There's some very welcome and from my point of view, quite exciting news concerning new releases from the Drive-By Truckers, Blitzen Trapper and Captain Beefheart.
From the Drive-By Truckers website I learn that they have a 35 track live album 'It's Great to be Alive' being released towards the end of October. The deluxe version comes in the form of 5 LP records plus 3 CD's. a 16 page booklet and 4 mini concert posters. The recordings originate from three nights the Truckers performed at the Fillmore in San Francisco last November. The package is also going to be available in a reduced version in different formats. Full details can be obtained from the website using this link.
http://drivebytruckers.shop.musictoday.com/Product.aspx?cp=407_72052&pc=D2CD21
I'm also excited by the news that one of my favourite bands, Blitzen Trapper will release their eighth studio album 'All Across This Land' on 2nd October. Once again more details are on the website.
http://www.blitzentrapper.net/
And finally I learn that the 4th September sees the release of a 3 CD box set from the late, great Captain Beefheart. Titled 'Transmission Impossible' this set features radio transmissions from three separate areas of Beefheart's recording career.
The first disc contains broadcasts from the period 1966 to 1968 including what I believe is the full performance from the Avalon Ballroom in 1966. Previously only four of those cuts had been officially released on the 'Grow Fins' box set.
The second CD features the more commercial material that Beefheart was producing in 1974 and finally the last of the 3 CD's features the band's 1981 performance at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom.
Forty-eight tracks in all and all for the sum of of £11.99.
Read about it here.
http://www.spincds.com/coming-soon/transmission-impossible-3cd-46153
Showing posts with label Captain Beefheart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Captain Beefheart. Show all posts
Thursday, 6 August 2015
Monday, 14 October 2013
Books#6 - Lunar Notes by Bill Harkleroad and Billy James
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
Friday, 20 September 2013
Books#5 - Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh by W.C Bamberger
Despite being published in 1999, it is only fairly recently that I became aware of the existence of this book which documents the career of the late great Don Van Vliet, otherwise known as Captain Beefheart. Obviously the book therefore covers much of the same ground as works by John 'Drumbo' French and Mike Barnes.
Where this book differs is that it not only deals with the musical legacy of Captain Beefheart, but also goes on to discuss the later artistic work of Van Vliet. Despite the fact that this is what sets the book apart from its contemporaries, in my view it also diminishes the book somewhat. Although the author attempts to give some detailed information about the drawings and paintings, this is no substitute for actually being able to see the works and sadly they are not included here. Perhaps this was due to copyright constraints or to keep publication costs down. Whatever the reason, it resulted in me finding the latter third of the book less interesting.
That aside, I found the book to be well written and the early sections about the life and work of Captain Beefheart were well researched and well presented. Now I'm about to move on to 'Lunar Notes' by Bill Harkleroad (Zoot Horn Rollo). I will report on that in due course.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Well, I Never Knew That #1 - Blue Thumb Records
I am currently reading 'Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh' by W.C. Bamberger, a rather good book about the arts of Don Van Vliet, otherwise known as Captain Beefheart.
As you may be aware, 'Strictly Personal' the second album by Beefheart and His Magic Band was issued on the Blue Thumb record label. The company was formed by Bob Krasnow and as 'Strictly Personal' was to be the first release on that label, Krasnow asked Beefheart to provide a name. Beefheart chose Blue Thumb and according to Bamberger, provided his own thumbprint for the label's logo.
The label went on to issue records by an eclectic array of artists including, Dave Mason, Ike & Tina Turner, Aynsley Dunbar, The Pointer Sisters, Clifton Chenier, Love, Sun Ra, Larry Carlton and The Butts Band.
So, the next time you play a Blue Thumb recording, you will see the thumbprint of the sadly departed Captain Beefheart spinning around on your turntable.
I never knew that!
