Zappa/Beefheart/Mothers - Bongo Fury
| Artists: | Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention |
| Rating: | |
| Genres: | Blues Rock, Jazz-Rock Art Rock, Experimental Rock |
| Released: | 1975 |
| Type: | Live Release |
| Label: | DiscReet |
| Link: | Spotify |
Bongo Fury is a collaborative album by American artists Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, with Captain Beefheart, released in October 1975. The live portions were recorded on May 20 and 21, 1975, at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. Tracks 5, 6 and 9 (intro only) are studio tracks recorded in January 1975 during the sessions which produced One Size Fits All (1975) and much of Studio Tan (1978). ...
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 (') (1974), Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), and One Size Fits All (1975).
Napoleon Murphy Brock's vocals are featured both on the sprawling "Advance Romance" as well as on the three-part harmonies of "Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy". Captain Beefheart, 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, who would become Zappa's featured drummer between 1975 and 1978.
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau 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."
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 (') (1974), Roxy & Elsewhere (1974), and One Size Fits All (1975).
Napoleon Murphy Brock's vocals are featured both on the sprawling "Advance Romance" as well as on the three-part harmonies of "Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy". Captain Beefheart, 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, who would become Zappa's featured drummer between 1975 and 1978.
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau 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."
Editions:
1975
Original Release
DiscReet
| DS 2234
| Vinyl, LP
| Side A: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Debra Kadabra | (3:54) | |
| A2. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy | (6:02) | |
| A3. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Sam With the Showing Scalp Flat Top | (2:50) | |
| A4. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Poofter's Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead | (3:06) | |
| A5. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | 200 Years Old | (4:34) | |
| Side B: | |||||
| B1. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Cucamonga | (2:24) | |
| B2. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Advance Romance | (11:20) | |
| B3. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Man With the Woman Head | (1:29) | |
| B4. | Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & The Mothers of Invention | ‐ | Muffin Man | (5:37) | |