Background
After recording the album Bongo Fury with Frank Zappa, Don Van Vliet formed a new Magic Band and began recording Bat Chain Puller for DiscReet and Virgin Records. Frank Zappa described the proposed album as Vliet's best album since Trout Mask Replica. Vliet coproduced the album with Kerry McNab, who also served as the remix engineer on Zappa's album One Size Fits All. Herb Cohen, DiscReet's cofounder and Zappa's business manager, paid for the album's production costs with Zappa's royalty checks, leading Zappa to end his business partnership with Cohen. Cohen and Zappa each demanded to be paid an advance by Virgin, leading Zappa to withhold the master tapes, leading Cohen to sue Zappa.
Due to the lawsuit, Vliet rerecorded the Bat Chain Puller tracks for Warner Bros. Records under the title Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller).
In 1982, Cohen settled his lawsuit with Zappa, while Vliet was recording Ice Cream For Crow. Vliet intended to use half of the tracks from the original Bat Chain Puller album on Ice Cream For Crow, but Zappa refused Vliet's request. Vliet biographer Mike Barnes subsequently claimed that Vliet did not want the album to be released.
On June 24, 2011, Zappa's widow Gail claimed that the original Bat Chain Puller would be released "his year. December most likely." In December 2011, Bat Chain Puller was announced for release on January 15, 2012. However, the release was delayed, and did not ship until February.
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