Frank Zappa Iconic 1969 Album Hot Rats Set for Massive 50th-Anniversary Six-Disc Collection Reissue

Legendary musical auteur and virtuosic guitarist, the late Frank Zappa, released his groundbreaking debut solo studio album Hot Rats fifty years ago on October 10, 1969. To commemorate the release of Zappa’s magnum opus,  a reissue of the album titled The Hot Rats Sessions will receive 50th Anniversary six-disc box set on December 20, just one day shy of what would have been Zappa’s 79th birthday, courtesy of Zappa Records/UMe. According to an extensive press release, Hot Rats is “Self-described as a ‘movie for your ears,’ the mostly instrumental 1969 album was a new musical avenue for Zappa following the dissolution of his band The Mothers Of Invention as he melded the sophistication of jazz with the attitude of rock and roll to create a highly influential masterpiece widely hailed today as a pioneering album of jazz-rock fusion.”

Included in the reissued release of Hot Rats is a comprehensive collection of every composition that was recorded during the duration of creating the aforementioned album. The reissue also encompasses rare images that were captured during the making of Hot Rats. Fans and Zappa aficionados can bask in knowing that the  “…creatively fertile time in Zappa’s career is visually brought to life through a beautiful 28-page booklet featuring striking never-before-seen images of the recording sessions by Bill Gubbins, photographs of the master tapes and tape boxes, and stunning outtakes from original Hot Rats cover photographer, Andee Nathanson’s shoot with Miss Christine. Nathanson provides the collection’s new cover image and several unreleased photos, all from the same photo shoot, captured on Infrared film which gave the original album its otherworldly look.”

A major influence of Zappa’s music can be quoted by the animator and creator of the often iconically celebrated television series, The Simpsons. According to Matt Groening, Hot Rats had a major impact during his teenage years where Groening recounts, “From the opening moments of that unforgettable drum fill, I was transported. The kaleidoscopic, calliopean, dare-I-say-callipygian, mini-masterpiece ‘Peaches En Regalia’ elevated my scrawny body into the air, spun me around like a propeller beanie, and melted my brain.”

The massive roll out of the reissue album will also coincide with two vinyl releases. As previously reported the, “…exciting new vinyl releases will also be issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary: the original Hot Rats album will be pressed on limited edition translucent hot pink 180-gram vinyl featuring the 1969 mix mastered from the original analog master tapes by Bernie Grundman in 2008 and pressed at Pallas in Germany, and a limited edition 10” picture disc Peaches En Regalia EP will be released in conjunction with Record Store Day’s Black Friday on November 29.”

To preorder The Hot Rats Sessions visit here. The comprehensive track listings for the aforementioned box set and reissue of the  vinyl release of Hot Rats are as follows:

THE HOT RATS SESSIONS

CD1

1. Piano Music (Section 1)
2. Piano Music (Section 3)
3. Peaches En Regalia (Prototype)
4. Peaches En Regalia (Section 1, In Session)
5. Peaches En Regalia (Section 1, Master Take)
6. Peaches Jam – Part 1
7. Peaches Jam – Part 2
8. Peaches En Regalia (Section 3, In Session)
9. Peaches En Regalia (Section 3, Master Take)
10. Arabesque (In Session)
11. Arabesque (Master Take)
12. Dame Margret’s Son To Be A Bride (In Session)

CD2

1. It Must Be A Camel (Part 1, In Session)
2. It Must Be a Camel (Part 1, Master Take)
3. It Must Be a Camel (Intercut, In Session)
4. It Must Be a Camel (Intercut, Master Take)
5. Natasha (In Session)
6. Natasha (Master Take)
7. Bognor Regis (Unedited Master)
8. Willie The Pimp (In Session)
9. Willie The Pimp (Unedited Master Take)
10. Willie The Pimp (Guitar OD 1)
11. Willie The Pimp (Guitar OD 2)

CD3

1. Transition (Section 1, In Session)
2. Transition (Section 1, Master Take)
3. Transition (Section 2, Intercut, In Session)
4. Transition (Section 2, Intercut, Master Take)
5. Transition (Section 3, Intercut, In Session)
6. Transition (Section 3, Intercut, Master Take)
7. Lil’ Clanton Shuffle (Unedited Master)
8. Directly From My Heart To You (Unedited Master)
9. Another Waltz (Unedited Master)

CD4

1. Dame Margret’s Son To Be A Bride (Remake)
2. Son Of Mr. Green Genes (Take 1)
3. Son Of Mr. Green Genes (Master Take)
4. Big Legs (Unedited Master Take)
5. It Must Be a Camel (Percussion Tracks)
6. Arabesque (Guitar OD Mix)
7. Transition (Full Version)
8. Piano Music (Section 3, OD Version)

CD5

1. Peaches En Regalia (1987 Digital Re-Mix)
2. Willie The Pimp (1987 Digital Re-Mix)
3. Son Of Mr. Green Genes (1987 Digital Re-Mix)
4. Little Umbrellas (1987 Digital Re-Mix)
5. The Gumbo Variations (1987 Digital Re-Mix)
6. It Must Be A Camel (1987 Digital Re-Mix)
7. The Origin Of Hot Rats
8. Hot Rats Vintage Promotion Ad #1
9. Peaches En Regalia (1969 Mono Single Master)
10. Hot Rats Vintage Promotion Ad #2
11. Little Umbrellas (1969 Mono Single Master)
12. Lil’ Clanton Shuffle (1972 Whitney Studios Mix)

CD6

1. Little Umbrellas (Cucamonga Version)
2. Little Umbrellas (1969 Mix Outtake)
3. It Must Be A Camel (1969 Mix Outtake)
4. Son Of Mr. Green Genes (1969 Mix Outtake)
5. More Of The Story Of Willie The Pimp
6. Willie The Pimp (Vocal Tracks)
7. Willie The Pimp (1969 Quick Mix)
8. Dame Margret’s Son To Be A Bride (1969 Quick Mix)
9. Hot Rats Vintage Promotion Ad #3
10. Bognor Regis (1970 Record Plant Mix)
11. Peaches En Regalia (1969 Rhythm Track Mix)
12. Son Of Mr. Green Genes (1969 Rhythm Track Mix)
13. Little Umbrellas (1969 Rhythm Track Mix)
14. Arabesque (Guitar Tracks)
15. Hot Rats Vintage Promotion Ad #4

HOT RATS (TRANSLUCENT HOT PINK VINYL) TRACK LISTING
Side A
1. Peaches En Regalia
2. Willie The Pimp
3. Son Of Mr. Green Genes
Side B
1. Little Umbrellas
2. The Gumbo Variations
3. It Must Be A Camel