Beefheart recorded a new album for Warner Bros., Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), with no involvement from Cohen or Zappa.

Following a lawsuit which was settled in 1982, the album remained unreleased until 2012, after Zappa's family had announced in 2011 that they would release the original Bat Chain Puller in its intended form.

[3] Vliet co-produced it with Kerry McNab, who also served as the remix engineer on Zappa's album One Size Fits All.

[6] On June 24, 2011, six months after Van Vliet's death, Zappa's widow Gail claimed that the original Bat Chain Puller would be released "[t]his year.

The song "Bat Chain Puller" was based upon the rhythm of the windshield wipers on Vliet's Volvo car.