As you may be aware, 'Strictly Personal' the second album by Beefheart and His Magic Band was issued on the Blue Thumb record label. The company was formed by Bob Krasnow and as 'Strictly Personal' was to be the first release on that label, Krasnow asked Beefheart to provide a name. Beefheart chose Blue Thumb and according to Bamberger, provided his own thumbprint for the label's logo.
The label went on to issue records by an eclectic array of artists including, Dave Mason, Ike & Tina Turner, Aynsley Dunbar, The Pointer Sisters, Clifton Chenier, Love, Sun Ra, Larry Carlton and The Butts Band.
So, the next time you play a Blue Thumb recording, you will see the thumbprint of the sadly departed Captain Beefheart spinning around on your turntable.
I never knew that!
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
The Magic Band at The Cluny, Newcastle
I went prepared to be booglarized.
I had been hoping to see these guys play live for some time having forever carried with me the disappointment of never getting to see the late great Captain Beefheart. Consequently I wasted no time in ordering a ticket when I heard that John 'Drumbo' French, Denny 'Feelers Rebo' Walley, Mark 'Rockette Morton' Boston, Eric Klerks and Craig Bunch would be playing in my home city on 11 March. French, Boston and Walley were all former sidemen of Beefheart and Walley additionally spent quite some time working with another late, great, Frank Zappa.
Originally planned for Cluny 2, demand for tickets led to this gig being moved into the sister venue next door. There may have been flurries of snow and icy winds blowing off the River Tyne but the band wasted no time in getting the enthusiastic audience nicely warmed up. Former band drummer, French is now the front man and has adopted the persona of Beefheart, taking on the howling, growling vocals, playing harp, soprano sax, a bit of guitar and adopting Beefhearts' mannerisms of arm waving and finger pointing.
First number was 'My Human Gets Me Blues' followed by a host of other crowd pleasers which included 'Hot Head', the Willie Dixon/Bo Diddley song 'Diddy Wah Diddy' and a rocking, scorching version of 'When It Blows It Stacks' which had the crowd yelling their approval.
After a fifteen minute break, 'Drumbo' lived up to his nickname by opening with a drum solo that showed he has lost none of his talent behind the kit. He remained on drums for the following instrumental and then Bunch took over once more as the band delivered more favourites including 'Hair Pie Bake 1', 'Steal Softly Thru Snow', 'Carson City (Owed T'Alex)', 'Click Clack', 'Sun Zoom Spark' and 'Moonlight On Vermont'. At one point French asked the audience if anyone present had not heard any of their material. Only one person confessed to which French replied, 'You must find it strange'. To the uninitiated, strange it must seem to hear this free form poetry set to weirdly disjointed rhythms. But it is strangely compelling. For the most part, the band were preaching to the already converted which seemed to come as something of a surprise. French explained their reason for not having visited Newcastle for some considerable time. They had been given the advice, 'Don't go to Newcastle. No one will like your stuff there.' Gladly the crowd proved that advice wrong to the delight of the band members who fed off the adulation and raised their game even further.
By the time of the finale, people were dancing in front of the stage. A superb version of 'Floppy Boot Stomp' had French stomping his way around the stage and the fingers of 'Rockette Morton' who was dressed like an over-age space cadet, hammering down on his bass strings. At the end the band said their thanks, took their bows and left the stage to cheers and whistles of approval.
As I write these words I have Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band on the hi-fi and a cheesy grin on my face. It was that kind of night.
Oh and I also got 'Drumbo' to sign my copy of his great book, 'Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic'!
