Frank Zappa and The Rainbow Incident

Frank Zappa and The Rainbow Incident

Here is another happening that occurred to Frank Zappa and his band, as a bit of a continuation of the previous post.

After the fire at Montreux, the band went back to the hotel and most of the members voted to finish the tour. There were ten more dates, and each was sold out. Even though they agreed to do this, there was a problem-the band’s instruments were all lost in the fire. Zappa said,

“We had been using a few special instruments, including a customized Fender Rhodes piano, and other specialized synthesizer gear we couldn’t buy off a shelf in Switzerland. My guitar was gone. All of the stage lights were gone. The PA was gone.”.

The group ended up canceling a week’s worth of shows to find new equipment (one source states that they rented the gear they used for the Rainbow show). They had planned to get to England two days in advance for their big show at the Rainbow, and rehearse with with new gear. They were double booked and Frank wanted to ensure that everyone would feel used to their new equipment.

On December 10^th of 1971, they played the first show at the Rainbow in London, England, and through some problems (such as mic feedbacks), they made it through alright. At one point, when Frank was engaging the audience during some banter, he said, “Remember what happened the last time we played this?” then laughed as they went on to play ‘King Kong’ (the song that they had started to play before the fire at Montreux).

The band went offstage and came back to do an encore. Because of their location, they chose to play “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles. Somehow, during this time, a man named Trevor Howell came on stage and punched Zappa in the back of the head and pushed him offstage.

“The band thought I was dead”. Frank said, in his autobiography.

Zappa fell 15 feet from the stage to the orchestra pit. His head landed over his shoulder, neck bent like it had been broken. Because of the position that his head landed in, it crushed his larynx, and permanently lowered his voice a 1/3 of an octave. Frank also had a broken rib, fractured leg, gash in his chin, a hole in the back of his head, and a paralyzed arm. Even worse, when Zappa was on the concrete floor, a monitor fell on top of him.

Chaos ensued in the crowd, and the rumors of Frank being dead flowed all around. For over an hour, no-one knew what was happening.

In his book, Frank stated that back then, he didn’t carry a bodyguard with him. The only “security”, was supplied by the local promoters. At the Rainbow show in particular, Frank said that the security was off smoking “reefer someplace” during the encore. No wonder Howell was able to get on stage.

Trevor Howell tried to escape but the road crew were able to hold onto him where he was taken backstage and held for the police. When asked why he did it, Howell gave two stories. The first story was that Howell’s girlfriend stated that she loved Frank Zappa, and Howell thought that Zappa was looking at the girlfriend. Zappa stated in his book that when on stage, there are so many lights, it is impossible to see anyone in the audience.

The second story Howell told was that he was pissed off that he wasn’t getting the value for his money.

Either way, he ended up spending a year in jail. Not before getting out on bail while Frank was in the hospital.

In the hospital, Frank couldn’t get any anesthetic because of his head injury, and passed out after a while. When he woke up, he was “in a bad-smelling room with beds all around, in a circle, with curtains hung between them. I remember the curtains parting in front of me and a black nurse coming in and seeing my face; like she had just seen a monster. I was pretty mashed up.”

Later, Frank was transferred to the Harley Street Clinic where he stayed for a month. At this point, he did have a bodyguard, because no-one knew whether Trevor Howell was crazy enough to come back or not.

After a month, Frank learned to walk on crutches, and had a cast on that went all the way up to his hip. He spent the better part of year in a wheelchair, and later had a prosthetic device for his leg. Once his leg finally healed, it turned a little crooked and shorter than the other, a phrase later seen in some of his music (Dancin Fool and Zomby Woof).

During his time in the wheel chair, Zappa refused to do any interviews for photo-shoots, and focused on making music. He came out with many projects, such as Just Another Band From L.A., Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, Hunchentoot, and The Adventures of Greggery Peccary.

Once he regained mobility, Frank had to re-assemble a new band, as the members of the previous version essentially couldn’t just wait on him to heal, and had to get jobs.

In the end, there was still a lot of press surrounding the incident, at least in London. Not long before a planned show at the Oval Cricket Ground in London, Frank was in an interview when a girl entered the room. She handed him a bouquet and walked away. There was “quiet questioning” by other reporters, and then the girl stated that she was the girlfriend of Trevor Howell, the man who hurt Frank. She supposedly brought the flowers as a gift of remorse...but it turned out to be a fake publicity stunt.

