This August 1978 recording was the first documentation of music at Woody Woodman's Finger Palace. It records the score for the theatrical performance of "The Disclosure Of Gasoline Rationing & The Death And Resurrection Of The WoodYear Blimp!" The script called for various feats of strength as it examined the current fate of Americans trying to get their cars to the moon: potatoes were employed as fuel and were rather prevalent in this performance.
The WoodYear Blimp, constructed mostly of the lightest of materials so as to achieve ever-better buoyancy (aluminum, or, as the British like to say, aluminium, but that's a bit too heavy for our purposes) was seen to Crash-Fat into a Crater Of Flaming Raw Chicken. This latter was achieved, or at least delivered to the audience, using a broom handle to shove a Chinese Wok onto the stage with whole raw chickens akimbo (we think that this is a Japanese concept) and overhanging the edges, almost, like the audience, trying to escape; the WoodYear Blimp was then observed crashing into the Crater (accomplished by Woody Woodman in his Traditional Lightning Cape: yellow bold against black slick background, the bolt of lightning leaping beyond the edges of the cape, inside or other side flashy silver, the whole thing very, very short, except for the Lightning Bolt, which looked like a banana slug with rigor mortis, and wearing his Special Reflecting & Pointed Head-Gear), which was subsequently and immediately set on fire with lighter fluid and the "WoodYear Blimp Crash-Fatted Into the Flaming Chicken Crater" was complete.
The entire script was read aloud, off stage, at different intervals, and Woody Woodman would appear to execute, and we mean that, the Tragedy. Greg Goodman played the score on piano and more or less revealed whatever Woody was intent on portraying. Food was then served to the remaining audience, but of course, not the chickens.
BD1: A Similar Review
Greg Goodman: Solo Piano
Part 1: At Least I Don't (20:24)
Part 2: Hum (22:40)
Recorded in Performance August 1978 at Woody Woodman's Finger Palace, Berkeley, California, USA
All compositions by Greg Goodman (BMI)/& (P) 1978 The Beak Doctor
Cover illustration from The City Curious by Jean de Bosschère, 1920
The Beak Doctor nods to Jim Otto.
Produced by Woody Woodman and Henry Kaiser.
LP: Presently out of print. Inquire with the Main Beak.
