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Following last year’s deluxe expansion of 1974’s Apostrophe (‘) and the recent restoration of the same year’s concert film Cheaper Than Cheep, Frank Zappa’s archival team is turning the page to 1975 and expansively revisiting One Size Fits All in time for its 50th anniversary.  The guitarist-songwriter-bandleader-producer’s twentieth album (and fourteenth with The Mothers of Invention), it featured the by-then-familiar lineup of keyboardist George Duke, drummer Chester Thompson, percussionist Ruth Underwood, bassist Tom Fowler, and saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock.  One Size Fits All continued their jazz-rooted satirical explorations, and reached No. 26 on the Billboard 200.  On September 26, it returns from Zappa Records and UMe in a variety of formats including:

• 4CD/1Blu-ray;
• 2LP 180-gram “Black Glitter” edition;
• 1LP 180-gram “Blue Galaxy” edition; and
• Digital formats.

Zappa and the band decamped to Colorado’s Caribou Ranch – birthing ground for classic albums by Elton John, Chicago, Amy Grant, Joe Walsh, Rick Derringer, and others – to record One Size Fits All.  Stylistically, the music within its grooves complemented and continued Apostrophe (‘) with blues, jazz, and R&B all in the mix as well as the doses of comedy and satire that his fans expected.  Working with his usual engineer Kerry McNabb and, later, Michael Brunstein, Zappa recorded the album on 24-track tape – his first use of the format.  (Previous releases had been recorded on 16 tracks or fewer.)

At Caribou, Napoleon Murphy Brock was absent and bassist James “Birdlegs” Youman filled in for Tom Fowler, still recuperating from having broken his hand.  Sessions at James William Guercio’s studio took place between December 8 and December 22, 1974; subsequent dates were booked upon the band’s return to California at The Record Plant.  For those sessions, Fowler and Brock returned to the fold but Underwood was out.  Ultimately, this iteration of the band would fall apart with both Thompson and Underwood exiting but both of their contributions remained prominent on One Size Fits All – the final studio album on which Zappa would credit The Mothers of Invention.  A number of the LP’s tracks remained key parts of Zappa’s setlists for the rest of his life, including “Inca Roads,” “Florentine Pogen,” “Andy,” and “Sofa.”

Typically for Zappa, One Size Fits All was filled with “conceptual continuity” and in-jokes; the first letter of each word in the title spelled “Sofa,” and one was, of course, pictured on the cover.  The back of the jacket featured Cal Schenkel and Vernon Simpson’s detailed map of the cosmos, itself filled with jokes.   The album was originally released on Zappa’s DiscReet label which would remain in operation (and distributed by Warner Bros.) until 1979.

The new 50th anniversary editions have been produced by Ahmet Zappa and Vaultmeister Joe Travers.  It re-presents Bob Ludwig’s 2012 album remaster alongside session outtakes and alternates, and new 2024 mixes all restored by Craig Parker Adams and mastered by John Polito.  A live concert from Rotterdam in The Netherlands on September 28, 1974 premieres here plus bonus live tracks from a Sweden show just days earlier.  The live tracks required a great deal of restoration; the Swedish show was missing the bass track, and the Rotterdam concert tape lacked some of Underwood’s percussion.  Despite these issues and others – an “edgy” guitar tone from Zappa, a too-loud bass drum – the performances remain vibrant and should make another significant addition to the Zappa live library.

The Blu-ray disc has the original album remixed into Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround by Karma Auger and Erich Gobel, following their remixes for 2022’s Waka/Wazoo, 2023’s Over-Nite Sensation, and 2024’s Apostrophe (‘) releases.  It also contains a high-resolution (192/24) remaster of the album plus two vintage tracks mixed by Zappa (one of which is a quadraphonic mix of “Sofa No. 2”) and a couple of videos from Zappa’s August 27, 1974 taping for KCET-TV in Los Angeles.

The “Black Glitter” 2LP vinyl set boasts a new analog cut of the album plus a bonus LP of highlights from the CD/BD box set; the 1LP “Blue Galaxy” version is housed in a jacket printed on silver foil and includes a lithograph of a previously unpublished photo contact sheet from one of Zappa’s shoots with Sam Emerson.  Digital editions will offer all 58 tracks either in high-resolution (96/24) or standard CD-quality (44/16) audio.  The Dolby Atmos album will also be available for streaming.

The Super Deluxe 4CD/1BD Edition and 2LP set will be released to general retail on September 26 but fans who pre-order any of the One Size Fits All: 50th Anniversary Edition offerings, including the 1LP color vinyl, exclusively at Zappa.com, uDiscover Music, or Sound of Vinyl will receive the album early, with shipments going out tomorrow, Friday, August 1.

