ALBUM RELEASE NEWS

The crux of the biscuit is this — in proper celebration of 50 years of Frank Zappa’s March 1974 solo LP Apostrophe (’), a newly expanded 50th anniversary edition will be released on September 13, 2024, via Zappa Records/UMe in a variety of formats, including 180g 2LP+7-inch and 180g 1LP color vinyl editions.

Additionally, on July 19, 2024, Frank Zappa for President will be released widely on vinyl for the first time, following its RSD 2024 exclusive offering back on April 20 on red, white, and blue splatter vinyl. This album, comprised of unreleased compositions Zappa performed on the Synclavier, along with other relevant tracks mined from The Vault with a political thread tying it all together, will be released on 180g 2LP black vinyl with three sides of music and a silk-screened FZ image on Side 4.

First, here’s what’s what with what’s been dubbed Apostrophe (’): 50th Anniversary Edition. Produced by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers, both of these LP releases have been cut from the original analog tape by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in 2024. The 2LP+7-inch edition — with the 2LPs both appearing on white vinyl with (but of course!) yellow-snow splatter — includes a number of additional session outtakes from The Vault, alternate takes, and 2024 mixes remixed and restored by Craig Parker Adams and remastered by John Polito.

The bonus material on LP2 includes six alternate takes, outtakes, and 2024 mixes on Side 1 inclusive, and three of-era live tracks from 1974 plus a brief Apostrophe (’) radio ad on Side 2. More details about all these tracks can be found in the tracklisting section following the end of this story.

The included 7-inch of “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” is a reproduction of the original 1974 single, with “Cosmik Debris” on the flip — but this time, it comes on cosmic glow-in-the-dark with yellow-snow splatter vinyl.

The booklet contains a selection of unseen photos from the archives of Sam Emerson, the man who shot the now-iconic close-up cover image of Zappa, in addition to liner notes and new essays by noted British journalist Simon Prentis and, as always, Vaultmeister Travers.

The 2LP+7-inch edition boasts an SRP of $64.98, and it’s available exclusively at Zappa.com, uDiscover Music, and Sound of Vinyl. You can preorder it directly here.

Beginning today, we can all check out a previously unreleased take of “Uncle Remus (Piano and Vocal Mix 2024),” which appears on LP2, Side 1, Track 5 — and we can hear it directly via the YouTube link above. This newly mixed version of “Uncle Remus” is culled from the original 16-track master, featuring isolated piano and tack piano tracks by George Duke along with a spotlighting of FZ and The Ikettes’ vocal master tracks.

As for the 180g 1LP edition of Apostrophe (’), this version features the original album’s nine tracks on Gold Nugget vinyl, and its SRP is $29.99. It too can be preordered here.

Incidentally, a more expansive 5CD/1BD Super Deluxe Edition pf Apostrophe (’) — as seen below, for reference — that features 75 tracks in total (many of them live cuts from two unreleased 1974 concerts) and a Dolby Atmos mix of the core album will be concurrently released alongside the vinyl sets, and its SRP is $99.98. (I freely admit I’ll be getting this version for Atmos-listening and completist purposes, without a doubt.)

Some background info now. As both an album title and concept, Apostrophe (’) looks to have initially appeared in The Vault on a few 2-inch 16-track masters that were essentially Zappa’s “Build Reels” created in 1971. They contain multi-track master sources of a variety of selections from The Hot Rats Sessions of 1969, the Record Plant Sessions from 1970, and Fillmore East live tracks from 1971.

It wasn’t until early 1974 that the all-lowercase and additionally punctuated Apostrophe (’) album title was fully appropriated, with then-current session masters from Bolic Studios in Inglewood, California, combined with other archive recordings dating from 1970 to 1972. The master tapes for Apostrophe (’) were handed in to Warners on February 7, 1974. Vinyl acetates and mastering were completed at Artisan Sound Recorders, and the album’s March 22, 1974 release date was officially set.

