Frank Zappa - Over-Nite Sensation (50th Anniversary) (4 CD, 2023) [24-96]

In celebration of 50 years of Frank Zappa’s widely-acclaimed Over-Nite Sensation, a newly expanded 50th anniversary edition has been released on November 3 via Zappa Records/UMe in a variety of formats, including a five-disc (4CD/1Blu-ray Audio) Super Deluxe Edition that showcases 88 tracks in total, featuring 57 previously unreleased tracks and mixes.

Produced and compiled by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers, this new, expanded collection titled Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Edition, boasts the 2012 remaster of the original album by Bob Ludwig, along with additional unreleased masters, highlights, and mix outtakes from the original 1973 sessions mastered by John Polito. Also included are two completely unreleased live concert recordings from 1973 showcasing the same band that recorded the classic album — one show captured at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and the other recorded at Cobo Hall in Detroit.

Disc 1: Over-Nite Sensation

Disc 2: Bonus Session Masters / Bonus Vault Sensations

Disc 3: Live In Hollywood, California, Hollywood Palladium – March 23, 1973

Disc 4: Live In Detroit, Michigan, Cobo Hall – May 12, 1973

- Frank Zappa / guitar, vocals, conductor, arranger & producer

- George Duke / keyboards, synthesizer

- Ian Underwood / flute, clarinet, alto & tenor saxophones

- Bruce Fowler / trombone

- Sal Marquez / trumpet, vocals (6)

- Jean-Luc Ponty / violin & baritone violin

- Tom Fowler /bass

- Ralph Humphrey / drums

- Ruth Underwood / percussion, marimba, vibes

With:

- Ricky Lancelotti / vocals (4,5)

- Kin Vassy / vocals (2,6,7)

- Tina Turner & The Ikettes (uncredited) / backing vocals

Frank Zappa - The Mothers 1971 (8 CD Super Deluxe, 2022) (320 + 24/96)

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Mothers Of Invention’s ‘71 line-ups, the complete Fillmore tapes are showcased with every note played over 4 shows, including the John Lennon/Yoko Ono encore, majority of tracks are newly mixed. Additionally, the full concert from the Rainbow Theatre in London where FZ was infamously pushed off the stage is newly mixed by Eddie Kramer. The box also features a bonus hybrid concert from Harrisburg & Scranton, PA 1971 and extensive liner notes & packaging. 

Frank Zappa - Funky Nothingness (3 CD, 2023) [24-96]

Long after his death at the age of 52 in December 1993, Frank Zappa remains one of the most fascinating musicians and composers of his generation. Zappa was a rare individual who was equally skilled playing and writing in a number of different genres and styles, Funky Nothingness represents the brief era of a band which deserved to last longer than it did. Early on, Zappa realized the importance of recording whenever possible, as an impromptu studio jam or concert highlight might otherwise be lost for good. Especially after he dissolved his original Mothers of Invention band in 1969, Zappa sought out the best musicians possible. By the time of his death he had amassed a sizable library of unissued studio and concert performances. With the time Zappa spent composing, rehearsing bands and going on the road, it is little wonder that there was insufficient time for him to go through his entire archive to locate hidden treasures for release. 

Frank Zappa - 200 Motels (50th Anniversary, 6 CD, 2021) [FLAC + 24/96]

 Frank Zappa's "200 Motels" turns 50! This 6 CD box set contains the original soundtrack newly remastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering with a massive amount of original demos, studio outtakes, work mixes, interviews, and movie ads, plus newly discovered dialog reels revealing an early audio edit of the film. It also contains a replica movie poster, custom motel keychain, Do-Not-Disturb motel door hanger, and new liner notes from Pamela Des Barres, Ruth Underwood, and "Vaultmeister" Joe Travers.

Frank Zappa - Ryko Remaster Complete Series, [54 albums/71 CD] [FLAC]

Ryko Corporation is a record company that offers more than 1,000 titles in such genres as rock, pop, folk, jazz, blues, country, and world music. The firm owns and distributes several labels including Restless, Hannibal, Tradition, Slow River, and Gramavision, as well as most of the recordings of the late Frank Zappa. Ryko also releases video DVDs and performs distribution of its own and other labels around the United States and in some international markets. The company became part of Warner Music Group in 2006.

Rykodisc's first major coup came when it secured the CD rights to the back catalog of legendary rock satirist, composer, and provocateur Frank Zappa, who owned his own master recordings and had been releasing them on vinyl and tape through EMI. With the latter firm ambivalent about preparing CD releases, he gave the new label a chance based on its early track record. Though Rykodisc had gambled by paying him a large advance, the initial 10,000-disc pressings of 20 different albums quickly sold out when released in 1986, and more Zappa product followed.

