captain beefheart electricity
THUNDERBOLTS
special new work
'SOME YOYO STUFF'
(an observation of the
observations of) don van vliet
film by ANTON CORBIJN
england 1993
contains original van vliet compositions
1969 EVENING
BELL
piano demo 0:57 ice cream for crow
1982
15 march 1983 WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITH YOU? a capella 0:58
unreleased
part 1 -
THIS is PART 2
WHAT THEY SAID THEMSELVES...
*
ANTON
CORBIJN
THE
SPOTLIGHT KID
from usa 1
october 1998 world art #19
don van vliet
is an elusive artist, both geographically and intellectually.
the short film piece i have done on him doesn't tell you where
he lives or give away too much about the 'whys', but it
does draw you closer to him and his world, without ever invading
or losing a certain mystery and respect. we are all too obsessed
with the capital 'why' in this world and expect answers for
everything, which is a great thing where it involves companies,
governments and so on messing with people's lives, but not when
we deal with beauty. the subtitle for 'some yo yo stuff' is 'don
van vliet - an observation of his observations'.
i love don. i knew
very little about him when we first met in 1980, but after our
meeting and subsequent photo shoot i went back home and
started listening to his music, and soon started looking at
his drawings and paintings. my respect for him grew as the
years went by; we kept in touch, and i visited him and his
wife jan a couple of times. these visits and the death of
frank zappa were essential for me in terms of thinking about
making some sort of film piece on don.
for shortly after
zappa died, i was in a bookshop and realized how many books
and bits of writing existed on him, and when i then went
looking for anything similar on don i left the shop
empty-handed. i felt that he deserved everyone's attention and
as i am not a writer, i figured i could maybe put something on
film with him. it took me a while, but i did finally manage to
say: 'if you ever want me to make any sort of record or film
about you, just let me know 'cause i would love to do that'.
he said: 'yes, please', and apparently had been waiting for
years for me to ask, turning away others.
it was a simple
affair to make the film: his mother sue opens the movie with
the photograph that i took when don and i first met, saying:
'this is don, my son', and, apart from david lynch (famous
film maker - t.t.) asking him a few questions via
projected film, it is all don's thoughts on various matters.
some funny, some serious, but all sharp, poetic and beautiful.
you really want to hear every single word he says - whether
it's about paint, miles davis, an ear ('nice sculpture') or
the desert.
i recorded his words
separately. and then filmed him sitting in front of a film
projection i had made in and around the desert and edited it
all together in a way that i hoped was in keeping with his
world. he supplied me with two never-used bits of music (anton
doesn't seem to have checked the credits - teejo), one
of which is an instrumental that i made into a one-minute
music-video without don, using a mackerel instead. this was
the first bit of the film i showed him, and he was rolling
around with laughter, and it was after that i dared let him
see the rest.
apart from showing
the world at large what a unique man and artist don is, i
really wanted to make it great for hím, as he is also a warm
and funny guy and i do think the film brings that across.
notes
* as mentioned, my report dates from
august 1996 - when the 'late show' still seemed to be
living...
* the video stills in
these pages have been taken from the 011098 magazine 'world art'
* the film also includes a picture
with two young donnies
HURRAH ! HURRAH !
on august 19th
1997 the second channel of the british broadcast company
showed the 'some yo yo stuff' film in / after the really
stunning documentary the artist
formerly known as captain beefheart.
*
FINAL
HURRAH & DISCOGRAPHY !
england
2000 pal video 'SOME
YOYO STUFF'
state ltd state 482 'waving hand' picture on back
england 2000 ntsc video
'SOME YOYO STUFF' state ltd state 482 'waving hand' picture on back
nobody knows why
it lasted so long, but in february 2000 this film finally
was released as an official VIDEO! 'state video' made two versions: for the pal system (most of europe, and australia
among others), and the ntsc players (north-america). the box in which
it comes is the same for both of the releases and features
two pictures of don van vliet by anton corbijn.
*
canada
2003 ntsc veedee region
1
'SOME YOYO STUFF' state ltd / mvd dr 4354 deformed front picture 'in front of painting' picture on back picture plate
england 2003 pal veedee
region 2 'SOME
YOYO STUFF' state ltd / mvd dr 4354 deformed front picture 'in front of painting' picture on back picture plate
three years after
the vhs releases, new technologies had created an alternate
sound and image carrier: the VIDEO DISC (dvd). so the film was brought out again
for people who never had video players. but as if we
hadn't gone mad about the three 'old' video formats that
existed, the manufacturers decided to create more
confusion by producing the 'movie ceedee' for séven
different regions!
which means that
the (ntsc) veedee which was made in canada and brought out in spring 2002 is for region 1,
and the one made in england in summer is meant for region 2
(pal)....
*
later
re-releases:
usa 2004
ntsc veedee region
1
'SOME YOYO STUFF' rhino handmade artist ink editions (no
cat.no.) in design case part of art set DON VAN
VLIET * RIDING SOME KIND OF UNUSUAL SKULL SLEIGH
limited numbered edition 1500 copies not sold separately manufactured in italy
the dvd from the art set
england /
usa 2005 veedee ANTON CORBIJN * the work of director ANTON CORBIJN with book with pictures and hand-written
notes bonus material
includes excerpt
(see complete discography)
in september 2005 a mixed bag
about corbijn and his art was brought out, which mainly is a
compilation of the music clips he made as well as all sorts
of background information. the bonus material contains an
excerpt from the 'some yoyo stuff' film. the cut and paste
version lasts four and a half minute and includes the piano
demo and a part of the a capella piece, the three
'dialogues' with david lynch and a few short fragments (and
the complete credits!). as an extra service people looking
at the region 2 veedee can activate subtitles chosen from
six languages....
*
[updated 170108]
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