Stanley is a Canadian singer-songwriter associated with the band The Lowest of the Low. Stanley also performs as a solo artist, sometimes in collaboration with violinist Carla MacNeil....
    
    ) – 3:43
12. "St. Brendan's Way" – 4:10
13. "Letter from Bilbao" – 2:08
14. "Under the Carlaw Bridge" – 4:11
15. "The Taming of Carolyn" – 4:16
16. "Gossip Talkin' Blues" – 3:25
17. "Henry Needs a New Pair of Shoes" – 3:44