Frank Zappa - Transmission Impossible (3 CD, 2015) [FLAC]

Disc 1  

From A Live Radio Broadcast Recorded At Wollman Ice Rink, Central Park, NYC (Central Park, New York), 3rd August 1968.

Tracks 1-1 to 1-7 Late Show. Tracks 1-8 to 1-11 Early Show

Disc 2

From A Live Radio Broadcast Recorded At VPRO-FM (VPRO Radio), Uddel, Netherlands 18th June 1970.

Disc 3

Rare Tape Library Broadcast, WLIR FM (WLIR-FM), Garden City, New York, 31st December 1974.

Recorded At Various Locations 1973

Frank Zappa - Mudd Club (Live At Mudd Club, NYC, May 8, 1980) {2023) [24-192]

Frank Zappa leading the five-strong band which included the dual vocal attack of Ike Willis and Ray White, Arthur Barrow on bass, Tommy Mars on keyboards, and newcomer David Logeman on drums. Additionally, this is the first posthumous release of this distinct but brief lineup, as Logeman — who replaced drummer Vinnie Colaiuta — would end up leaving when Colaiuta returned to the band. 

Mudd Club - New York, NY - May 8th, 1980

01. Mudd Club Show Start (1:03)

02. Chunga’s Revenge (4:03)

03. Keep It Greasy (3:03)

04. Outside Now (5:55)

05. City Of Tiny Lites (Edited) (6:39)

06. Pound For A Brown (3:46)

07. You Are What You Is (3:46)

08. You Didn't Try To Call Me (3:46)

09. I Ain't Got No Heart (2:07)

10. Love Of My Life (2:11)

11. Easy Meat (7:25)

12. Mudd Club (3:35)

13. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing (3:15)

14. Joe's Garage (2:25)

15. Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? (3:46)

Mothers of Invention - Absolutely Free (1967) [24/192]

Absolutely Free is the second studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on May 26, 1967, by Verve Records. Much like their 1966 debut Freak Out!, the album is a display of complex musical composition with political and social satire. The band had been augmented since Freak Out! by the addition of woodwinds player Bunk Gardner, keyboardist Don Preston, rhythm guitarist Jim Fielder, and drummer Billy Mundi; Fielder quit the group before the album was released, and his name was removed from the album credits. 

• Frank Zappa – guitar, conductor, vocals
• Jimmy Carl Black – drums, vocals
• Ray Collins – vocals, tambourine, harmonica
• Roy Estrada – bass, vocals
• Billy Mundi – drums, percussion
• Don Preston – keyboards
• Jim Fielder (Uncredited) – guitar, piano
• Bunk Gardner – woodwinds

 

Frank Zappa - The Hot Rats Sessions (6 CD, 2019/FLAC)

 

Frank Zappa‘s second album Hot Rats was reissued for its 50th anniversary and include a 6CD box set full of previously unreleased sessions.

The mostly-instrumental LP came on the heels of the breakup of the original Mothers of Invention, making it clear that Zappa was a force with which to be reckoned as a composer. Described by the artist as “a movie for your ears,” Hot Rats was a fusion of jazz and rock as only Zappa could create. Recorded on 16 tracks (a first for a Zappa album), it featured the producer/arranger/guitar virtuoso (who also played bass and percussion) joined by The Mothers’ Ian Underwood as well as Max Bennett, Johnny Otis, Shuggie Otis, John Guerin, Paul Humphrey, Ron Selico, Don “Sugarcane” Harris, and Jean-Luc Ponty. Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, provided the vocals on the lone non-instrumental, “Willie the Pimp.”

 

Frank Zappa - ZAPPA ’75: Zagreb/Ljubljana (2022/Hi-Res FLAC)

Frank Zappa's fall 1975 touring schedule brought him to two cities in Yugoslavia, marking the first and only time he played shows in that country. This 2-CD set combines performances from both shows, recorded live in Zagreb on 11/21/75 and Ljubljana on 11/22/75. Re-mixed from the original 1/2" 8-track tape masters by Craig Parker Adams and mastered by John Polito, this historical release is the only multi-tracked document of Zappa's rare band line-up, The Mothers, in the Vault.

 

Frank Zappa - Zappa - Erie (6 CD Live, 2022) (24bit-96kHz)

The Zappa/Erie box set contains three complete shows from the Vault based on appearances made in and around the Vaultmeister's home town of Erie, PA: Edinboro College and Gannon University '74 with Erie County Fieldhouse '76. Also includes bonus tracks from the same tours. Three separate band line-ups, newly mixed from the original 4-Track tapes by Craig Parker Adams and mastered by John Polito at Audio Mechanics. 

