Cover artwork for 'Cruising With Ruben & The Jets', 1968.
Cal Schenkel is best-known as the former house illustrator of cult rock composer Frank Zappa. While not the only artist to collaborate with Zappa, he was the most prominent and productive. He drew, designed and photographed various album covers, video covers, concert posters and advertising comics. Schenkel was also the go-to guy for Zappa's side projects with other musicians. His ratty, chaotic, but joyful style is instantly recognizable. He was known to see the beauty in ugliness and passed this gift on to his fans. Schenkel also goes down in history as the first artist to become closely associated with one particular rock act. He gave Zappa a visual identity long before Hipgnosis, Lemi Ghariokwu, Pedro Bell and Overton Loyd did the same for, respectively, Pink Floyd, Fela Kuti and George Clinton.
Early life
Calvin Schenkel was born in 1947 in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. He came from an artistic background: his grandfather was a landscape painter and his great uncle scribbled in his manuscripts. Schenkel studied at the Philadelphia College of Art, but dropped out after one semester. A self-taught artist, Schenkel drew inspiration from both "high" as well as "low" art. He was influenced by Dadaism, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Man Ray, James Ensor, Edward Kienholz, Sigmar Polke, Jess and Dieter Roth, but also by Wallace Wood, Mad Magazine, E.C. Comics, Gahan Wilson, George Herriman's 'Krazy Kat', Jay Ward's 'Rocky & Bullwinkle' and Carl Barks' 'Donald Duck' and 'Uncle Scrooge' stories. The dog-nosed characters in his own art are a tribute to those in Barks' comics. Schenkel also had a keen interest in amateur drawings, or so-called "outsider art". All these influences are stewed together in his own style, which explains his fondness for doodling and collage. Later in life, he also expressed admiration for John Kricfalusi, Steve Cutts, Stephen Hillenburg, John Seabury, Kaz, Drew Friedman, Patrick McDonnell, Gary Taxali, Edel Rodriguez, Reg Mombasa, Glitchr, Gary Panter and Susan Natalie Murphy.
'How to Comb & Set A Jelly Roll', from the inside sleeve of 'Cruisin' With Ruben & The Jets' (1968).
Frank Zappa
While Schenkel's college experience was brief, he did meet his future girlfriend, Sandy Hurvitz, during this period. In 1966, the couple moved to California, where the hippie subculture was booming. By sheer coincidence, he was picked up by a bunch of hippie girls on their way to a recording studio in L.A. It turned out to be the office of Verve Records, where Frank Zappa was recording his debut album 'Freak Out!'. At the time, Schenkel thought Zappa's name was a pseudonym, based on Robert Crumb's Zap Comix. Schenkel witnessed some of the recordings, but didn't partake in them and only met Zappa in passing. Some months later, he noticed the album in a store and bought it. He liked the music and got back in touch with Zappa when his band toured in New York City. His girlfriend Sandy performed as a singer and pianist for Zappa's band, the Mothers of Invention, and as such she encouraged her boyfriend to show his artwork to Zappa. The "king of underground rock" liked what he saw. During his teen years, Zappa had occasionally made paintings and been actively involved with the design of the first two Zappa albums, 'Freak Out!' and 'Absolutely Free', and their promotional material. But as he became more preoccupied with composing, rehearsing and recording, he wanted somebody else to take care of the graphic design. As such, Schenkel became part of Zappa's entourage.
During Zappa and the Mothers' first European tour in 1967, Schenkel acted as the official photographer, set- and light designer of each concert. In New York City, he received his own art studio in Zappa's apartment. Sometimes he slept over, eventually briefly moving in. When Zappa moved to L.A., Schenkel received his own studio in a wing of his estate. Later he moved out and rented a studio in Melrose, which was a former dentist's office. Books and photographs of teeth were still lying around. Schenkel would later use this imagery for the cover design of Zappa's album 'Uncle Meat' (1969). Schenkel can be heard on the album 'Lumpy Gravy' (1968), uttering the surreal statements: "That's very distraughtening" and the album closer "'Cause round things are boring". He holds a crate of eggs on the cover of the album 'We're Only In It Of The Money' (1968) and can be seen, asleep at his desk, inside the album sleeve of 'Just Another Band From L.A.' (1972).