As for Howell? After spending a year in jail, it is unsure of what happened to him. There is paragraph that floats around the internet about him though I am unsure of it’s veracity. It goes,

“Trevor Howell laid tarmac on roads around London for thirty years,1975-2005. On the night of the incident Trevor had smoked cannabis and taken LSD. He was with his girlfriend and he felt that Frank had made 'sexual gestures' towards his girlfriend. Trevor was over 6'2 and 16 stone and he managed to bypass the security and onto the stage. He attacked Frank and pushed him into the pit. The security held Trevor behind the stage and he was kicked and beaten until the police arrived. He spent a year in prison. Trevor overcame his drug use and turned to Buddhism, spending the later years of his life in Thailand and Asia, practicing Buddhism and forms of meditation. Trevor had a good heart and was a kind and giving person. He always regretted his actions that night and would have changed the outcome in hindsight. He learned from the negativity he created and became a positive person because of it.”

So whether it’s true or not, we’ll never know, but hopefully he regretted his actions.

[SOURCES]

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/frank-zappas-rainbow-incident-recollections.364354/

The Real Frank Zappa Book

http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/The_Rainbow_Theatre_Incident

https://recordmecca.com/item-archives/frank-zappa-rainbow-concert-program-attacked-concert/

https://alt.fan.frank-zappa.narkive.com/p87lQXR2/trevor-charles-howell

Frank Zappa and The Montreux Fire

Frank Zappa and The Montreux Fire

Just about everyone and their mama have heard of the song ‘Smoke on The Water’ by Deep Purple. Some may not know the origins of the story, let alone what happened afterwards.

As the story goes, Deep Purple were in the Montreux, Switzerland area at the time to record another album at the ‘Casino de Montreux’ once it was to be shut down for winter renovations. The Mothers were going to be the last show before the venue closed. On December 4^th of ‘71, Zappa and The Mothers’ equipment was destroyed by a fire that burned down the casino. The mothers had just started playing the song ‘King Kong’ (as can be heard in multiple variations on the album ‘Uncle Meat’) , and member Don Preston was starting to play his synthesizer solo, when an audience member fired a flare gun at the ceiling.

Zappa had described it at one time as a ‘sky rocket’. Frank stopped the band from playing so Don could do his solo, not noticing the flare that hit the roof. As Frank described it, a man came on stage and shot a fire extinguisher up to the roof causing the fire to come out of the ceiling, and part of the roof fell down. Howard Kaylan said, “Fire everyone, by Arthur Brown”. Frank stated that when they heard this, they thought it was a joke. Quickly, they realized that it wasn’t a joke, since the venue was burning fast.

As smoke filled the area, Frank told the audience to remain calm and go out the side exit. Everyone was calm, but when they went to the exit, the doors were locked. The people had take Orange amplifiers to bang the doors open. Other people jumped out a window that had a 10-15 foot drop. Overall, everyone was safe, and there were minor injuries.

The fire destroyed the entire venue and all of the band’s equipment. Except a cowbell.

A pretty good interview describing Frank’s side of the events can be seen here. Though there is a voice over: 

A bootlegged recording of some of the even can be heard here: 

The fire resulted in Deep Purple creating the famous song ‘Smoke on The Water’ which was aptly named because of how large the fire over the nearby lake was. The title of the song was thought up by Roger Glover of Deep Purple, where it came to him in a dream three days later.

There never seemed to be any sort of convictions with the case, and even in the song itself the most mention of anyone was “some stupid with a flare gun”. There was one suspect named by the Swiss Police, a man by the name of Zdeněk Špička (Pronounced Zuh-den-yek Speechka). Zdeněk Špička was a Czech refugee that is speculated to have fled from (what was then) communist Czechoslovakia after the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion.

An article I found stated that Špička was on the run, more than likely out of fear from being lynched by the crowd. It is likely that his intention wasn’t to start a fire. Punishment would have been 3-20 years of imprisonment for intentional fire, while a fire from negligence was a maximum of 5 years. As far as I know, he ran away and was never found. Trying to find any trace of him doesn’t seem to show up anywhere, at least with his birthday (November 4^th, 1949). I have seen the name pop up for various dead people, but I cannot confirm whether they are really him or not.

If you want to see a video of the fire look at this video here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VqHBgXNxaw

If you want to read more about it on the Deep Purple side, I recommend this blog post here: https://darkerthanblue.wordpress.com/another-service-from-darker-than-blue-magazine/machine-head-1972-2012-pt-1/

Now, what happened to the casino after the fire? Thankfully it was rebuilt and opened anew in 1975. The casino is still in use and has almost 3,000 google reviews with a 4 star rating. A monument to Deep Purple was built outside the building in front of Lake Geneva. There is a monument to Freddy Mercury also outlooking the lake.