 

Frank Zappa – You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol.1-6 (12 CD, 1994)

 

Six-volume, 12-CD set Zappa assembled of live performances throughout his career. 

Frank Zappa - Mystery Box [10 LP, 2006]

 

A deluxe-type 10-LP retrospective box. Here are the 10 records:

1. Pigs & Repugnant
2. Son of Pigs & Repugnant
3. Beyond the Fringe of Audience Comprehension
4. Zut Alors
5. The Rondo Hatton Band
6. A Token of His Extreme
7. Chalk Pie
8. Crush All Boxes
9. Return of the Son of Serious Music
10. Randomonium

Frank Zappa- The Roxy Performances (7 CD, 2018)

 

Frank Zappa's legendary 1973 concerts at the Roxy are being collected for this seven-disc box set.

The Roxy Performances gathers all four shows Zappa played on Dec. 9 and 10, 1973, as well as rehearsals for the Dec. 10 concerts, a sound check and film shoot done on Dec. 8 and a Dec. 12 recording session.

Zappa and the Mothers played the recently opened Sunset Strip club in December 1973 in support of Over-Nite Sensation. Many fans consider it one of his best runs during one of his best periods. Some of the songs that were recorded ended up on 1974's Roxy & Elsewhere LP, and later on Roxy by Proxy and Roxy the Movie, but The Roxy Performances marks the first time many of these shows have been collected in their entirety.

Two nights before Zappa and his band played the Roxy, he invited some friends and other guests to a private show that was recorded and filmed. Two nights after the Roxy concerts, they headed to Ike Turner’s Bolic Sound in nearby Inglewood, Calif., for a recording session that was also filmed.

Frank Zappa - Orchestral Favorites [3 CD, 40th Ann. 2019/FLAC]

 

Commemorating its eventual release in 1979, Orchestral Favorites 40th Anniversary Edition celebrates Frank Zappa's 1975 engagement at Royce Hall at UCLA Los Angeles. The original album is remastered by Bob Ludwig from the 1976 master tape and bonus content contains the evening concert performance from September 18th, remixed in 2019 by Craig Parker Adams.

Frank Zappa - Where The Shark Bubbles Blow (5 CD, 2018/FLAC)

 A 5 CD box consisting of classic Broadcasts 68-75 with Frank Zappa in his absolute ace and top of his career. 

Sourced and mastered radio broadcast live material, spanning the years 1968-1975. The recordings were made at shows in NYC (a.o. in Central Park), The Netherlands (VPRO radio) and Vancouver (two different occasions). 

Frank Zappa - Halloween 77- Live at the Palladium, NYC [6 CD, 2017]

 

In October of 1977, Frank Zappa played six shows across four nights at the Palladium in New York. The entire residency, which was chronicled in the concert film Baby Snakes released on Oct. 20 as Halloween 77, in a box set that includes a Frank Zappa costume. The 158 tracks, which were re-mixed last year from the original masterse housed in a USB flash drive shaped like a "Zappa's Oh Punky!" candy bar in 24-bit WAV format.

“This box set was a very special experience for me to work on,” said Ahmet Zappa in a press release. “I wanted to make sure we honored these legendary shows, so it was important to me that this box set felt of the era. It was a blast working with our partners to create the late ‘70s-inspired Frank Zappa mask and costume and the candy-shaped USB stick filled with tons of Zappa goodness. It was yet again a labor of love gathering up all the archival materials, reading notes by people who were there, and most importantly making sure the audio was up to par. All of us at Zappa Records are mighty pleased with it, and hope that fans of Frank Zappa and of Halloween will be too.”

Frank Zappa- Zappa In New York (40th Ann. Deluxe Edition) [5 CD, 2019]

 

In December 1976, Frank Zappa performed four sold-out shows at New York City’s Palladium. The career-spanning concerts were “theatrical, outrageous, and raucously funny,” according to Ruth Underwood, who played percussion and synthesizer for the dates. The performances, she says, were “filled with startling and gorgeous music, dating from Frank’s 1960s output to literally the moment the curtain went up.”

It’s from this source material that the live double-album Zappa in New York was created. The album had been set for a 1977 release, but was delayed due to censorship issues involving the rather controversial songs within, especially “Punky’s Whips.” Finally released in 1978, the ten-song collection of mostly new original material has become one of the most beloved in Zappa’s catalogue.