Zappa: Advertising comics
From 'Absolutely Free' (1967) on, Schenkel often drew advertisements for Zappa's latest musical releases. These were predominantly published in comic magazines and often drawn in a comic strip-style, complete with panels, speech balloons and funny doodles. Usually they starred Zappa and the Mothers themselves in surreal storylines. Zappa's son, Ahmet, credits his father as the first rock 'n' roll musician to exclusively advertise in comic magazines. In a November 1976 interview conducted by Alan B. Milman for Foxtrot magazine, Zappa explained that he considered comic readers the ideal target audience for his eccentric music. Some ads published near the end of the 1960s appeared in issues of Marvel comic books, more specifically the series 'The Fantastic Four'. The fact that Zappa was a personal friend of Jack Kirby presumably helped. An image from a 'Sgt. Fury' comic can also be seen on the cover of Zappa's album 'We're Only In It For The Money' (1968).
Schenkel created several advertisement comics for Moop, a record label that Zappa and producer Alan Douglas planned to launch. The ads appeared in The Hit Parader during the summer of 1967, but Douglas felt they were too weird and thus backed out of the project. Even though Moop never went anywhere it wasn't a total waste of time. One image in these comics - a dog-faced man named Ralph - would later be used for a T-shirt logo when Schenkel started his own mailing order device in 1980. Since it caught on so well, he made it his official logo. Ralph the dog can also be seen in the crowd on the cover of Zappa's album 'Tinseltown Rebellion' (1981).
Zappa: Concert posters
Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Schenkel occasionally designed concert posters for Zappa too. In 1991, he made the poster for the tribute concert 'Zappa's Universe'.
Schenkel's ads for 'Absolutely Free' and 'We're Only In It For The Money'.
We're Only In It For The Money
One of Schenkel's most famous album covers was made for Frank Zappa's 'We're Only In It For The Money' (1968), a parody of the cover of The Beatles' 'Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band'. It depicts Zappa and his Mothers in drag, rather than the Fab Four's satin uniforms. Instead of a flower corsage spelling out their band name, Schenkel did the same with a bunch of vegetables, a nod to Zappa's song 'Call Any Vegetable'. Zappa had made a list of all the people he wanted on the cover, but it turned out to be too difficult to find all the required celebrities, let alone pictures of them. Only Jimi Hendrix managed to make it to the photo shoot. While the Beatles could afford to hire life-size wax statues and cardboard cut-outs of all the celebrities, Schenkel just relied on a collage of cut-out photographs, most of them lifted from magazines he happened to have in his vicinity. To make up for all the people they couldn't portray, Zappa just gave him his high school yearbook to pick pictures from.
The final cover showed images of - among others - U.S President Lyndon B. Johnson, assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, TV host Rod Serling, pop musicians David Crosby, Nancy Sinatra and Elvis Presley and silent movie actors Theda Bara, Lon Chaney Sr. and Max Schreck. To avoid legal troubles, all photos of (then) living people received black censor boxes in front of their eyes. Zappa also asked the Beatles' label E.M.I. for permission to make this spoof. According to some sources, Paul McCartney was not amused with this mockery, even though he named Zappa's 'Freak Out!' (1966) a major source of inspiration for 'Sgt. Peppers'. What the other Beatles felt about 'We're Only In It For The Money' is not known. But since Zappa once recorded on stage with John Lennon in New York City in 1971 and had Ringo Starr appear as a guest actor in his film '200 Motels' the same year, there was presumably no ill blood. 'Sgt. Peppers' was such a cultural phenomenon that 'We're Only In It For The Money' made both Zappa as well as Schenkel more notorious. Countless other parodies of 'Sgt. Peppers' have been made since, but 'We're Only In It For The Money' was the first and remains the best-known.
Cover art for 'We're Only In It For The Money'. Schenkel can be seen in the lower right corner, holding a crate of eggs. The boy with the accordion in the top center is a childhood photo of him.
