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In celebration of 50 years of Frank Zappa’s widely-acclaimed Over-Nite Sensation, a newly expanded 50th anniversary edition will be released on November 3 via Zappa Records/UMe in a variety of formats, including a five-disc (4CD/1Blu-ray Audio) Super Deluxe Edition that showcases 88 tracks in total, featuring 57 previously unreleased tracks and mixes.
Produced and compiled by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa Vaultmeister Joe Travers, this new, expanded collection titled Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Edition, boasts the 2012 remaster of the original album by Bob Ludwig, along with additional unreleased masters, highlights, and mix outtakes from the original 1973 sessions mastered by John Polito. Also included are two completely unreleased live concert recordings from 1973 showcasing the same band that recorded the classic album — one show captured at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and the other recorded at Cobo Hall in Detroit.
The Blu-ray contains the core album newly remixed in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound by Karma Auger and Erich Gobel at Studio1LA, the same team behind the acclaimed Dolby Atmos and surround mixes of 2022’s Waka/Wazoo release, plus it offers Zappa’s original 4-channel Quadraphonic mix (available again for the first time since 1973) as well as the hi-res stereo 2012 remaster at both 24-bit/192kHz and 24-bit/96kHz. The lavish, Super Deluxe Edition box is rounding out with a 48-page booklet and unseen photos from the album cover shoot by Sam Emerson, along with liner notes and new essays by noted audiophile journalist Mark Smotroff and Travers.
In 1973, Frank Zappa and The Mothers were once again on the move. Coming off a year laden with a pair of well-lauded high watermarks — July 1972’s jazz-fusion solo masterstroke Waka/Jawaka and November 1972’s big-band Mothers progression The Grand Wazoo — Zappa wanted to next convene another revised Mothers collective, rethink some long-throw compositional tracts, and begin exploring the differences inherent in the form and function of his songwriting. In turn, Zappa also decided to bring his own singing voice more to the lead vocal fore than ever before, as well as refine the scope of his guitar playing.
And thus, September 1973’s Over-Nite Sensation was born. A stone cold classic, Over-Nite Sensation has long been viewed by both the cognoscenti and layman as being a gateway album entry into the Zappaverse at large, serving as a mighty grand place to enter into the breach along with his follow-up March 1974 solo release, Apostrophe(‘). It was also the first album by Zappa to be released in Quadraphonic surround sound, an ever-evolving sonic medium Zappa would continue to explore throughout his career on the cutting edge.
Not only did Over-Nite Sensation signal a change in musical direction for The Mothers at large, but Zappa handled the bulk of the lead vocal duties and staked his claim as the album’s only guitarist. It was a new band with a new sound that resonated widely, eventually going gold in 1976. Over the ensuing years, almost every song on Over-Nite Sensation became indelible live staples and longstanding fan favorites, with “I’m The Slime,” “Fifty-Fifty,” “Zomby Woof,” and “Camarillo Brillo” immediately making their respective presences known in the setlist. In the here and now, 50 years on, Over-Nite Sensation remains both one of the top-tier highlights of the vast Zappa catalog as well as one of his most consistent bestsellers.
In addition to the Super Deluxe Edition box set, there will be two separate vinyl releases: a 2LP 180-gram black audiophile vinyl reissue with the album cut at 45 rpm for the first time ever from the original analog tape by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in 2023 and a bonus 24” x 12” poster of the complete cover art and a limited edition 3LP deluxe color vinyl version pressed on clear vinyl with 4-color splatter with the album cut at 45 rpm on LPs 1 & 2 and a third LP with 35 minutes of bonus tracks culled from the box set, cut at 33 1/3 rpm by Bellman. The limited edition color pressing, which will also include the bonus 24” x 12” poster of the cover art, is available to pre-order now exclusively at Zappa.com, uDiscover Music and Sound of Vinyl.
Additionally, the Super Deluxe Edition will be available digitally, with all 88 tracks available in both hi-res 24-bit/96kHz and standard-res 16-bit/44.1kHz options. A standalone Dolby Atmos mix of the core album’s seven tracks will also be available on all major hi-res streaming services.
The new group of Mothers heard on Over-Nite Sensation was comprised of virtuoso musicians rooted in jazz (keyboardist George Duke, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, drummer Ralph Humphrey, and trumpeter Sal Marquez) and serious music (wind instrumentalist Ian Underwood and percussionist Ruth Underwood) alike, all polished off with the Fowler brothers duly in tow (with Bruce Fowler on trombone, and Tom Fowler on bass). As a result, the instrumentation of this aurally palpable Mothers lineup was akin to having a mini orchestra in a rock format — and Zappa utilized them brilliantly, crafting arrangements for existing material like “Cosmik Debris” and “Montana” in addition to writing a large number of new compositions to maximize their strengths.
The recording sessions at Bolic Sound and Whitney Studios were sweetened by the addition of some now-iconic guest vocalists. The truly crazy, over-the-top vocal stylings of Ricky Lancelotti catapulted songs like “Fifty-Fifty” and “Zomby Woof” into the stratosphere. For his part, Kin Vassy (of Kenny Rogers and The First Edition) added numerous, tasty tidbits all throughout. But perhaps the most legendary guest turns of them all would be those by Tina Turner and The Ikettes. With Zappa tracking at Ike Turner’s Bolic Sound studio in Inglewood, Calif., it only seemed logical that Tina and Frank’s paths would eventually cross. Although famously uncredited, Tina and The Ikettes’ background vocals were draped all throughout the record and are undeniably unique —and spot-on perfect. If you dropped the needle on Over-Nite Sensation for the first time in 1973, it was immediately apparent something new, different, and exciting was happening in Zappa’s ever-expanding musical universe. The material was funky, funny, challenging, and mighty — and, yes, even more accessible than his output of the prior few years.
Zappa and The Mothers hit the road in full force in 1973 by touring auditoriums, theaters, and college venues, looking to tap into a new audience as well as cater to the hardcores. These concerts would primarily consist of new compositions blended with some rearranged older tunes — an approach that was very typical for Zappa, who always prioritized the new. You can hear some of those immediate results via the 27 previously unreleased live tracks included from the above-noted Hollywood and Detroit shows. On March 23 at the Hollywood Palladium, fans got early tastes of the “sort-of” guru blues of “Cosmik Debris” and the sleazy, slow-rolling funky grease of “Curse Of The Zomboids (I’m The Slime).” Nary a few months later on May 12 at Cobo Hall in Detroit, the odds-busting, horn-driven instrumental sneer of “Fifty-Fifty” and the “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow,” “Nanook Rubs It,” and “St. Alphonzo’s Pancake Breakfast” troika medley were all served up with patented Zappa narrative aplomb.
Over-Nite Sensation indeed opened new commercial doors for Frank Zappa, but the maestro himself would not be sucked down into the corporate conformity ooze as he continued following his own muse all throughout the 1970s, and beyond. This 50th anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of Over-Nite Sensation puts an expanded stamp on all the visceral, tall-in-the-saddle tales recounting the finer points of dental floss farming, mindless video drones, and poncho-wearing lotharios — all of it acting as a pretext for what was to come, not to mention cementing the odds that Zappa still had lots more to say.