[SOURCES]

https://news.expats.cz/weekly-czech-news/the-czech-man-behind-smoke-on-the-water/

wikipedia

Potential Other Victims of The Manson Family: Doreen Gaul and James Sharp [pt. 2]

After Doreen and James' murder, a note was found in Doreen's room at Thetan Manor. A carbon copy (aka photocopied paper printed on carbon paper back in the day) note in her room stated:

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN FOOL THE OLD KILLER HA HA

I KNOW ALL YOUR MOVEMENTS AND THE TIME THEY ARE MADE

TIME IS SHOT, ENJOY LIFE WHILE YOU CAN

YOU ARE TO BEAUTIFUL TO LIVE AND I MUST KILL YOU

THE ZODIAC KILLER

The detective on the scene, Lt. Deemer, made note of this, and he made some connections between Davis and the Zodiac Killer. Some people compare the police sketch with a mugshot of Davis and think that the two are uncanny. Beyond this though, there is no other connection between Davis potentially being the Zodiac Killer, and it is important to note that many of the Zodiac Killings happened around the San Francisco area. Even still, it doesn’t explain the note, though it is not uncommon for people to imitate killers for notoriety. 

Zodiac Killer Sketch

Years later, when already incarcerated, Davis was asked about these murders, and claimed that he didn’t even know Doreen, though admitted to having intimate ties with 9 other women at Thetan Manor. It is unsure whether he knew James Sharp or not. Interestingly, he was offered immunity when asked about the murders.

Davis

One thing I find interesting is the timeline. Going back to when the Church of Scientology offered a 30k reward to anyone that could essentially clear their name of association, their first contention stated:

“Impeding investigation into the murders of Doreen Gaul, 19, and James Sharp, 15, found slain Nov. 5* in an alley. Both were members of the church.”

The date that they posted was incorrect, as James and Doreen were murdered on November 21^st. But you know who was killed on November 5^th of that very same year? John Haught, aka Zero.

Not to completely tell the story again, but when Zero died, Bruce Davis was there and admitted to cleaning the gun and wiping fingerprints off it. Granted, some people believe that one of the girls killed Zero, while others think it was Davis. Another crime that occurred on November fifth of that year was a victim having their neck slashed with a knife, and living. This crime seemed to have ties with Scientology as later in the police report John O. Harris was believed to be a suspect.

Zero

Even still, I wonder why The Church would have posted that date, it was probably a complete error, but intriguing still.

There are people that believe that Bruce Davis had a role in killing Zero, and I have read that some believe he killed Reet Jurvetson too. Essentially his whereabouts after Zero’s death are essentially unknown. Many people believe that Davis had a hand at killing Joel Pugh, though it was determined to be a suicide. 

 

Descriptions of Doreen Gaul portrayed her as a good, but emotional kid. Her father stated that , “she was always looking for green grass and rainbows”. Doreen, born on May 16^th, 1950, was the oldest of four children, and hailed from Albany, NY. She was a former devout Roman Catholic and became enticed by Scientology at some point, going to California to study it. By the time of her death, she had been in California for six months, though the police report states that she had been in California since March of that year. Before her death, she had called her father asking for a flight ticket home since she had become convinced that Scientology was “all a bunch of crap”. Her father originally offered her a two way, but she stated that she only needed a one way ticket, since she had been offered a job by a friend back in New York.

James Sharp was born on July 2^nd, 1954, in Missouri. He came from an upper-class family, with his father being a well off salesman, and went to California at his father’s permission to study Scientology in June of 1969.

Supposedly the two had left the commune for the purpose of an auditing session, though there are basically no reports on what really happened. Beyond this, there was note in the police report of hair being in James’ right hand that is described as having either Indian or Mexican texture.

The police report stated some things that I found interesting, which include:

Page 10: Doreen had previously been questioned by police on September 10^th, of 1969. During this time she claimed to have been raped by two black men that had picked her up hitchhiking. Police noted that she looked high and had needle marks in her arms. She did not want to file a police report for the rape.

Page 11: A witness claimed to have seen Gaul and Sharp attempting to hitchhike, though Sharp didn’t want to. Not long later the two were in a car with what appeared to be two other people.

Page 14: Someone came into the Denny’s that both Doreen and James would frequent, claiming that they knew who killed them.

