Fans of the uncompromising rock composer Frank Zappa have a special jewel to add to their collections tomorrow: a definitive set chronicling his 1973 stand at The Roxy in Hollywood.

The Roxy Performances is a 7CD box set that offers material from four incredible nights from December 8-12, 1973, as heard on 1974's Roxy & Elsewhere (in overdubbed form), 2014's Roxy By Proxy (which featured alternate performances sans overdubs) and 2015's Blu-ray/CD combo Roxy The Soundtrack. In addition to the four main shows from the 9th and 10th of the month, The Roxy Performances also includes material from an invite-only soundcheck and film shoot that commenced on the 8th and highlights from a session at Bolic Studio in Inglewood, CA on the 12th. What a week!

In fact, it was quite a few years for Zappa when he and a new version of The Mothers of Invention (which here included keyboardist George Duke, brothers Tom and Bruce Fowler on bass and trombone, singer/saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock and drummers/percussionists Chester Thompson, Ralph Humphrey and Ruth Underwood) appeared on the Sunset Strip. Almost exactly two years earlier, the guitarist had suffered two unbelievable setbacks. First, the infamous Montreux Casino fire (immortalized in Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water") occurred during a Mothers gig, and while the band was safe, more than $50,000 worth of their equipment was gone. Then, a week later, while playing rented gear at London's Rainbow Theatre, a fan ran onstage and shoved Zappa offstage, landing into a concrete orchestra pit and suffering enough injuries that onlookers initially thought he was dead. He did not return to the stage for about nine months while healing.

But here in these concerts we find a rejuvenated Zappa leading the group on reworked favorites as well as new compositions. (His creative output was particularly high at this time; months after the Roxy shows, Zappa released Apostrophe ('), a Top 10 album and his most commercially successful.) Fans from all over have lauded these performances; Genesis drummer and eventual frontman Phil Collins invited Thompson to join the touring version of the band off the strength of Roxy & Elsewhere, and it's not hard to hear their drum duets as their own homage to what The Mothers were doing on stage at that time.

The music in The Roxy Performances presents new 2016 mixes by Craig Parker Adams, who used new 96/24 transfers of the multi-track masters. The set includes a 48-page booklet of liner notes, including essays from Australian writer Jen Jewel Brown and Dave Alvin of The Blasters (both of whom attended Roxy shows), liner notes from Joe Travers (longtime Zappa "vaultmeister" and, alongside Zappa's son Ahmet, the box's co-producer) and archival press clippings.

The Roxy Performances is available tomorrow - pre-order it at the links below!

The Roxy Performances (Zappa Records Official Release #111/ZR 20028, 2018)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: 12/9/1973 Show 1

1. Sunday Show 1 Start
2. Cosmik Debris
3. "We're Makin' a Movie"
4. Pygmy Twylyte
5. The Idiot Bastard Son
6. Cheepnis
7. Hollywood Perverts
8. Penguin In Bondage
9. T'Mershi Duween
10. The Dog Breath Variations
11. Uncle Meat
12. RDNZL
13. Montana
14. Dupree's Paradise

Disc 2: 12/9/1973 Show 1 (1) and 12/9/1973 Show 2 (2-9)

1. Dickie's Such An Asshole
2. Sunday Show 2 Start
3. Inca Roads
4. Village Of The Sun
5. Echidna's Arf (Of You)
6. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
7. Slime Intro
8. I'm The Slime
9. Big Swifty

Disc 3: 12/9/1973 Show 2 (1-3) and 12/10/1973 Show 1 (4-8)

1. Tango #1 Intro
2. Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen's Church)
3. Medley: King Kong/Chunga's Revenge/Son Of Mr. Green Genes
4. Monday Show 1 Start
5. Montana
6. Dupree's Paradise
7. Cosmik Intro
8. Cosmik Debris

Disc 4: 12/10/1973 Show 1 (1-11) and 12/10/1973 Show 2 (12-17)

1. Bondage Intro
2. Penguin In Bondage
3. T'Mershi Duween
4. The Dog Breath Variations
5. Uncle Meat
6. RDNZL
7. Audience Participation - RDNZL
8. Pygmy Twylyte
9. The Idiot Bastard Son
10. Cheepnis
11. Dickie's Such An Asshole
12. Monday Show 2 Start
13. Penguin In Bondage
14. T'Mershi Duween
15. The Dog Breath Variations
16. Uncle Meat
17. RDNZL

Disc 5: 12/10/1973 Show 2

1. Village Of The Sun
2. Echidna's Arf (Of You)
3. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
4. Cheepnis - Percussion
5. "I Love Monster Movies"
6. Cheepnis
7. "Turn The Light Off"/Pamela's Intro
8. Pygmy Twylyte
9. The Idiot Bastard Son
10. Tango #2 Intro
11. Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen's Church)

Disc 6: 12/10/1973 Show 2 (1), 12/10/1973 Rehearsal (2-5), Unreleased Track (6) and 12/12/1973 Bolic Studio Session

1. Dickie's Such An Asshole
2. Big Swifty - In Rehearsal
3. Village Of The Sun
4. Farther O'Blivion - In Rehearsal
5. Pygmy Twylyte
6. That Arrogant Dick Nixon
7. Kung Fu - In Session
8. Kung Fu - with guitar overdub
9. Tuning and Studio Chatter
10. Echidna's Arf (Of You) - In Session
11. Don't Eat The Yellow Snow - In Session
12. Nanook Rubs It - In Session
13. St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast - In Session
14. Father O'Blivion - In Session
15. Rollo (Be-Bop Version)

Disc 7: 12/8/1973 Sound Check/Film Shoot

1. Saturday Show Start
2. Pygmy Twylyte/Dummy Up
3. Pygmy Twylyte - Part II
4. Echidna's Arf (Of You)
5. Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
6. Orgy, Orgy
7. Penguin In Bondage
8. T'Mershi Duween
9. The Dog Breath Variations
10. Uncle Meat/Show End

Portions previously released on Roxy & Elsewhere (DiscReet 2DS 2202, 1974/Zappa Records ZR 3852, 2012), Roxy By Proxy (Zappa Records ZR 20017, 2014) and Roxy The Movie (Eagle Vision EVB335219, 2015)