For those of you who must know such things, the full setlist was:
My Human Gets Me Blues
Low Yo-Yo Stuff
Diddy Wah Diddy
Bass Solo
Clouds (No Birdies)
When It Blows It Stacks
Hot Head
Dr Dark
Circumstances
Drum Solo
On Tomorrow
Alice In Blunderland
Suction Prints
Hair Pie Bake 1
Steal Softly Thru Snow
Carson City (Owed T'Alex)
Click Clack
Sun Zoom Spark
Moonlight On Vermont
Big Eyed Beans From Venus
Floppy Boot Stomp
I had been hoping to see these guys play live for some time having forever carried with me the disappointment of never getting to see the late great Captain Beefheart. Consequently I wasted no time in ordering a ticket when I heard that John 'Drumbo' French, Denny 'Feelers Rebo' Walley, Mark 'Rockette Morton' Boston, Eric Klerks and Craig Bunch would be playing in my home city on 11 March. French, Boston and Walley were all former sidemen of Beefheart and Walley additionally spent quite some time working with another late, great, Frank Zappa.
Originally planned for Cluny 2, demand for tickets led to this gig being moved into the sister venue next door. There may have been flurries of snow and icy winds blowing off the River Tyne but the band wasted no time in getting the enthusiastic audience nicely warmed up. Former band drummer, French is now the front man and has adopted the persona of Beefheart, taking on the howling, growling vocals, playing harp, soprano sax, a bit of guitar and adopting Beefhearts' mannerisms of arm waving and finger pointing.
First number was 'My Human Gets Me Blues' followed by a host of other crowd pleasers which included 'Hot Head', the Willie Dixon/Bo Diddley song 'Diddy Wah Diddy' and a rocking, scorching version of 'When It Blows It Stacks' which had the crowd yelling their approval.
After a fifteen minute break, 'Drumbo' lived up to his nickname by opening with a drum solo that showed he has lost none of his talent behind the kit. He remained on drums for the following instrumental and then Bunch took over once more as the band delivered more favourites including 'Hair Pie Bake 1', 'Steal Softly Thru Snow', 'Carson City (Owed T'Alex)', 'Click Clack', 'Sun Zoom Spark' and 'Moonlight On Vermont'. At one point French asked the audience if anyone present had not heard any of their material. Only one person confessed to which French replied, 'You must find it strange'. To the uninitiated, strange it must seem to hear this free form poetry set to weirdly disjointed rhythms. But it is strangely compelling. For the most part, the band were preaching to the already converted which seemed to come as something of a surprise. French explained their reason for not having visited Newcastle for some considerable time. They had been given the advice, 'Don't go to Newcastle. No one will like your stuff there.' Gladly the crowd proved that advice wrong to the delight of the band members who fed off the adulation and raised their game even further.
By the time of the finale, people were dancing in front of the stage. A superb version of 'Floppy Boot Stomp' had French stomping his way around the stage and the fingers of 'Rockette Morton' who was dressed like an over-age space cadet, hammering down on his bass strings. At the end the band said their thanks, took their bows and left the stage to cheers and whistles of approval.
As I write these words I have Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band on the hi-fi and a cheesy grin on my face. It was that kind of night.
Oh and I also got 'Drumbo' to sign my copy of his great book, 'Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic'!
For those of you who must know such things, the full setlist was:
My Human Gets Me Blues
Low Yo-Yo Stuff
Diddy Wah Diddy
Bass Solo
Clouds (No Birdies)
When It Blows It Stacks
Hot Head
Dr Dark
Circumstances
Drum Solo
On Tomorrow
Alice In Blunderland
Suction Prints
Hair Pie Bake 1
Steal Softly Thru Snow
Carson City (Owed T'Alex)
Click Clack
Sun Zoom Spark
Moonlight On Vermont
Big Eyed Beans From Venus
Floppy Boot Stomp
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Books#2 - Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic by John "Drumbo" French
This book has been in my collection for about a year now so it's time I made my feelings known.
I suspect you know this already but just in case you don't, John French was the drummer with Captain Beefheart's Magic Band between 1966 and 1972 and again between 1976 and 1980. Drumbo was the nickname bestowed upon him by Beefheart during the recording sessions for the infamous 'Trout Mask Replica' album and this 864 page book is the fascinating story of what happened during his time with the band.
