Läther (, or "Leather") is the sixty-fifth official album by Frank Zappa. It was released posthumously as a three-CD set on Rykodisc in 1996. The album's title is derived from bits of comic dialog that link the songs. Zappa also explained that the name is a joke, based on "common bastardized pronunciation of Germanic syllables by the Swiss." Läther integrates many aspects of Zappa's musical oeuvre — heavy rock, orchestral works, and complex jazz flavored instrumentals, along with Zappa's distinctive electric guitar solos and satirical lyrics, all edited together in a seemingly random way. The Läther album was intended for release in 1977 as a four-LP box set, but it never appeared officially in this format. A variety of bootleg recordings of this material were widely distributed. One of these was a four-LP box on the "Edison Record" label and appeared to be professionally packaged. Some may have believed this was authorized, despite the fact Zappa's name did not appear on the album. Background Zappa's relationship with manager Herb Cohen ended in May 1976. Zappa and Cohen were the co-owners of the DiscReet records label, which was distributed by Warner Bros. Records. After Cohen cashed one of Zappa's royalty checks from Warner and kept the money for himself, Zappa sued Cohen. Zappa was also upset with Cohen for signing acts he did not approve. Cohen filed a lawsuit against Zappa in return, which froze the money Zappa and Cohen were expecting to receive from an out-of-court settlement with MGM/Verve over the rights to Zappa's early Mothers of Invention recordings. The MGM settlement was eventually finalized in mid 1977 after two years of negotiations. Legal issues also prevented Zappa having access to any of his previously recorded material during the trials. Zappa re-negotiated with Warner and had his contract re-assigned in October 1976. He delivered the album Zoot Allures directly to Warner that month, while bypassing DiscReet. Zappa had intended this as a double LP, but he was later forced to re-edit the release into a single LP at the insistence of Warner executives. Cohen countersued, claiming that the Warner release violated the terms of his Discreet contract with Zappa. So the final four albums of Zappa's recording contract were then assigned back to DiscReet. Recording sessions Läther was assembled by Zappa in 1977 from a wide variety of recording sessions stretching back as far as eight years, but mostly between