Whereas the book 'Captain Beefheart' by Mike Barnes is a biography of Don Van Vliet and 'Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh' by W.C Bamberger is an outsider's view of Beefheart and his art, Harkleroad preempts John 'Drumbo' French, by telling the story of The Magic Band from the inside. As he points out in the preface, the book is about Harkleroad (or Zoot Horn Rollo as he became known) but as the majority of his musical career was within The Magic Band, the work becomes by default, yet another work on Beefheart.
Harkleroad also confesses very early on that he is not a writer therefore the book has been put together by Billy James from taped interviews with Harkleroad. At a mere 151 pages it obviously can't compete with the level of detail included within the 864 pages of John French's Beefheart Through the Eyes Of Magic'. Nevertheless it is an entertaining and informative read covering the six years that Harkleroad spent working with Beefheart. He played on all of the albums from 'Lick My Decals Off, Baby' in 1968 to 'Unconditionally Guaranteed' in 1974 and his break down of the tracks from each album provides a fascinating glimpse into who was responsible for what and why certain tracks turned out the way they did. I would say that reading this slim volume in addition to the John French tome, helps to break down some of the mystique and the myths that have surrounded Beefheart. They also provide a new insight into the music and I have found myself listening to those familiar tracks with new ears.
The last couple of chapters deal with Harkleroad's musical life after The Magic Band, most notably with Mallard.
I would suggest that anyone with more than a passing interest in the life and musical work of Captain Beefheart might want to give this book a try. It should while away a few hours on an autumn afternoon.
As a little treat, here's Zoot Horn Rollo and colleagues accompanying the great Captain Beefheart on 'I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLdRh7qdi_g
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