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Just in time for Halloween, The Zappa Family Trust and UMe will release Halloween ’73, a 4-CD box set featuring over four and a half hours of live material, recorded in Chicago on October 31, 1973. Both of Zappa’s live sets from that day – and a further disc of rehearsal tapes – will be collected in the elaborately designed set, which features a “costume box” that houses the four CDs and a “FRANKenZAPPA” mask and gloves set.
On the music front, these legendary previously unreleased shows are full of exciting material. Not only did Zappa highlight the then-new tracks from Over-Nite Sensation, but he also previewed songs that would be released on Apostrophe the following year. Fans will also be treated to early arrangements of tracks like “Village of the Sun,” “Penguin in Bondage,” and “Dickie’s Such an Asshole,” which would appear on later studio and live albums. To create the new set, producers Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers (who serves as the Zappa Vaultmeister) went back to the original 1/2″, 4-track master tapes and transferred them to high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz digital files. These were then remixed and mastered by Craig Parker Adams.
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Aside from the costume and the music, Halloween ’73 will feature a 40-page booklet with backstage photos, snapshots from the stage, and new notes by Travers and Zappa bandmates Ruth Komanoff Underwood and Ralph Humphrey, who provide insights and recollections of the Chicago shows.
If four CDs and a Halloween costume seems like a little too much, ZFT and UMe will also release Halloween ’73 Highlights, a 1-CD, 16-song compilation featuring selections from the two shows. No matter which configuration you choose, Halloween ’73 promises exciting performances, once described by David Fricke as a blend of “advanced, instrumental ecstasy, cliff-edge improvisation and impromptu theatrical hijinks.”
You can get a taste of those hijinks below with the new single, “The Idiot Bastard Son,” recorded during the Halloween ’73 run. While you’re down there, place your orders for the box and highlights disc!
Frank Zappa, HALLOWEEN ’73 (Zappa Family Trust/UMe, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Disc 1 (Show 1):
1. “Happy Halloween To Each And Every One Of You” 4:36
2. Pygmy Twylyte 3:25
3. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:24
4. Cheepnis 3:28
5. “Another Assembly Of Items” 1:29
6. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue 1:02
7. Kung Fu 1:32
8. Penguin In Bondage 7:12
9. T’Mershi Duween 1:46
10. The Dog Breath Variations 1:47
11. Uncle Meat 2:24
12. RDNZL 5:54
13. Village Of The Sun 4:14
14. Ecidna’s Arf (Of You) 4:11
15. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 9:54
16. Montana 6:55
Disc 2 (Show 1 Continued):
1. Dupree’s Paradise 19:12
2. “Almost Up To Date” 1:35
3. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 10:04
(Show 2)
4. “That Greatest Of American Holidays” 4:50
5. Cosmik Debris 6:51
6. “We’re Hurtin’ For Tunes” 1:04
7. Pygmy Twylyte 3:40
8. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:17
9. Cheepnis 4:18
10. I’m The Slime 4:29
11. Big Swifty 9:37
Disc 3 (Show 2 Continued):
1. The History Of The San Clemente Magnetic Deviation 1:50
2. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 9:59
3. “Another New Event” :56
4. Farther O’Blivion – Part 1 9:03
5. Father O’Blivion – Part 2 10:10
6. “Pervert’s Special Holiday” 1:10
7. Penguin In Bondage 7:27
8. T’Mershi Duween 1:45
9. RDNZL 6:06
10. Inca Roads 10:55
11. Medley: Son Of Mr. Green Genes/King Kong/Chunga’s Revenge 16:23
Disc 4 (Bonus Rehearsals 10-20/21-73):
1. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue (10-21-73) 1:05
2. Penguin In Bondage (10-20-73) 6:45
3. T’Mershi Duween (10-20-73) 1:46
4. Dog Breath (10-20-73) 1:28
5. The Dog Breath Variations (10-20-73) 1:20
6. Uncle Meat (10-20-73) 2:18
7. RDNZL (10-20-73) 5:10
8. Magic Fingers (10-21-73) 4:47
9. Inca Roads (10-20-73) 14:38
10. Father O’Blivion (10-21-73) 17:54
11. Cosmik Debris (10-20-73) 10:36
12. Big Swifty (10-21-73) 4:41
Frank Zappa, HALLOWEEN 73 HIGHLIGHTS (Zappa Family Trust/UMe, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
1. “Happy Halloween To Each And Every One Of You” (Show 1) 4:36
2. Pygmy Twylyte (Show 2) 3:40
3. The Idiot Bastard Son (Show 2) 2:17
4. Cheepnis (Show 2) 3:18
5. “Another Assembly Of Items” (Show 1) 1:29
6. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue (Show 1) 1:02
7. Kung Fu (Show 1) 1:32
8. Penguin In Bondage (Show 1) 7:12
9. T’Mershi Duween (Show 1) 1:46
10. The Dog Breath Variations (Show 1) 1:47
11. Uncle Meat (Show 1) 2:24
12. RDNZL (Show 1) 5:50
13. I’m The Slime (Show 2) 4:29
14. Big Swifty (Show 2) 9:25
15. “The History Of The San Clemente Magnetic Deviation (Show 2) 1:48
16. Dickie’s Such An Asshole (Show 2) 10:24
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This box set looks great, I have been thinking about purchasing it, but I don’t think that I could do anything with the mask and gloves…they look nice and collectable, but absolutely useless, they only put the price up….It would be an instant buy, if it was released on a vinyl box like New York ( without the mask and gloves:-)))
Ordered it. I have the old TCDTOSA Pink box set I bought from 1-818-Pumpkin way back when FZ was still alive, this will look very nice next to that.
Frank Zappa’s Halloween shows with Audience Participation are legendary. The trend of Limited Edition Costume Box Sets are part of how FZ tought us to dance like we never danced before. Greek Spartan’s had annual Gymnopaedia festivals. Zappa fans had Halloween. By the time I turned 18 I was able to save up enough cash to attend all the shows at The Palladium. Oct 27, 1978 was my first in this.
I just wet myself with excitement! Or maybe it’s just another sign of old age. I was at that first show in my 17th year.
Looking forward to any and all goodies from the vault. Frank was a long time friend of Pacifica Radio and we had the pleasure of interviewing him in the studio many times.
Thanks for keeping his music alive!
Sweeeet!! Ever since my first FZ show on 1979 at Rutgers University I was hooked. I will definitely be purchasing one of the configurations. Always loved seeing FZ in Halloween at the Palladium in NYC. I too would save my money throughout the year in order to attend as many Halloween shows as I could. Thanks to the Zappa Fam for keeping his music alive so many years later.
Great music, but they cheapened it up by not putting a lot of effort into the CD display. Cheap cardboard cases and no slipcase/clamshell for the CDs and booklet. Just loose in there. “Boo!” is appropriate! Give us a way to put these on our shelves.