Other Zappa album covers
Since Zappa was such a productive artist, Schenkel always had something to work on. His record covers ranged from photograph-based designs ('Lumpy Gravy' [1968], 'Hot Rats' [1969]) over collages and assemblages ('Uncle Meat' [1969], 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich' [1970], 'Tinsel Town Rebellion' [1981]) to full-blown illustration work ('Cruising With Ruben & The Jets' [1968], 'Fillmore East, June 1971' [1971], 'Just Another Band From L.A.' [1972], 'The Grand Wazoo' [1972], 'One Size Fits All' [1975], 'Does Humor Belong In Music?' [1986], 'Playground Psychotics' [1992] and 'Ahead Of Their Time' [1993]). Schenkel didn't limit himself to just the front and back covers. Inside the sleeves one could find remarkable illustration work too. Many of these images have become classics. For 'Uncle Meat' (1969), he created a booklet which features a model drawing of a rifle with a doll's foot stuck upon it. On the same page we find a little comic strip starring a giraffe who listens to Captain Beefheart's song 'Moonlight on Vermont' (from 'Trout Mask Replica', 1969). In the next panel he suddenly gets a doll foot jammed up its ass. The booklet also presents a synopsis for a never-realized film Zappa had in mind, including a storyboard for which Schenkel provided the drawings. The cover of 'Cruisin' With Ruben & The Jets' (1968) depicts a musical band whose lead guitarist is immediately recognizable as Zappa. It marked the first instance of Schenkel using his now familiar dog nosed and -eared people. The illustration is quintessential Schenkel art: drawn for the fun of it, rather than worry about technical virtuosity. He also named it his personal favorite.
Schenkel also drew the vacuum cleaner dancing around a gypsy campfire inside the sleeve of 'Chunga's Revenge' (1970). He painted the delightfully amusing cover of 'Just Another Band From L.A.' (1972), where Zappa and his Mothers are seen driving an enormous car. Another unforgettable cover is 'The Grand Wazoo' (1972), where two armies of musicians fight one another on the front, while mad scientist Uncle Meat grins in his office on the backside. The most ambitious record cover Schenkel ever made was 'One Size Fits All' (1975), co-created/designed with Lynn Lascaro. The back cover shows a parody of the constellations, with all star signs being either puns, intellectual references or inside jokes. Some jokes refer to Zappa personally, while others are nods to friends of Schenkel, namely the stars Alison Wickwire, Laura, Aunty Letty, Katy, Chunky, Novy & Ernie. With some covers Schenkel merely oversaw the design, packaging and lettering, while other artists provided the cover illustration or photograph. This was the case with albums like 'Chunga's Revenge' (1970), '200 Motels' (1971), 'Over-Nite Sensation' (1973), 'Waka/Jawaka' (1972), 'Apostrophe' (1974), 'Roxy & Elsewhere' (1974), 'Bongo Fury' (1975) and 'Zoot Allures' (1976).
Back cover of 'The Grand Wazoo'.
Zappa: records & labels
Schenkel was also closely involved with Zappa's musical enterprises. He designed the logo for Zappa's independent record label Bizarre, while John Williams did the same for its counterpart label Straight. Schenkel also made album covers for artists who recorded under these labels: Captain Beefheart ('Trout Mask Replica', 1969), Wild Man Fischer ('An Evening with Wild Man Fischer', 1969), The GTO's ('Permanent Damage', 1969), Lord Buckley ('A Most Immaculately Hip Aristocrat', 1969), Ruben and the Jets ('For Real', 1973) and Tim Buckley ('Sefronia' [1973], 'Look at the Fool' [1974]). Schenkel also designed a cover for his girlfriend's debut album, 'Sandy's Album Is Here At Last' (1968). Their relationship didn't work out and Sandy Hurvitz later became a solo musician under the pseudonym Essra Mohawk. Later Schenkel was also together with Zappa's secretary Pauline Butcher, followed by a relationship with groupie Sandra Leano, with whom he had a daughter, Raven. Leano later became part of the all-female band the GTO's (Girls Together Outrageously). Zappa produced their first and only album 'Permanent Damage' (1969), for which Schenkel created the cover lay-out.
Schenkel's comics for Moop.
Zappa: Film projects
When Frank Zappa made a low-budget live-action film, '200 Motels' (1971), Schenkel worked on it as a production and creative designer. He built the sets of the fictional city Centerville, "a real nice place to raise your kids up." Halfway through the movie, an animated intermezzo is seen: 'Dental Hygiene Dilemma / Does This Kind of Life Look Interesting To You?', based on Schenkel's graphic designs, but directed by Charles Swenson (who'd later direct the cult animated feature 'Down & Dirty Duck', 1974, based on Bobby London's 'Dirty Duck'.). 'Dental Hygiene Dilemma' parodies educational films, in this case about dental hygiene. It features Zappa band member Jeff Simmons being seduced by the Devil to leave the group. The piece then segues into 'Does This Kind Of Life Look Interesting To You', a cynical reposé about the ingratitude of being a "fake rock 'n' roll guitar player in a comedy group". A grotesque version of Donald Duck also has a small cameo, obviously without approval from the Walt Disney Company. Schenkel seems to have been inspired by an actual Donald Duck cartoon, 'Donald's Dilemma' (1947), directed by Jack King, which, apart from the title, also features some similar visual ideas. The use of photo collage animation also hints at influence from Terry Gilliam's intermezzos in 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' (1969-1970, 1972-1974). Given that '200 Motels' was filmed in England, it's possible that Zappa and Schenkel may have caught a few episodes on the BBC back then.
