Massive Frank Zappa re-release campaign planned

Zappa's 1970 album Weasels Ripped My Flesh is among the first batch of reissues

Back home where it belongs, the music of Frank Zappa has returned to the hands of the Zappa Family Trust.

In celebration, the estate has signed a global licence and distribution deal with Universal to release 60 of the composer’s recordings. The entire catalogue will launch worldwide on July 31 with 12 albums, followed by another dozen to be released monthly through to the end of 2012. It is also the very first time that these recordings have been made available digitally.

The late Zappa’s wife, Gail, says: “Universal made us the offer we couldn’t refuse – for all the right reasons. It is a win-win for all of us, but mostly for Frank Zappa. Long may his baton wave. We are so ready to go.”

The Universal deal encompasses the entire Zappa catalogue, as it appeared on Frank Zappa’s own independent label, Barking Pumpkin Records, and many of the original analogue masters have been re-mastered.

The first 12 releases scheduled for release are as follows:

Freak Out! (1966)
Absolutely Free (1967)
Lumpy Gravy (1968)
We’re Only In It For The Money (1968)
Cruising With Ruben & The Jets (1968)
Uncle Meat (1969)
Hot Rats (1969)
Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970)
Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
Chunga’s Revenge (1970)
Fillmore East, June 1971 (1971)
Just Another Band From LA (1972)