And that’s still not all.  Honker Home Video, founded in 1987 by Zappa to sell videocassettes directly to fans, has been reactivated as a digital rental shop.  Initial offerings include such favorites as the 1987 documentary The True Story of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels, the 2008 concert film The Torture Never Stops (preserving FZ’s Halloween 1981 show at New York City’s Palladium), the compilation film Video from Hell, and the newly-released Cheaper Than Cheep.  Visit here for more information.

In the meantime, you’ll find the pre-order links and track listing for the 50th anniversary editions of One Size Fits All below.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Frank Zappa, One Size Fits All: 50th Anniversary Editon (DiscReet LP DS 2216, 1975 – reissued Zappa/UMe, 2025)

4CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Zappa Online Store

CD 1

One Size Fits All – The Original Album – 2024 Remaster + Album Session Bonus Tracks

The Original Album

1. Inca Roads
2. Can’t Afford No Shoes
3. Sofa No. 1
4. Po-Jama People
5. Florentine Pogen
6. Evelyn, A Modified Dog
7. San Ber’dino
8. Andy
9. Sofa No. 2

Album Session Bonus Tracks

10. Inca Roads – Rough Mix
11. Ralph Stuffs His Shoes – “Token” Outtake
12. Ralph Stuffs His Shoes – Basic Tracks, Take 5
13. Ralph Stuffs His Shoes – Instrumental Mix, Master Take
14. Can’t Afford No Shoes – Rough Mix
15. Sofa No. 1 – Basic Tracks, Take 6
16. Sofa No. 1 – Master Take, Early Mix

CD 2

Album Session Bonus Tracks

1. Po-Jama People – Old Mix
2. Florentine Pogen – Rough Mix
3. Florentine Pogen – Alternate Solo
4. Evelyn, A Modified Dog – Session Outtakes
5. Bitch, Bitch, Bitch – In Rehearsal
6. Bitch, Bitch, Bitch – Basic Tracks, Take 1
7. San Ber’dino – Rough Mix I
8. San Ber’dino – Rough Mix II
9. San Ber’dino – Rough Mix III
10. Something/Anything – Rough Mix
11. Andy – Rough Mix
12. Sofa No. 2 – Rough Mix

CD 3

Live In Rotterdam, Netherlands, September 28, 1974

1. Tush Tush Tush (A Token of My Extreme)
2. Stink-Foot
3. Inca Roads
4. Approximate
5. Cosmik Debris
6. Florentine Pogen
7. Montana
8. RDNZL

 CD 4

Live In Rotterdam, Netherlands, September 28, 1974 (continued) + Bonus Live Tracks

1. Dupree’s Paradise Intro
2. Blind Mice Blues
3. Dupree’s Paradise – Part 1
4. Dupree’s Paradise – Part 2
5. Pygmy Twylyte
6. Room Service
7. Tush Tush Tush (End Vamp)

Bonus Live Tracks

8. Ralph Stuffs His Shoes – Live In Gothenburg, Sweden, 9/25/19741
9. Po-Jama People – Live In Gothenburg, Sweden, 9/25/1974

Blu-ray

1. Inca Roads
2. Can’t Afford No Shoes
3. Sofa No. 1
4. Po-Jama People
5. Florentine Pogen
6. Evelyn, A Modified Dog
7. San Ber’dino
8. Andy
9. Sofa No. 2

Bonus Audio

1. Sofa No. 1 – 1975 Quad Mix
2. San Ber’dino – 1993 6-Channel Mix

Bonus Video (Pillar-box format)

3. Inca Roads: Video – “Token” Outtake, Live In Los Angeles, CA 8/27/1974
4. Florentine Pogen: Video – “Token” Outtake, Live In Los Angeles, CA 8/27/1974

2LP “Black Glitter” Vinyl Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Zappa Online Store
1LP “Blue Galaxy” Vinyl Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Zappa Online Store

LP1

Side 1

1. Inca Roads
2. Can’t Afford No Shoes
3. Sofa No. 1
4. Po-Jama People

Side 2

1. Florentine Pogen
2. Evelyn, A Modified Dog
3. San Ber’dino
4. Andy
5. Sofa No. 2

LP2 (“Black Glitter” Vinyl Only)

Side 3

1. Inca Roads – Rough Mix
2. Can’t Afford No Shoes – Rough Mix
3. Sofa No. 1 – Basic Tracks, Take 6
4. Bitch, Bitch, Bitch – Basic Tracks, Take 1

Side 4

1. Po-Jama People – Old Mix
2. Evelyn, A Modified Dog – Session Outtake
3. Something/Anything – Rough Mix
4. Sofa No. 2 – Rough Mix​