Page 16: John O. Harris was the person identified as coming into the Denny’s. Harris had a straight razor on him on him and stated that he met a ‘Russel Handy’, also a Scientologist, at the Denny’s on 11/25 of that year. Handy told Harris that Doreen and Jim's spirits came to him and told him that two male Negros (this is the word they used in the police report) picked them up hitchhiking and killed them. Handy said he had the license plate number. Police felt that Harris fit the description as a suspect that slashed the neck of a victim with a straight razor on 11/5 of that year. He was booked. He denied any involvement in that case (217 pc).

 Page 17: The victim in 217 PC refused to identify his assailant and Harris was let go. Victim was Irving Evanse. Handy states that James and Doreen came to him in a dream, and stated that there was evidence in a trash can wrapped in a paper bag, possibly a tire iron with fingerprints on it. handy stated that he saw the angry face of a male negro suspect. handy claimed to be psychic and believed that all persons have lived prior lives in different bodies. handy stated that another psychic Scientologist had a dream with the license plate number of the car that picked up James and Doreen. it was either 'WTL 690' or 'WTZ 690'. He didn't want to identify the psychic, but eventually let it out that it was a Sheryl Kerlim, 20 years old, who had that dream.  

The license places were:

WTL 690: a 1968 Mercedes sedan registered to Hermann and Evelyn Padst, of 1433 s. Belcher road, Clearwater, fl

WTZ 690: 1968 V/W, registered to Godfrey or Linda goldsmith, of 613 abbey st #4, Pomona, CA. 

Page 18: Ex-Process member Leslie Ann Bouffard wanted to talk to the cops. Cops agree to interview Doreen's bf Jerry Hines from Scottsdale, AZ. James' clothing is examined, 12 holes were found in the back of his coat. 9 in the back of his shirt. cops also look into members of the Clanton and 18th st gangs. Many of the members of the 18th st gang live in the surrounding area of 1138 magnolia where the bodies were found. The Clantons have approximately 200 members. an interview with a Roland Mochary states that he was at a scientology get together on Dec. 1st of that year. A woman named Jerri Chen, 19, told Roland that, "You will be very surprised when they find out who killed Jim and Doreen.". It should be noted that Jerri was known to exaggerate things to impress people. Jerri was also a drug user that undergone psychiatric treatment in the past.

Page 19:  Jerri Cohen casually knew Doreen, didn't know James. Denied any knowledge of the murders, and stated she told the group, "Scientology would be surprised if a Scientologist killed Jim and Doreen". Cohen stated that Terry Milner was conducting an investigation into the murders and if a scientology member was responsible. 

Interview with Bouffard: she was a process member from may 1967-oct 1968. She witnessed 2 probable murders and knowledge of crimes the process and motorcycle gangs in the bay area are involved. Hair found in James' hand was proven not be to James or Doreen's. Hair was darker in color, thicker, and similar to Mexican or Indian (Native American?) hair.

Page 20: The report states that they felt that scientology and The Process were one in the same. Interviewed several nomads from the bishop area, which some claimed to be Scientologists (bishop is in Inyo county). Could not find a chain that matched the marks on the bodies. Went to 1946 Cerro Gordo dr. in LA, where apparently members of Manson's Family lived there. Unknown who could have been there exactly. None of them claimed to be Scientologists or Mexican. None knew Sharp or Gaul. Did not find any evidence in the house.

Page 21: Could not find insulation that was like on Doreen. Doreen was type a, James type o bloods. Nothing new from interviews or searching abandoned houses. Summary stated that they were last seen hitchhiking at 2135 hours, at 9th and alvarado. Bodies dumped at magnolia at 2300 hours. Police suspected that the killer(s) were probably of Mexican or Indian descent. Investigation directed at the clanton st. and 18th st. gangs, and known Mexican, and Indian suspects involved in crimes of violence in the alvarado, pico st. areas. 

Potential Other Victims of The Manson Family: Doreen Gaul and James Sharp [pt. 1]

Even the most out of the loop person is familiar with Charles Manson, and at least the murder of Sharon Tate. What many people may not know, is that there are many people still speculated to have been murdered before, and after the Tate-LaBianca case. I have covered Marina Habe and Reet Jurvetson (Jane Doe 59) before, but please remember to include them in this following list of people. As a note, I would just like to preface and say that I cannot be sure myself how any of these people were murdered, but many articles, books, and blogs other than mine have speculated about these other murders also.

James Sharp and Doreen Gaul

Doreen Gaul

These two are typically bundled together, because their bodies were found at the same place.

On November 21^st, 1969, a man named Alex Risk was driving down the alley at the rear of 1138 Magnolia St, Los Angeles, when he saw what looked like two drunk people passed out. Risk went to Emmett Rush’s house (I am unsure if Rush and Risk were friends or not. I assume so), telling him what he saw and the two came back together. Alex got out of his car and came near the bodies, seeing blood; he immediately called the police.

