neon park

illustrator neon park did the cover for the mothers of invention: "weasels ripped my flesh".  later, he also did artwork for little feat, a.o.

neon park 1971/05/21 FREEP interview

random notes

Born: December 28, 1940
Died: September 1, 1993

     From: http://pages.prodigy.com/FNJD74A/neon.htm
NEON PARK was working as a poster artist with the Family Dog, a San Francisco design group, when he got a call from Frank Zappa asking him to come down to Los Angeles. Zappa had seen the drawings Park had done for a group called Dancing Food and wanted him to paint the jacket for the next Mothers of Invention record. At their meeting, Zappa showed Park a magazine cover. "It was one of those men's magazines like *Saga*," says Park.

"The cover story was *Weasels Ripped My Flesh* and it was the adventure of a guy, naked to the waist, who was in water. The water was swarming with weasels, and they were all kind of climbing on him and biting him. So Frank said, `This is it. What can you do that's worse than this?' And the rest is history."

Park's painting, for which he was paid $250, almost didn't see the light of day. Zappa butted heads with Warner Bros. over its suitability for release. "Evidently," says Park, "there was quite a confrontation that occurred over this cover. It wasn't up to their standards." Even after Warner Bros. finally consented to use it, there were problems. "The printer was greatly offended,"
says Park. "The girl who worked for him, his assistant, she wouldn't touch the painting. She wouldn't pick it up with her hands." Zappa and Park, meanwhile were tickled silly by the brouhaha: "I was greatly amused by the cover, and so was Frank," says Park. I mean, we giggled alot."

Park still can't see what all the fuss was about. "It was an infamous cover," he says, "although by today's standards, it's pretty tame. It's not like eating liver in Milwaukee."

From: Ted Alvy (tedalvy@aol.comnojunk)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.frank-zappa
Subject: Neon Park Book & Art Show
Zen Voodoo: Neon Park and Chick Strand
Opening: November 3, 2000 8pm-11pm
Showing: November 3rd to 26th

November 3, 2000 NEON PARK "Over the Rainbow" Book Release
 
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, California  90027
 
voice: 323.666.7667
fax: 323.663.0243
www.laluzdejesus.com
sales@laluzdejesus.com
 
The Neon Park Art Book "Over The Rainbow" will be selling for $29.95. All his album covers will be in the book, plus pinup ducks, and his last series of work, and more. It will be out just in time for his show, which opens November 3rd, but the release date isn't until December 3rd. The whole exhibit will be presented online and the book will be also available online. Please tell all the Little Feat fans (the gallery owner is a HUGE fan himself).

The gallery is located on the North side of Hollywood Boulevard, between Vermont and Hillhurst Avenues.  The front is painted with wild patterns and very bright colors, with 2 big eyes on top, and there's a flashing NEON sign that says "Wacko" on the corner of the building.

     From: Ted Alvy (tedalvy@aol.comnojunk)
November 25th 2000
NEON PARK "Over the Rainbow" Book Release and Book Signing! Paul Barrere, Tony Cohan, Chick Strand will be in the Gallery to sign La Luz de Jesus Press' first book publication in conjunction with Last Gasp. The Art of Neon Park: essays by Tony Cohan, Bill Payne, Paul Barrere and Chick Strand. Edited by Billy Shire and Janice Gore with over 100 color photos of
Neon Park's illustrious career.
The book will be released in mid December 2000 at $ 29.95 available online at
http://www.laluzdejesus.com/

     Here is some more Neon Park information: http://members.aol.com/tedalvy/neon.htm

     From: Ted Alvy (tedalvy@aol.comnojunk)
weasels ripped my flesh cover art (and gallery) http://www.laluzdejesus.com/

Album artwork credits:

1970 Mothers Of Invention- Weasels Ripped My Flesh
1972 Little Feat- Sailin' Shoes
1973 Little Feat- Dixie Chicken
1990 Polka Comes to Your Haus!
1991 Little Feat- Shake Me Up
1992 Daniels, Chris- In Your Face
1993 Lowell George & The Factory- Lightning Rod Man