Weba and the Wailing Turbans

Photos by Nate Stein

New Bra-Art by Carl Smool

WEBA & THE WAILING TURBANS: Music (1989-1990).
Featuring: Weba Garretson, Keith Joe Dick & John Garretson.

In "Come to My Heaven" and "Adventure Amour" Keith Joe Dick and my brother, John Garretson, were the original Wailing Turbans. The idea for the show was loosely based on the road movies with Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour and Bing Crosby. We were exotic, funny. I was also very inspired by Terry Gilliam's movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and I created painted backdrops for each song. I wanted the show to have this old fashioned, theatrical feeling.

Keith and John wore turbans that had a cup with dry ice placed inside so that when they entered, smoke would cascade down from the top of their turbans. We would go from one exotic local to the next: a tropical island, the planet Venus, the city of Venice...and with each transition, a new backdrop (painted by my sister-in-law Sarah Todd Garretson) would descend from the "rafters." All this took place in the tiny club Largo on Fairfax. The two shows: "Come to My Heaven" and "Adventure Amour" ran for several months each with much popular and critical success. Also at the Japan American Theater (Los Angeles, CA) the Santa Monica Museum of Art (Santa Monica, CA) and the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, CA)

Listen:

Come to My Heaven mp3

Big Butt-Art by Carl Smool

Cassette cover for Adventure Amour-

Photo by Nate Stein