On Friday, December 20, 2019, the Zappa Family Trust in partnership with UMe will release The Hot Rat Sessions boxset in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s groundbreaking debut solo album Hot Rats.
The 6-CD set features an incredible collection of previously unreleased material from the late musician including “Dame Margret’s Son To Be A Bride (1969 Quick Mix)” – an outtake that has been released in anticipation of the forthcoming set. Listen in the player below.
“Dame Margret’s Son To Be A Bride” was recorded at T.T.G. Studios in Hollywood during the sessions that resulted in the Hot Rats album. Written by Zappa, the song was performed by bassist Max Bennett, pianist Ian Underwood, and drummer Paul Humphrey. Zappa created this quick mix so he could get a sense of how the three sounded together. Ultimately these rhythm tracks wound up on the composer’s 1978 album Studio Tan serving as the bass for “Lemme Take You To The Beach.”
Due out just one day before what would have been Zappa’s 79th birthday, The Hot Rats Sessions set features every composition Zappa wrote during the prolific Hot Rats sessions, along with his 1987 digital re-mix. Also included are a number of extras such as mono singles, rare mixes and promotional audio ads for the LP.
The box set itself contains a 28-page booklet featuring never-before-seen photos from the sessions, photos of master tapes and tape boxes, outtakes from the cover art shoot and essays by Zappa collaborator Ian Underwood and lifelong Zappa fan Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons), as well as a “Zappa Land” board game in which players are tasked with helping Zappa get back to the studio to finish work on the LP.
From Matt Groening: “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.”
Pre-order your copy here.
In other Frank Zappa news, the Zappa Family Trust has teamed up with Rowdy Sprout children’s clothing line to create a select number of limited edition Frank Zappa items. The new products, available just in time for the holiday season, include a Frank Zappa Raglan Tee and a Frank Zappa Raglan Onesie.
Both items feature the iconic Frank Zappa image and logo and both are currently available online at Zappa.com in the kids’ section of apparel and via the Rowdy Sprout website.
