Jad Posted May 2, 2003 Report Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) Seen plenty of Zappa threads around, but like Beatles vs Stones, Motown vs Stax, or Miles vs Miles, these two seem to be forever linked. Any others out there with me on the Beefheart preference? Favorite albums? Life-changing experience? Edited May 3, 2003 by Jad Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 3, 2003 Report Posted May 3, 2003 I'm a big fan of the good Captain. My favorite Beefheart album is Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller). I also dig his early stuff, too! Because when I see mommy, I feel like a mummy! :rsmile: Quote
Jad Posted May 3, 2003 Author Report Posted May 3, 2003 (edited) Listened to that one this morning. Probably the reason my thoughts were drifting in this direction. Also read a great interview with Zoot Horn Rollo here: Electricity Have to agree on Clear Spot. I know it's not typical Beefheart, but I think I listen to that one more than any other one I have (including Trout Mask or Lick My Decals...). Edited May 3, 2003 by Jad Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 3, 2003 Report Posted May 3, 2003 Thanks for the link, Jad! I've really been enjoying Safe As Milk and the Mirror Man Sessions cds lately. I had older versions of these albums and I recently picked up the expanded reissues. I have to admit that I haven't listened to my Clear Spot/Spotlight Kid cd more than a couple times. I need to give that one another chance. :rsmile: Quote
J.A.W. Posted May 3, 2003 Report Posted May 3, 2003 (edited) Thanks for the link, Jad! I've really been enjoying Safe As Milk and the Mirror Man Sessions cds lately. I had older versions of these albums and I recently picked up the expanded reissues. I have to admit that I haven't listened to my Clear Spot/Spotlight Kid cd more than a couple times. I need to give that one another chance. :rsmile: Have you ever tried Trout Mask Replica, the Captain's masterpiece? Slightly off topic: I'm still looking for Lick My Decals Off, preferably the Japanese reissue (no CDR) - yeah, I know, pricey, hard to get, etc. Edited May 3, 2003 by J.A.W. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 3, 2003 Report Posted May 3, 2003 Yes, I have spent a lot of time with Trout Mask Replica. That's one of my favorites too. The only Beefheart I don't really enjoy is stuff like Bluejeans and Moonbeams. The mid-seventies stuff. I wish I had the funds for that Beefheart boxset on the Revenant label. :rsmile: Quote
J.A.W. Posted May 3, 2003 Report Posted May 3, 2003 (edited) I wish I had the funds for that Beefheart boxset on the Revenant label. :rsmile: A friend of mine, a die-hard Captain fan, has the Revenant set, but he's not very enthusiastic about it; in his opinion it doesn't do the Captain justice. Edited May 3, 2003 by J.A.W. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 3, 2003 Report Posted May 3, 2003 Thanks Hans, I'll take it off my wish list (which is quite long anyway). That's too bad that it was a disappointment for your friend. Quote
ralphie_boy Posted May 3, 2003 Report Posted May 3, 2003 Trout Mask is an absolute masterpiece! I'm partial to Doc at the Radar Station also. I recently put Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) on the turn table for the first time in about 10 years and it still sounds good. Love the Captain! Quote
JSngry Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 I'll take it off my wish list (which is quite long anyway). That's too bad that it was a disappointment for your friend. NOT SO FAST!!!! There's some awfully good live stuff on that box, and..... there's VIDEO!!!!!!! Quote
JSngry Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 You mean there's bootleg DVDs to look forward too now? Damn, I'm gonna have to work 3 jobs now... Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 5, 2003 Report Posted May 5, 2003 Just when I thought I was safe. I want the Captain on video!!!! :rsmile: Quote
Jad Posted May 5, 2003 Author Report Posted May 5, 2003 Video for sale on eBay, along with a few vinyl reissues of 'Lick My Decals Off Baby' (worth getting a turntable for if you're waiting to find it on CD). Quote
BruceH Posted May 7, 2003 Report Posted May 7, 2003 Another vote for Shiny Beast! I like a lot of Beefheart, but seem to play that the most lately. Quote
BFrank Posted May 7, 2003 Report Posted May 7, 2003 I was just listening to the French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson album "Live Love Larf & Loaf" and there are a couple of tunes that could easily fit on any Magic Band album. Of course, it doesn't hurt that "Drumbo" is drumming. Quote
7/4 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 Trout Mask is an absolute masterpiece! I'm partial to Doc at the Radar Station also. I recently put Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) on the turn table for the first time in about 10 years and it still sounds good. Love the Captain! The last three albums, Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), Doc at the Radar Station and Ice Cream for Crow are amazing. Quote
