If an upcoming box set is any indication, Zappa Records is on fire - as Frank Zappa's 1969 solo album Hot Rats is about to get a lot hotter. On December 20, the label, in association with UMe, will issue The Hot Rats Sessions, a 6CD box set exploring that seminal album from every angle.

The mostly-instrumental LP came on the heels of the breakup of the original Mothers of Invention, making it clear that Zappa was a force with which to be reckoned as a composer. Described by the artist as "a movie for your ears," Hot Rats was a fusion of jazz and rock as only Zappa could create. Recorded on 16 tracks (a first for a Zappa album), it featured the producer/arranger/guitar virtuoso (who also played bass and percussion) joined by The Mothers' Ian Underwood as well as Max Bennett, Johnny Otis, Shuggie Otis, John Guerin, Paul Humphrey, Ron Selico, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, and Jean-Luc Ponty. Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, provided the vocals on the lone non-instrumental, "Willie The Pimp."

The 6CD box, per the press release, "documents and compiles every composition recorded during several days in July 1969 when Zappa recorded Hot Rats and a wealth of other material that ended up being used throughout multiple releases during his lifetime. Filled with an abundance of rare and unedited mixes, work mixes, relevant Vault nuggets and complete basic tracks mixed from the original multi-track master tapes by Craig Parker Adams and mastered by Bob Ludwig in 2019, the collection provides a fascinating look into the making of this classic album, and includes essentially every musical entity that was recorded during these iconic sessions."

The Hot Rats Sessions, overseen by The Zappa Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers (The Vaultmeister), will also be available digitally (including an Apple Digital Master). The discs in the physical edition are accompanied by a 28-page booklet boasting never-before-published images shot by Bill Gubbins, photos of the original master tape boxes, and outtakes from the original cover session by photographer Andee Nathanson. Liner notes have been provided by Ian Underwood, Joe Travers, and Nathanson, while The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has penned an appreciation of the album. Keeping with Zappa's often-irreverent spirit, the box set also includes a "Zappa Land" board game where players must help Frank get back to the studio to finish Hot Rats. All boxes pre-ordered via Zappa.com will come with an instant-grat download of the previously unreleased outtake "It Must Be a Camel" (1969 Mix Outtake).

Two new vinyl releases will also be issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hot Rats. The original 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. That LP will be accompanied by a limited edition 10-inch picture disc. The Peaches En Regalia EP will be released for Record Store Day's Black Friday event on November 29. The EP has rare mono mixes on Side A of "Peaches En Regalia" and "Little Umbrellas," proposed in 1969 as a promotional single, and the 1969 unreleased rhythm track mixes from the forthcoming box set on the B-side.

The Hot Rats Sessions features songs that would subsequently become part of Zappa's albums Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Studio Tan, and Chunga's Revenge. The first three and a half discs present the basic track recording sessions recorded at T.T.G. Studios in Hollywood, California on July 18, 28, 29 and 30, 1969. Disc Four also boasts remakes, alternate takes, complete versions, and isolated tracks. Following the session material, the box's fifth and sixth discs have the original Hot Rats album plus Zappa's 1987 compact disc digital remix, adding numerous extras such as audio advertisements, mono single mixes, and more than a dozen vintage alternate mixes.

This release promises to be one of the most comprehensive and exciting yet for Zappa fans. Look for The Hot Rats Sessions on December 20 from Zappa Records/UMe at the links below!

The Hot Rats Sessions (Zappa Records/UMe, 2019)

6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: Basic Track Recording Sessions @ T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, CA 7/18/1969 (1-2) and 7/28/1969 (3-12)

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)

Portions of Disc 1, Track 2 released as "Aybe Sea" on Burnt Weeny Sandwich (Zappa Official Release #9, 1970)
Portions of Disc 1, Track 11 released as "Toads Of The Short Forest" on Weasels Ripped My Flesh (Zappa Official Release #10, 1970)

Disc 2: Basic Track Recording Sessions @ T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, CA 7/29/1969

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)

Disc 2, Track 6 released as "Little Umbrellas" on Hot Rats (Zappa Official Release #8, 1969)

Disc 3: Basic Track Recording Sessions @ T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, CA 7/29/1969 (1-7) and 7/30/1969 (8-9)

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)

Edit of Disc 3, Track 6 released as "Twenty Small Cigars" on Chunga's Revenge (Zappa Official Release #11, 1970)
Remix and edit of Disc 3, Track 7 released on The Lost Episodes (Zappa Official Release #64, 1996)
Edit of Disc 3, Track 8 released on Weasels Ripped My Flesh (Zappa Official Release #10, 1970)
Edits of Disc 3, Track 9 released as "Little House I Used To Live In" on on Burnt Weeny Sandwich (Zappa Official Release #9, 1970)

Disc 4: Basic Track Recording Sessions @ T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, CA 7/30/1969 (1-4) and overdubs recorded at Sunset Sound Studios, 8/1969 (5-7) and T.T.G. Studios 7/21/1969 (8)

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)

Disc 4, Track 1 utilized for "Lemme Take You To The Beach" on Studio Tan (Zappa Official Release #24, 1978)
Edit of Disc 4, Track 4 released as "The Gumbo Variations" on Hot Rats (Zappa Official Release #8, 1969)
Edit of Disc 4, Track 7 released on Weasels Ripped My Flesh (Zappa Official Release #10, 1970)
Portions of Disc 4, Track 8 released as "Aybe Sea" on Burnt Weeny Sandwich (Zappa Official Release #9, 1970)

Disc 5: From The Vault - Part 1

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)

Disc 5, Tracks 1-6 remixed by Bob Stone at Utillity Muffin Research Kitchen. Released on Rykodisc CD 10066, 1987

Disc 6: From The Vault - Part 2

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