Schenkel made another rare animated cartoon in 1974, which advertised Zappa's latest release, 'Apostrophe'. It was broadcast on some local U.S. TV channels. In 1972-1973, Zappa wrote another film script, 'Hunchentoot', which spoofed monster B-movies. Schenkel adapted part of the dialogue into a comic strip, 'The Curtains Are Closing'. The text deals with "the greatest known 'philostopher' (sic) Quentin Robert D. Nameland" and would later be set to music as part of Zappa's epic musical fairy tale 'The Adventures of Greggery Peccary', available on the albums 'Studio Tan' (1978) and 'Läther' (1996). Zappa tried to find a director for 'Hunchentoot' for many years, even contacting Terry Gilliam and the creators of the cult TV show 'Mystery Science Theater 3000', but it always remained in development limbo.
Zappa: Video covers
Zappa established his own video label in 1985, Honker Home Video, for whom Schenkel designed the logo. The logo image featured Zappa's majestic big nose inside a TV screen, accompanied by the speech balloon: "It's a honker!" Schenkel illustrated the covers of three Honker Home Videos, namely 'Uncle Meat' (1987), 'The Amazing Mr. Bickford' (1987) and 'The True Story of 200 Motels' (1989).
Zappa: Posthumous work
Even when Zappa passed away in 1993, Schenkel was still asked to contribute illustrations for some of his posthumous albums, such as 'Cheap Thrills' (1998), 'Son of Cheep Thrills' (1998) and 'Mystery Disc' (1998). He also redesigned the cover of an older album, 'The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life' (1991), which originally just had a picture of the cult musician performing with his band. He illustrated the cover of a 2013 catalog about Frank Zappa's singles, 'Exhibition Guide: Aagot.No Rokne - Helmut King - The Frank Zappa singles'. In 2016, he was one of many celebrities who appeared in fundraiser videos to collect money for the documentary 'Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa?' by Alex Winter, eventually released in 2021 under the simple title 'Frank Zappa'.
'Dental Hygiene Dilemma', from '200 Motels' (1971).
Non-Zappa album cover work
Cal Schenkel also worked outside Zappa's realm. He enriched the record covers of artists like Emitt Rhodes ('Emitt Rhodes', 1970), The Fugs ('Golden Filth', 1970), Shango ('Trampin', 1970), George Duke ('Liberated Fantasies' and the design of 'Live on Tour in Europe', both from 1976), Ether Hogg ('Snivelization', 1994) and Tom Waits ('Closing Time' [1973], 'The Heart of Saturday Night' [1974], 'Nighthawks at the Diner' [1975] and 'Small Change' [1976]). The piano Waits is seated behind on the cover of 'Closing Time' was actually located in Schenkel's house. It's sometimes incorrectly assumed that Schenkel painted the cover of 'The Heart of Saturday Night', because he is credited as its designer and since it is also a homage to another famous record cover (in this case Frank Sinatra's 'In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning'), much like 'We're Only In It for The Money' spoofed 'Sgt. Peppers'. In reality, the cover was illustrated by Lyn Lascaro, while Schenkel was just the art director. Schenkel could have also added a cover design for an Eric Dolphy album to his catalog, but the plan fell through and it eventually ended up as the cover for Zappa's 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich' (1970).
'The Curtain Comes Up', comic strip by Schenkel and Zappa. The dialogue is based on the song 'The Adventures of Greggery Peccary'.