As many of us already know, it was September 1973’s Over-Nite Sensation — the album generally acknowledged by both the cognoscenti and the layman as the gateway listening experience that invited the world writ large into the ever-expanding Zappaverse (whose expanded 2023 multi-LP reissue we reviewed in depth here on AP in a round-robin review on December 22, 2023) — also served as a direct bridge to the eunsuing solo turn that was, and is, Apostrophe (’). In turn, Apostrophe (’) also became Zappa’s most successful venture to date — strictly commercially speaking, that is. Apostrophe (’) was Zappa’s first Gold-selling record in the United States, ultimately peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The forever prescient and perpetually catchy single “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” (Side 1, Track 1) made its own splash on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, duly marking its territory at No. 87. Key apostrophe (’) favorites — such as the seething indictment of flim-flam gurus and phony psychics in “Cosmik Debris” (Side 1, Track 5), the ongoing exploration of racial inequality in “Uncle Remus” (Side 2, Track 3), and the examination of the unending olfactory horrors of “Stink-Foot” (Side 2, Track 4) — further solidified Zappa’s hold on the public consciousness and subconsciousness alike, replete with songs and stories set to Zappa-directed music and dutifully performed for your dining and dancing pleasure.

Additionally, and as briefly referenced earlier in this story, Frank Zappa For President, a compilation originally released in 2016 showcasing Zappa’s political side and a nod to his political ambitions (he explored running for president in 1991), will be released widely on vinyl for the first time on July 19. This follows its Record Store Day exclusive release back on April 20 on red, white, and blue splatter vinyl. The album, comprised of unreleased compositions FZ performed on the Synclavier, along with other relevant tracks mined from The Vault and with a political thread tying it all together, will be released on 180g 2LP black vinyl with three sides of music, and a silk-screened FZ image on Side 4.

Frank Zappa For President will also be released exclusively in a Mystery Vinyl Edition via Zappa.com, uDiscover Music, and Sound of Vinyl. Limited to 3,000 units worldwide, fans will randomly receive the double platter on red vinyl, white vinyl, or blue vinyl, each version of which has been capped at 1,000 units, respectively. SRP and preordering details will be imminently available on zappa.com.

FRANK ZAPPA
APOSTROPHE (’) 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
180g 2LP+7-Inch (Zappa/UMe)

LP One – Side 1
1. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
2. Nanook Rubs It
3. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
4. Father O’Blivion
5. Cosmik Debris

LP One – Side 2
1. Excentrifugal Forz
2. Apostrophe’
3. Uncle Remus
4. Stink-Foot

LP Two – Side 3
1. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow (Basic Tracks / Alternate Take)
2. Nanook Rubs It (Session Outtake)
3. Excentrifugal Force (Mix Outtake)
4. Apostrophe’ (Unedited Master / 2024 Mix)
5. Uncle Remus (Piano and Vocal Mix 2024)
6. …the poodle bites…

LP Two – Side 4
1. Cosmik Debris (Live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 3-21-74)
2. Approximate – Bale (Live in Basel, Switzerland, 10-1-74)
3. Goteborg GTR (Live in Gothenburg, Sweden, 9-25-74)
4. Apostrophe TV Ad

7-Inch – Side 1
1. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow

7-Inch – Side 2
1. Cosmik Debris

FRANK ZAPPA
APOSTROPHE (’) 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
180g 1LP (Zappa/UMe)

Side 1
1. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
2. Nanook Rubs It
3. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast
4. Father O’Blivion
5. Cosmik Debris

Side 2
1. Excentrifugal Forz
2. Apostrophe
3. Uncle Remus
4. Stink-Foot

FRANK ZAPPA
FRANK ZAPPA FOR PRESIDENT
180g 2LP (Zappa/UMe)

LP1 – Side 1
1. Overture To “Uncle Sam"

LP1 – Side 2
1. Brown Shoes Don’t Make (Remix)
2. Amnerika (Vocal Version)
3. “If I Was President"

LP2 – Side 3
1. When The Lie’s So Big
2. Medieval Ensemble
3. America The Beautiful

LP 2 – Side 4
**no music – silk screen image of FZ & American flag