The bodies of James Sharp (15) and Doreen Gaul (19) were found in the alley behind the residence of South Magnolia, though they had been killed somewhere else, with the bodies dumped in the found location. There was evidence of blanket fuzz on Doreen’s left leg and head, and multiple threads found on James. Doreen’s body was found nude with the exception of a necklace that was described as “Indian Beads”, and James was fully clothed except his shoes. He had a bracelet on his wrist that identified him, and also depicted him as a member of the Church of Scientology.

It was determined that they had been killed with a long bladed knife or bayonet, and an investigation felt that there was a good possibility that they had both been murdered by a Manson family member. They had been stabbed about 50 times each, their eyes slashed, and potentially whipped with a chain. There was semen found on and in Doreen’s body. Initially, it was thought that they were the victims of shotgun blasts. The bodies also had tire marks from a motorcycle. Detective Lt. Earl A. Deemer stated that, “The wounds of Gaul, Sharp, and Doe 59, looked like the work of a fanatic”.

Reet Jurvetson, who was Jane Doe 59 for over 45 years

As a quick reference, James and Doreen had been found on November 21^st, 1969, and Jane Doe 59 (Reet Jurvetson) had been found on November 15^th, of that same year.

In the police report, Doreen’s wounds were mostly to her chest, neck, and head. All to the front. James had many wounds to the back of him. While he had 15 to the chest, and 3 to the right of him, he also had 8 in the back of his head, 1 in the back of his neck, 1 to the back of his right arm, 16 to the back, and three defense wounds in his left hand. To me this suggests that there were potentially 2 killers, James and Doreen were taken by surprised and potentially even separated, and James was attacked from behind with no warning. The police report goes on to say that there were at least 2 people involved.

The Murders of Carmen Charger and Delmas Traversie Jr.

FBI Most Wanted Case: The Murders of Carmen Charger and Delmas Traversie Jr.

In March of 2019, there was a snow storm in South Dakota that lasted two days. During this time, Carmen Charger and Delmas Traversie Jr. were at 717 No Heart Housing in Eagle Butte, somewhere around the days of the 13 through the 15^th . At the time of this writing, there is next to no information released about the case, though the deaths were ruled suspicious enough to get the FBI involved. Currently the case is still active, and the FBI will not share the cause of death until an arrest has been made.

Carmen, also known as Happy, was 39 at the time of her death. She is survived by her children and extended family. Delmas, also known as Cactus, was 63, is survived by his spouse and children. Though Carmen and Delmas were not related to each other, they both lived in the house at 717. Both were enrolled members of the Cheyenne Sioux Tribe Indian Reservation.

Currently, the FBI is asking that anyone who knows any information to contact the Minneapolis Field Office at 763-569-8000, and offering a reward of up to 5,000 dollars for leads leading to the arrest and conviction of the case. 

[SOURCES]

https://twitter.com/FBIMostWanted/status/1252250188133130240/photo/2

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/fbi-offers-reward-for-conviction-in-south-dakota-murders/article_0a8c4fde-a181-571e-8b98-be2357a4d181.html

https://www.westrivereagle.com/articles/carmen-charger/

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/delmas-traversie-jr-

https://apnews.com/6540712e2b7dd04196d3ae1109f7712c

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/fbi-seeks-help-in-solving-year-old-eagle-butte-double-homicide/article_f8bc146f-ac13-5c20-89c4-c99deb1af260.html

Photos of Roy Estrada With Frank Zappa

I went on getty images the other day looking at pictures of Frank Zappa, and came across some that had Roy Estrada in them. If you recall, Roy Estrada was a bassist that worked with Frank Zappa (primarily during the 'The Mothers of Invention' years) and was convicted multiple times of sex crimes. He is currently serving out his sentence in, TX's Pack Unit (in Navasota). He is not due for release until 2036.  He is currently 77 years old.

Before now, I hadn't ever seen any images of Roy and Frank so close together. I honestly had no idea whether Estrada really interacted with Zappa at all before this point. It's weird to see photos of someone that committed such heinous crimes around normal people. Maybe it's a 'hindsight 20/20' thing, but even in the pictures there just seems to be something weird about him.

Roy, next to Frank on the left.

In the back with the creepy smile.

Behind Frank, smiling.

Going over what looks like sheet music.

Far left

In the yellow and white dress, next to Bunk Gardener.

[All images hold the respected rights of their owner(s).]