Other Zappa illustrators
Despite his long career and work for other artists, Schenkel will always remain first and foremost associated with Zappa. Many fans still believe that he created each and every record cover for him, which is not the case. To debunk some common misunderstandings and give credits' worth, we provide a small overview of the illustrated covers other artists made: Jack Anesh ('Freak Out!', 1966), Neon Park ('Weasels Ripped My Flesh', 1970), Marvin Mattelson ('Waka/Jawaka' , 1973), Gary Panter ('Studio Tan' [1978], 'Sleep Dirt' [1979], 'Orchestral Favorites' [1979]), John Williams (the gatefold sleeve of 'Joe's Garage' 1979), Roger Price ('Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch', 1982), Tanino Liberatore ('The Man From Utopia', 1983), Donald Roller Wilson ('The Perfect Stranger', 'Them or Us', 'Francesco Zappa' [all from 1984]), Larry Grossman ('The Old Masters' [1985], 'Make A Jazz Noise Here' [1988]), Uri Balashov ('Civilization Phaze III', 1994), Gabor Csupo ('The Lost Episodes', 1996), Matt Groening ('Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute', 1996), Ralph Steadman ('Have I Offended Someone?', 1997) and Christopher Mark Brennan ('Everything Is Healing Nicely' [1999] and 'Wazoo' [2007]).
Schenkel wasn't the only graphic designer to work on Zappa's side projects either. The animated TV advertisement for Luden's Cough Drops, for whom Zappa wrote the musical score in 1967 and which can be heard on 'The Lost Episodes' (1996), was animated by Ed Seeman. The 1977 comic strip 'Zappa in Zoeloeland', for whom Zappa wrote the script, was drawn by Kamagurka. The claymation in Zappa's film 'Baby Snakes' (1979) was created by Bruce Bickford. Brother A. West illustrated Zappa's autobiography 'The Real Frank Zappa Book' (1989). Zappa was also a special guest voice in the Ren & Stimpy episode 'Powdered Toast Man' by John Kricfalusi and allowed his music to be used in Everett Peck's animated adaptation of his comic strip 'Duckman', animated by Gábor Csupó. He would have been a special guest voice in Matt Groening's 'The Simpsons' too if he hadn't been so ill with cancer by that time.
Back cover art for 'One Size Fits All'.
Legacy and influence
Cal Schenkel perfectly captured the spirit of Zappa's music. He drew in a loose, cartoony style with little concern for the "norm" of "good artwork". Much like Zappa he brutally blended different art forms together, with a sense of humor. Some may look a bit cluttered together or even ugly to some, but there is always a charm to it. Both artists were ahead of their time. Schenkel can be considered a predecessor of punk art, almost a decade before it happened. The naïve look of his drawings, his use of cut-outs and odd juxtapositions, all done by someone without any professional training, would become part of the punk aesthetic.
Much like Schenkel doesn't always receive credit for his contributions to punk art, his efforts for Zappa have also been downplayed. Being a notorious control freak, the cult composer was closely involved with all things released under his name. He often suggested overall themes or imagery to his illustrators, which they had to include in the artwork. Many of Zappa's record covers are brimful with tiny details and references to his lyrics, which encourages fans to spot the "secret" messages. He also had final say over the end product. Schenkel was no exception to this, but otherwise received enough creative freedom to do his own thing. It cannot be denied that Schenkel's graphics have done a lot to attract more attention to Zappa's recordings, particularly since his music rarely received airplay. Whether as an advertisement in a magazine or a cover in a record store: they were always eye-catching. Many Zappa fans still treasure the hours they've spent gazing at all of Schenkel's sleeve designs, while listening to their newly purchased record. For this feat alone he deserves far more recognition.
In a 1968 questionnaire, 'Data For Sensitive or Critical-Sensitive Position', Zappa named Schenkel his "favorite contemporary artist". Coming from a man who cited people like Salvador Dalí, Jules Feiffer and Yves Tanguy as influences in his 1966 'Freak Out!' list, this meant a lot. Last but not least, Zappa dedicated one of his songs to him, 'For Calvin And His Next Two Hitch-hikers' on 'The Grand Wazoo' (1972), inspired by an eerie encounter Schenkel once had with two mysterious and non-conversational stoned hippies whom he once took for a lift.
Schenkel is still active today, selling artwork and new versions of classic Zappa covers. In the 1990s, he brought his mail ordering company online. Cal Schenkel was a major influence on artists like Maximiliano Lopez Barrios, Pedro Bell, Gary Panter, Edwin Pouncey, Ryan Duggan, Winston Smith, Mike Kelley, Brian Bolland, Wayno, Robert Beatty and Matt Groening. Groening credits both Schenkel and Ron Cobb with inspiring the design of his 'Life in Hell' book covers. The idea of using two horizontal lines sandwiching one image was borrowed from the cover of Zappa's 'Hot Rats' (1969).
A cartoon ad by Schenkel, named after the song 'Eddie Are You Kidding?' from the 1972 album 'Just Another Band From L.A.'