Don back stage before starting the Bongo Fury Sessions and tour . . .love to see him so happy
A previously unseen photo of Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart, taken by Ken Dorr in April 1975 during rehearsals for the Bongo Fury tour.
Ken commented:
'I first heard of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band on a compilation album of Straight artists called 'Zapped' not long after TMR came out. Wow it sure developed my listening skills! I saw them after Lick my decals off came out at Boston University for $1.00 admission with Ry Cooder as the opening act. When we were headed to the show, I said to my friends that I will be impressed if he just remembered the words to the songs. He came out on stage with a big book with the lyrics! They blew my mind. Favorite album was Clear Spot. I lived in LA in the mid 70s and had worked my way into doing speculation photography for Zappa at the time of rehearsals for the Bongo Fury tour. Food was being catered in and Don was talking to someone about Clear Spot. I told him it was THE greatest album of all time. He smiled and said "What's your favorite song?" I replied "Big Eyed Beans from Venus" Don said "Mine too! Let's have some lunch!" We had a nice chat during lunch. One of the memorable events in my life!
It was at a college in Cucamonga, I think. I didn't shoot much as Frank spent a few hours at the mixing board, with masking tape between the knobs. He would bring out one or two band members to play certain parts while he color coded the mixing settings and noted them on sheet music. Hence not many photographic opportunities. I was limited on time as I worked a job in the evenings. In L.A. Frank rented the venue for a couple weeks to work out the plan for the tour.
I got into photographing Zappa through Cal Shenkel. I got to work with him on the cover of an unreleased Discreet album. He actually wanted to use this on the back of the Bongo Fury album, but Frank decided not to use photos on the back.'
Don Van Vliet
"Whalebone Farmhouse", 1986
Oil on canvas
84 1/4 x 60 1/4 inches
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