Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart’s ‘Bongo Fury’ Gets 50th Anniversary Box Set With Unheard Material

Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart's 1975 album, Bongo Fury, will get a 50th anniversary reissue on Mar. 20 through Zappa Records and UMe. Six discs. The box set features 57 tracks, with over 80 percent never released before. According to Tinnitist, Frank Zappa said, “With Beefheart in the band, there's a guy who's really into words and what they can do. I respect his literary ability."

The Super Deluxe Edition contains five CDs and one Blu-ray audio disc. Joe Travers produced the expanded collection, which has Bob Ludwig's 2012 master of the nine original tracks plus five session outtakes.

Two complete concerts that happened at Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, on May 20 and 21, 1975, will show up in the set. Three live cuts from Apr. 10, 1975, at Pomona College's Bridges Auditorium in Claremont, California, are also included. Three bonus tracks feature six-channel surround-sound mixes that Frank Zappa created himself at UMRK in 1993.

Don Van Vliet, whom Zappa christened Captain Beefheart, met the guitarist in Lancaster, California, in the late 1950s, when they were teenagers. The two worked together on Trout Mask Replica in 1969, with Van Vliet appearing on Hot Rats in the same year.

Denny Walley played slide guitar on the tour and recording. Terry Bozzio played drums, Napoleon Murphy Brock was on sax and vocals, George Duke played keyboard, Bruce Fowler was on trombone, and Tom Fowler was on bass. Bongo Fury was the last release under The Mothers name during the 1970s.

Bernie Grundman mastered the vinyl editions from the original tapes. A two-LP black vinyl version has the main album plus highlights. A single LP on black vinyl and a limited-edition Orange & Black Galaxy vinyl pressing will be available, as well. The box set comes with an 18-page booklet with photos from Sam Emerson and John Williams.

You can get your Super Delexe Edition here.