Bat Chain Puller is the 13thstudio album by Captain Beefheart, released on February 22, 2012. It was recorded in 1976 by DiscReet Records, who had intended to release it with Virgin Records as Captain Beefheart's tenth studio album. It was co-produced by Beefheart and Kerry McNab. The album was a subject of friction between DiscReet cofounders Herb Cohen and Frank Zappa. Cohen had used Zappa's royalty checks to fund the album's production, and this led Zappa to withhold the master tapes from Virgin. Beefheart recorded a new album for Warner Bros., Shiny Beast , with no involvement from Cohen or Zappa. Following a lawsuit which was settled in 1982, the album remained unreleased until 2012, after Zappa's family had announced in 2011 that they would release the original Bat Chain Puller in its intended form.
Background
After recording the album Bongo Fury with Frank Zappa, Don Van Vliet formed a new Magic Band and began recording Bat Chain Puller for DiscReet and Virgin Records. Zappa described the proposed album as Vliet's best since Trout Mask Replica. Vliet co-produced it with Kerry McNab, who also served as the remix engineer on Zappa's album One Size Fits All. Herb Cohen, DiscReet's cofounder and Zappa's business manager, paid for the album's production costs with Zappa's royalty checks, leading Zappa to end his business partnership with Cohen. Cohen and Zappa each demanded to be paid an advance by Virgin, leading Zappa to withhold the master tapes, leading Cohen to sue Zappa. Due to the lawsuit, Vliet rerecorded the Bat Chain Puller tracks for Warner Bros. Records under the title Shiny Beast . In 1982, Cohen settled his lawsuit with Zappa, while Vliet was recording Ice Cream for Crow. Vliet intended to use half of the tracks from the original Bat Chain Puller album on Ice Cream For Crow, but Zappa refused Vliet's request. Vliet biographer Mike Barnes subsequently claimed that Vliet did not want the original album to be released. On June 24, 2011, six months after Vliet's death, Zappa's widow Gail claimed that the original Bat Chain Puller would be released "his year. December most likely"; in December it was announced for release on January 15, 2012, but was delayed and did not ship until February.
Style
The song "Bat Chain Puller" was based upon the rhythm of the windshield wipers on Vliet's Volvo car.