7/4 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 But then so is Trout Mask Replica. Quote
7/4 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 I picked up PORK CHOP BLUE AROUND THE RIND by Fast 'N' Bulbous: The Captain Beefheart Project (GARY LUCAS • JESSE KRAKOW • RICHARD DWORKIN • ROB HENKE • PHILLIP JOHNSTON • JOE FIEDLER • DAVE SEWELSON) yesterday. It's a real kick ass collection of Beefheat with some amazing horn charts by Phillip Johnston. Among the many great idiosyncratic talents of American music in the 20th century, Captain Beefheart would certainly figure prominently on any list. "...once you get past the audacious unfamiliarity of (his work), you realize that this was not just some big improvised mess, but in fact the most tightly composed polyrhythmic rock 'n' roll ever written"-Matt Groening (The Simpsons). Fast 'N' Bulbous is a Captain Beefheart tribute project, led by two innovators of New York's avant music scene: Gary Lucas, who was guitarist for Captain Beefheart's Magic Band in its latter years and saxist and arranger Phillip Johnston. Their mission statement: “The idea is to use the compositions of Don Van Vliet as a vehicle for improvisation and arranging. The band contains a crew of seasoned improvisers from both the worlds of avant-garde jazz and rock, who render the music as both a tribute and a creative adventure in improvising. We use the horn section to take the place of the vocals, as well as transmute this guitar-based music into ensemble into ensemble interplay, between horns and guitar and rhythm section.” They energetically revive the spirit and sound of The Magic Band, while adding a big healthy dollop of themselves to it and making it their own, cartwheeling through tunes that are as gutsy as they are cerebral, and playing this wonderful repertoire with verve and soul. A must for any fan of this music. "Fast 'n' Bulbous proved that Beefheart's songs deserve to be played in his absence and are, for all their knotty logic, quite playable...Johnston's brass scores hit the R&B meat and twisted swing that Beefheart embedded in spidery guitars... Lucas on searing bottleneck guitar celebrated the rock in Beefheart's extremes"-David Fricke/Rolling Stone. Quote
7/4 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 The cover, so when you see it in the store, you'll remember that I told you to buy it. Quote
7/4 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 The Magic Band - Back to the Front Quote
BFrank Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 The Magic Band - Back to the Front How IS that album? I've seen it in the stores. Quote
7/4 Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 The Magic Band - Back to the Front How IS that album? I've seen it in the stores. Pretty good. Covers, but very well done. John French sings an excelent Beef. Makes me forget it's not Don. Quote
Brandon Burke Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 (edited) Yo Tex, you want vids... I bought an, ahem, "private issue" DVD-R at a shop in Manhattan this past winter and whoa... this thing goes from a film made in '68 Cannes to his two Letterman appearances, one for music in '82 and the other for painting in '83. In between some tantalizaing late '60s clips, 13 minutes from some '70 or '71 Detroit tv show, five minutes of "I'm Gonna Booglarize You!" from '72, a 1980 "Eye on LA" interview, a 27 minute French tv concert from 1980, etc. etc. Quality varies from eh-but-historical to excellent but the compiler (presumably a Beefheart "insider") clearly knows his stuff and even asks for more right on the xerox cover box. Clem I've got all of this footage. Several years ago, somebody stuffed two VHS tapes full of Beefheart TV appearances and shows. Also the John Peel narrated documentary (which is very good). If you've not seen the 'Saturday Night Live' performance you're missing some seriously heavy shit. Also, the live TV performance of "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby" is waaay better then the overly sluggish LP version. Like stepping out of a triangle into striped light, -- Brandon Edited February 23, 2005 by Brandon Burke Quote
Д.Д. Posted February 23, 2005 Report Posted February 23, 2005 The Magic Band - Back to the Front How IS that album? I've seen it in the stores. Pretty good. Covers, but very well done. John French sings an excelent Beef. Makes me forget it's not Don. I heard some broadcast, and was really disappointed. Well played, but Ihated the Beefheartian vocals - what's the point of trying to sing exactly (and this seemed to be the intentiona - with all Beefheart licks and mannerisms) like Don - it's impossible to do it. This is such an opriginal music, and as soon as you introduce an element of imitation (however well-intended) into it, it is downgraded to a second-tier copy. Why not have a trumpet play the vocal parts for example, and make it a bit more creative (like what Phillip Johnston's Fast 'N' Bulbous are doing, for example). Quote
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