Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People
Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People was an unfinished film project that took up much of Frank Zappa's time, energy and money when he had his own studio, Studio Z in Cucamonga (1964-1965).
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The project (first production (1964-1965)
As Zappa explained in Interview From Hell: in 1962 he'd bought several movie sets from an auction at FK Rocket Studios in Hollywood for 50 dollars.
In March 1965, however, Zappa was arrested for recording a "pornographic tape" with Lorraine Belcher for a client who turned out to be an undercover police officer. Zappa was sentenced to 10 days of jailtime in the San Bernardino County Jail, with the end result that Studio Z was closed down and all of his recordings confiscated, also putting a premature end to Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People.
The project (second production (1969)
However, in 1969, during the Trout Mask Replica sessions in Zappa's studio at his new home in 7885 Woodrow Wilson Drive, Zappa tried to relaunch the film project, again with Captain Beefheart, but also with his mother, Sue van Vliet, other members of the Magic Band (Mark Boston, Jeff Cotton, Bill Harkleroad, Victor Hayden), members of The Mothers (Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood, Don Preston) and also Bob Guy, Grace Slick and Howlin' Wolf.[1] Again, the project came to an end after Beefheart and Zappa had a fall-out over the disappointing sales of Trout Mask Replica.
In 1984, Zappa made parts of the script available in his book Them Or Us (The Book).
Music originally intended for Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People
Frank Zappa about Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People
"In the back of the studio, next to the toilet, I built a totally implausible, two-dimensional, cardboard rocket ship. I painted all the sets myself and wrote a script based on the people and facilities available at the time: Captain Beefheart vs. the Grunt People. Then came the hard part -- trying to raise money to make the movie."
Captain Beefheart vs. The Grunt People! This is a feature-length film, presently in script form, written by Zappa in 1964. Zappa said that thanks in part to Easy Rider and the Woodstock Music & Art Fair - "two of several things finally showing the youth market really means business" - three major studios have made offers to back the flick. Zappa also said that if anyone had shown interest in the film five years ago, he would never have played rock and roll. His "ideal cast" includes parts for, among others, Don Van Vliet, who is better known as Captain Beefheart, an old high school chum of Zappa's; Chester Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf, several of the Mothers of Invention, and Grace Slick."
