April 1975 was an excellent time for fans of unhinged blues-jazz-rock freakouts as Frank Zappa and the Mothers joined forces with Captain Beefheart for a two-month tour of the US. The tour was commemorated by “Bongo Fury”, mostly taken from two shows at the magnificently named Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, on 20th and 21st May 1975 and released in October of that year.
Though Zappa and Beefheart had shared the stage on occasion and worked together in the studio (Zappa had produced the Captain’s weirdo album triumph “Trout Mask Replica“, while Beefheart provided snarling and wild-eyed vocals to ‘Willie The Pimp’ on Zappas “Hot Rat’s”), the tour marked the first time the old high school chums had toured together. They were backed by a group of dyed-in-the-wool Mothers – Terry Bozzio (drums), Napoleon Murphy Brock (tenor sax, vocals), George Duke (keyboards, vocals), , Bruce Fowler (trombone) and Tom Fowler (bass) – along with newcomer Denny Walley (slide guitar, vocals), a friend of Zappa’s younger brother Bobby.
Though the original “Bongo Fury” focused on new material, mostly sung by Beefheart, the tour featured plenty of material from the Mothers’ 1974 repertoire – including ‘Florentine Pogen’, ‘Stinkfoot’ and ‘I’m Not Satisfied’ – as well as a few golden oldies, such as ‘Sleeping In A Jar’ and ‘A Pound For A Brown (On The Bus)’, both of which hadn’t been played since 1971. There were also a couple of new songs played on the tour which, till this point, have remained unreleased – ‘The Velvet Sunrise’ and ‘Portuguese Lunar Landing’. Meanwhile, the regular encore was a blast through ‘Willie The Pimp’.
This new anniversary set marks the first time that 1975 recordings of all of these and more have been officially released. The only other song released from the Armadillo shows to date is an early take on “Zoot Allures’ ‘The Torture Never Stops’, released on 1991’s 2CD live compilation “You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol 4″.
The new 50th anniversary super deluxe edition expands the original album with five CDs of material (roughly 80% unreleased) including studio outtakes and live tracks plus the two Armadillo concerts complete and remixed from the original 16-track masters. The blu-ray features new Dolby Atmos, 5.1 mixes, and high-resolution stereo audio with “bonus surround experiences” from Zappa’s vault.
The set also includes a book including unseen photos and sleevenotes from Walley and the Zappa estate’s ‘Vaultmeister’, Joe Travers.
Vinyl collectors have the choice of a 2LP set – featuring an all-analogue mastering of the original album by Bernie Grundman plus a bonus disc featuring highlights from the super deluxe set – or a single LP featuring the new Grundman master, available on black or ‘orange & black galaxy vinyl’. All vinyl formats include a lithograph print and booklet.
Super Deluxe 6-disc box (5CD + Blu-ray Audio) featuring 57 tracks, with over 80% previously unreleased material — including two full, unheard 1975 Austin concerts that formed the backbone of the original album.
Blu-ray includes brand-new Dolby Atmos & 5.1 surround mixes, plus rare Vault bonus tracks. A previously unreleased live version of “Debra Kadabra” (Austin, 1975) is streaming now.
This release captures the explosive chemistry between two lifelong friends at their creative peak — raw, funny, unpredictable, and utterly unique.
This 50th anniversary reissue of “Bongo Fury” is released on 20th March 2026, via UMR.
The Fat Angel Sings 