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Zappa Hot Rats sessions

wylton

Naim and Mana member
I got an email this morning about the forthcoming Hot Rats Sessions 6 x CD box set. There’s already a huge thread about it on the Steve Hoffman forum. Looks like it’s going to be around £110 in the UK.

To quote from the Zappa store:


The Hot Rats Sessions box set celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest albums in the history of recorded music. The original 1969 Frank Zappa album was the first to be recorded on a prototype 16-Track Tape Machine. Self described as a "Movie For Your Ears,” it was the first solo outing for the composer and the album that put FZ on the map as a guitar player. The recording sessions produced a wealth of material that ended up being sprinkled among multiple releases during FZ’s lifetime. This mammoth six disc collection documents and compiles every composition recorded during those days in July 1969, along with an abundance of rare mixes, Vault nuggets and complete basic tracks mixed from the original multi-track masters by Craig Parker Adams and mastered by Bob Ludwig in 2019. Additional gems include images by original Hot Rats cover photographer, Andee Nathanson, session photos taken by Bill Gubbins, liner notes by Matt Groening and essays by Ian Underwood, Andee Nathanson and Vaultmeister Joe Travers. The box set also includes a Zappa Land board game in celebration of this release.
 
I noticed this book a few days ago - from the description above it looks like it might be included in the CD box too.

Edit: no, it looks like there is a ‘28-page booklet’ in the CD box. So you can shell out for the book as well if you want more. Surprise...
 
Norman’s records are showing it for £70, but there’s no pre-order buttons, so I guess that’s an optimistic price; Amazon already have it as a pre-order at £110. I have an original copy of the LP, a CD and I have the Old Masters boxes too, but there’s plenty of unreleased stuff on this latest release if you don’t mind shelling out!
 
I’m not sure how much I’d enjoy the remixes. I grew up with the original vinyl too and couldn’t get used to the remixed version that was first released on CD. I was hugely relieved when the vinyl mix was eventually put out as well.
 
Love Frank Zappa and love the album been in my collection since it’s release. I bought the CD in the 80’s £110 a bit steep but welcome any one who buys it for a review.

Regards,

Martin
 
This has the potential to be up there with some of Miles Davis 'complete' boxes or Dylan's 'Cutting Edge. Just seeing if I can wangle a copy for review for a well known music mag - not sure as the Zappa people can be a bit tight about such things. The book comes out a week before the box set.

I'm guessing this is a 50 year copyright extension set like Dylan's awesome 'Cutting Edge'.
 
The original '69 mix is coming out on vinyl at the same time as the box set. Anyone know if this has been officially released digitally since the horrid extended remaster came out in the late 80's? I'm damn sure it hasn't, as is Wikipedia, but anyone know different?
 
Never liked Hot Rats. Sorry. My journey began as a 15 year old in 1973 with Overnite Sensation and then Bongo Fury / Zoot Alors / Sheik Yerbouti and Joes Garage.I gave up after Us and Them.

Tried to get into his earlier stuff to see what I was missing but I never really got it TBH.
 


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