Beefheart, and what became known as his `magic band` in the mid 1960`s psychedelic rock craze, twisted and turned rhythm and blues and rock music into an eccentric brew all of its own.
He had a long and sometimes strained association with the late Frank Zappa, you haven`t got to look far when you look up his name on the internet to find the name Frank
Zappa, Dweezil Zappa, Moon Unit Zappa et. al.
Zappa, Dweezil Zappa, Moon Unit Zappa et. al.
Yes, the late 60`s and early 70`s were strange times, and judging by the names Frank Zappa gave to his kids, he must have been on the pot even more than his mate Beefheart. And LSD too haha.
Beefheart might have had the same eccentric tendencies of Zappa to create music that soundtracked what the hippies and beatniks of the late 60`s wanted to hear as they were
getting their next fix, but unlike Zappa, Beefheart's unique!mix of rhythm and blues, blues, rock and psychedelia had a lot more substance to it and he knew how to "rock `n`roll".
His 1968 effort, `Trout Mask Replica` which many consider to be the best record, is one record of the Captain that I simply dont like.
Too stupid, too convoluted and an album
which relied on a few grubby song titles to get people looking beyond the tiresome delta blues inspired content.
which relied on a few grubby song titles to get people looking beyond the tiresome delta blues inspired content.
Like`Hair Pie Bake 1`- now you wouldn`t have to be Ron Jeremy to work out what Captain Beefheart was referring to.
To me, `Trout Mask Replica` is a just a poorly executed and watered down version of what Beefheart had done 2 years before.
And it never got any better if you ask
me than his debut album `Safe as Milk` released in 1967.
Beefheart had been around for a long time before this, in 1963 he actually composed a `doo wop opera`, whatever that is, with Frank Zappa called `I Was A Teenage Maltshop`.
Man these guys were on some strong stuff, that`s all I can say, judging by some of the wacko titles that they gave their artistic creations.
But I`m not here to judge the Captain tonight over his recreational drug use back in the 60`s, I am here to talk about his music.
After this quirky little side project with Zappa, he formed what would be the original line up of the Magic Band. Much to the chagrin of his bandmates, Beefheart called his band `Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band`, not `Captain Beefheart
and The Magic Band`.
and The Magic Band`.
It did give the impression that he thought he owned his bandmates, both in a personal and artistic sense.
Tensions arose between Beefheart and his
troops when record label A&M dropped him not long before work started on recording `Safe As Milk`.
troops when record label A&M dropped him not long before work started on recording `Safe As Milk`.
Buddah came to the rescue with a new record deal for the band, but not before Beefheart had cleared the decks by coming up with a completely new Magic Band.
John French, the new drummer, would have been a star recruit in so many other bands, but Beefheart somehow jagged the services of up of an coming guitar virtuoso named Ry
Cooder, who would go on to make the bottleneck guitar as famous as anyone has ever done.
Cooder, who would go on to make the bottleneck guitar as famous as anyone has ever done.
It is impossible to work out exactly who played what and exactly when they did, such was the drug fueled dysfunction of the sessions that went into recording Safe As Milk, but the finished product was probably a lot better result than what any record producer could have hoped for given the same hectic irrational from a band of
dopeheads.
dopeheads.
There are a couple of instruments which
are played on Safe As Milk that you will probably only ever hear elsewhere on another Beefheart album or perhaps a Mothers of Invention album, they include
the Theremin, which gives a few songs, and especially the classic trippy psychedelic tune `Electricity`, a real way out there feel.
are played on Safe As Milk that you will probably only ever hear elsewhere on another Beefheart album or perhaps a Mothers of Invention album, they include
the Theremin, which gives a few songs, and especially the classic trippy psychedelic tune `Electricity`, a real way out there feel.
The Log Drum is another instrument which you might find elsewhere but I have not found it yet. There is 19 songs on the album, the whole album is very eclectic, a mixture of hard core rhythm and blues, all things eccentric and traditional African and Native American dynamics, but all in all still very much a psychedelic experience that fits
in with any Beatles or early Pink Floyd collection.
in with any Beatles or early Pink Floyd collection.
If you want to know what songs really take my fancy on Safe As Milk, then try `Electricity`, `Abba Zaba`,`Plastic Factory`, and `Grown So Ugly`.
Truthfully, it is not my favourite album by a long shot, just one of my favourites from an era which isn`t at the top of my wishlist.
If Captain Beefheart fell a bit short on musical ability, then he made up for it by being at the forefront of psychedelic progressive rock and having the guts to take experimentation to a new level.
In the early 1980`s, Van Vliet gave the music game away and moved back out into the Mojave Desert to live a reclusive life as a painter, and may he now rest in peace where he lived out his last days. The music world has just lost a pioneer.
"On the pot"? What are you, like 90? Maybe you shoulda done some homework, pal, Zappa was about as anti-drug as you could get. He fired band members if they used them. And the Captain didn't need the drugs to be creative, his eccentric artistic ability was enough.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should lighten up pal, i
ReplyDeletethink you are taking a bit of tongue
and cheek satire the wrong way. I
meant teapot, not pot, sorry about
that OK lol. When you call your
kids Moon Unit and Dweezil then
i think people have every right
to think you are lighting one
up occasionally. It`s all fun
on here dude, lighten up!