Because of the sheer size of this book, reading it has been something of a labour of love and I am grateful that French has broken it up into relatively short chapters, so it is a book which can be dipped in and out of - hence the time it has taken me to read so far. I should add that I am not yet finished but have made it far enough to have formed an opinion. And that opinion is very favourable. Writing this work must surely have been a labour of love for French and I understand that there were times when he almost gave up, wondering if he was wasting his time and should perhaps be doing something more productive. I'm pleased he persevered!
My problem with books of this type dealing with events that occurred over 40 years ago, is how much we can rely on the memory of the author. French overcomes this problem by incorporating contemporaneous interviews with other band members and other people who were there at the time. Occasionally this will lead to slight disagreements about the finer details but curiously this only adds to the charm and authenticity of the book. Throughout French writes in a conversational style and he includes a wealth of humorous anecdotes. It is clear that he never found Beefheart himself easy to work with and there are numerous occasions where he was verbally or even physically abused by the controversial band leader, even to the point of being thrown down stairs at the culmination of the Trout Mask sessions. Nevertheless French appears to deal with his subject in a fair manner.
I should say that this is not a biography of French, nor of Beefheart. For the latter, I would suggest the very fine book 'Captain Beefheart' by Mike Barnes (Quartet Books). Fans of Beefheart will find that French does not cover the period 1972 to 1974 simply because he was not there at the time. One very enlightening part of the book comes in a section at the end in which French comments on each track from every official Beefheart album on which he appeared. Obviously this excludes 'Unconditionally Guaranteed' and 'Bluejeans & Moonbeams'. His thoughts on these works are never less than fascinating and they have shed a fresh light on the music which has certainly enhanced my enjoyment.
If you are interested in the work of Captain Beefheart, I would recommend this book which is still available and is published in hardback by Proper Music Publishing Limited.
I suspect you know this already but just in case you don't, John French was the drummer with Captain Beefheart's Magic Band between 1966 and 1972 and again between 1976 and 1980. Drumbo was the nickname bestowed upon him by Beefheart during the recording sessions for the infamous 'Trout Mask Replica' album and this 864 page book is the fascinating story of what happened during his time with the band.
Because of the sheer size of this book, reading it has been something of a labour of love and I am grateful that French has broken it up into relatively short chapters, so it is a book which can be dipped in and out of - hence the time it has taken me to read so far. I should add that I am not yet finished but have made it far enough to have formed an opinion. And that opinion is very favourable. Writing this work must surely have been a labour of love for French and I understand that there were times when he almost gave up, wondering if he was wasting his time and should perhaps be doing something more productive. I'm pleased he persevered!
My problem with books of this type dealing with events that occurred over 40 years ago, is how much we can rely on the memory of the author. French overcomes this problem by incorporating contemporaneous interviews with other band members and other people who were there at the time. Occasionally this will lead to slight disagreements about the finer details but curiously this only adds to the charm and authenticity of the book. Throughout French writes in a conversational style and he includes a wealth of humorous anecdotes. It is clear that he never found Beefheart himself easy to work with and there are numerous occasions where he was verbally or even physically abused by the controversial band leader, even to the point of being thrown down stairs at the culmination of the Trout Mask sessions. Nevertheless French appears to deal with his subject in a fair manner.
I should say that this is not a biography of French, nor of Beefheart. For the latter, I would suggest the very fine book 'Captain Beefheart' by Mike Barnes (Quartet Books). Fans of Beefheart will find that French does not cover the period 1972 to 1974 simply because he was not there at the time. One very enlightening part of the book comes in a section at the end in which French comments on each track from every official Beefheart album on which he appeared. Obviously this excludes 'Unconditionally Guaranteed' and 'Bluejeans & Moonbeams'. His thoughts on these works are never less than fascinating and they have shed a fresh light on the music which has certainly enhanced my enjoyment.
If you are interested in the work of Captain Beefheart, I would recommend this book which is still available and is published in hardback by Proper Music Publishing Limited.
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