''Bongo Fury'' is a collaborative album by American artists

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

and the Mothers, with

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

, released in October 1975. The live portions were recorded on May 20 and 21, 1975, at the

Armadillo World Headquarters Armadillo World Headquarters (The 'Dillo or Armadillo WHQ) was an influential Texas music hall and beer garden in Austin at 525 Barton Springs Road – at South First Street – just south of the Colorado River and downtown Austin. The 'Dillo ...

in Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Tracks 5, 6 and 9 (intro only) are studio tracks recorded in January 1974 during the sessions which produced ''

One Size Fits All "One size fits all" is a description for a product that would fit in all instances. The term has been extended to mean one style or procedure would fit in all related applications. It is an alternative for "Not everyone fits the mold." "Tool tar ...

'' (1975) and much of ''

Studio Tan ''Studio Tan'' is the 24th album by American musician Frank Zappa, first released in September 1978 on his own DiscReet Records label. It reached #147 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart in the United States. Recording sessions The basic tr ...

'' (1978).

Overview

The album is a notable entry in Zappa's discography, because it was the last to feature a majority of his early 1970s band, which appeared on '' Over-Nite Sensation'' (1973), ''

Apostrophe (') ''Apostrophe (')'' is the fifth solo studio album and eighteenth in total by Frank Zappa, released in March 1974 in both stereo and quadraphonic formats. An edited version of its lead-off track, " Don't Eat the Yellow Snow", was the first of Zapp ...

'' (1974), ''

Roxy & Elsewhere ''Roxy & Elsewhere '' is a double live album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers, released on September 10, 1974. Most of the songs were recorded on December 8, 9 and 10, 1973 at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California. Overview The material taken ...

'' (1974), and ''

'' (1975).

Napoleon Murphy Brock Napoleon Murphy Brock (born June 7, 1945) is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums '' Apostrophe (')'', '' Roxy & Elsewhere'', '' One Size Fits All'', ...

's vocals are featured both on the sprawling "Advance Romance" as well as on the three-part harmonies of "Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy".

, in his only tour with Zappa's band, delivers vocals and harmonica on several tracks, including his two short prose readings "Sam with the Showing Scalp Flat Top" and "Man with the Woman Head". ''Bongo Fury'' also marks the first appearance of

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Pers ...

, who would become Zappa's featured drummer between 1975 and 1978.

Critical reception

Reviewing in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote: "This sentimental reunion album, recorded (where else?) in Austin with (what else?) additional L.A. studio work, is dismissed by Zappaphiles and 'Fhearthearts alike, but what were they expecting? Perhaps because there's a blues avatar up top, the jazzy music has a soulful integrity, and though it's embarrassing to hear the Captain deliver Frankie's latest pervo exploitations, the rest of the songs are funnier because he's singing them."

Track listing

All tracks performed by Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and The Mothers; all tracks composed by Zappa, except where noted. This is the last original Frank Zappa album on which the band name "The Mothers

f Invention F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

is used.

Personnel

Musicians

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

(2, 5, 6, 9) and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

– harp, lead (1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9) and backing vocals, shopping bags (also

soprano sax The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

) *

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

– keyboards, lead (2, 7) and backing vocals *

– sax, lead (2, 7) and backing vocals *

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, a ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrat ...

, fantastic dancing * Tom Fowler –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

, also dancing *

Denny Walley Denny Walley is an American guitarist who was born in Pennsylvania 4 February 1943. He is known for working with Frank Zappa in the 1970s and '80s. Career Denny Walley spent much of his childhood in New York City before his family moved to La ...

– slide guitar, backing vocals *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

, moisture *

Chester Thompson Chester Cortez Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, the progressive rock band Genesis and Phil Collins as a solo artist. Thom ...

– drums (on "200 Years Old" and "Cucamonga") * Robert "Frog" Camarena – backing vocals on "Debra Kadabra" (uncredited)

Production staff

* Michael Braunstein – engineer * Frank Hubach – engineer * Kelly Kotera – engineer * Kerry McNabb – engineer * Davey Moire – engineer *

Cal Schenkel Calvin "Cal" Schenkel (born January 27, 1947, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania) is an American illustrator, graphic designer, animator and comics artist, specializing in album cover design. He was the main graphic arts collaborator for rock musician F ...

– design * John Williams – photography, cover photo * Bob Stone – engineer * Mike D. Stone of the

Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

– engineer

Charts

Album - ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' (United States)

References

{{Authority control 1975 live albums Collaborative albums Captain Beefheart albums DiscReet Records albums Frank Zappa live albums