Bongo Fury captures
Captain Beefheart aka
Don Van Vliet with
Frank Zappa during their brief reunion for a series of shows in the spring of 1975. This album is a pastiche of both live performances -- taken from two evenings at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, TX -- and studio recordings that were almost a year-and-a-half old. This is the last album to feature the highly technical jazz fusion of
Mothers of Invention, whose roots can be traced back to 1973 circa
Over-Nite Sensation. The live portions are highlighted by the latest addition to the band -- frenetic percussionist extraordinaire
Terry "Ted" Bozzio, who would stay with
Zappa for a majority of the '70s. Most
Zappa enthusiasts either love or hate
Bongo Fury. Much of the disparity has to do with the lack of the extended fusion-based instrumentals that had graced their predecessors
One Size Fits All and
Roxy & Elsewhere as much as it does with the inclusion of
Captain Beefheart. Conversely, those consumers whose passions tend toward both
Zappa and
Captain Beefheart consider this disc as a mutual zenith. Either way, there is a little something for every element. The album plunges directly into the ballsy rocker "Debra Kadabra." Although the track is credited solely to
Zappa, the schizophrenic animation given by
Van Vliet is an inspired combination of singing and spoken word -- as might be delivered by an amphetamine-drenched preacher.
Zappa and
the Mothers give the multi-tempo song a full-throttled workout, which is met headlong with "Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy." This track comes from
Zappa's long tradition of "tales from the road" involving various encounters with female enthusiasts. The song also includes some fiery fretwork from
Zappa during the waning moments. Additional stellar guitar work can be found on "Advance Romance," as the best elements of this particular band occur here. The track grooves with a force similar to that of "Florentine Pogen" from
One Size Fits All and contains a memorable
Napoleon Murphy Brock vocal. The song also features the most extended instrumental interaction on
Bongo Fury, running at over 11 minutes. Likewise, the two
Captain Beefheart penned spoken-word selections, "Sam With the Showing Scalp Flat Top" and "Man With a Woman Head," are key entries into his anthology of surrealistic prose. ~ Lindsay Planer