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Captain Beefheart

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I started listening to Captain Beefheart after I've heard the comparisons to U.S. Maple, a group I like a lot and who is renowned for there unmusical brand of rock compositions (and PJ Harvey had also mentioned him as a big influence). Trout Mask Replica was the album that had been mentioned as most influential and when I first heard it, I figured out that U.S. Maple hadn't invented anything with their twisted take on rock music (although I still love 'em and they do have their own sick and fucked up vibe that makes them unique!).

Indeed, Captain Beefheart (aka Don Van Vliet) & His Magic Band's work is almost always quite free and is probably the most avant-garde rock music of that era (fellow musical freak Frank Zappa produced Trout Mask Replica and became involved in his career after the success of his first album Safe As Milk). The songs are often based in blues, complete with Beefheart's own rugged vocals (which has a four octave range!), but there is always a twisted element that comes along to disturb the song's flow: the arrhythmic beats, the weird guitar noises, strange lyrics, etc... While this can be fascinating for some, I realize this might also be quite off-putting for others. Someone who has never listened to him before could easily believe these guys have no idea what they are playing, but it is pretty obvious, upon closer inspection, that these guys were musical geniuses. Even his own personal brand of surreal, nonsensical poetry is quite confusing and might be an acquired taste (I find it amusing, but I still haven't really researched deeper into his influences to appreciate on another level then the silliness of it all). It's a shame that as of this writing, Lick My Decals Off Baby, probably the artist's best and most representative album, is not commercially available.

Van Vliet has been inactive musically for more than a decade now, but he is still active as a painter (some of his paintings have also been used as cover art for his earlier albums).

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Album Cover Safe As Milk
Label: BMG
Release: 1967
Format: CD
Cat. no: 74321 69175 2

Song list:

  1. Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do (2:15)
  2. Zig Zag Wanderer (2:40)
  3. Call On Me (2:37)
  4. Dropout Boogie (2:32)
  5. I'm Glad (3:31)
  6. Electricity (3:07)
  7. Yellow Brick Road (2:28)
  8. Abba Zaba (2:44)
  9. Plastic Factory (3:08)
  10. Where There's Woman (2:09)
  11. Grown So Ugly (2:27)
  12. Autummn's Child (4:02)
  13. Safe As Milk (Take 5) (4:13)
  14. On Tomorrow (6:56)
  15. Big Baby Shoes (4:50)
  16. Flower Pot (3:55)
  17. Dirty Blue Gene (2:43)
  18. Trust Us (Take 9) (7:22)
  19. Korn Ring Finger (7:26)


Album Cover Trout Mask Replica
Label: Reprise Records
Release: 1969
Format: CD
Cat. no: 927 196-2

Song list:

  1. Frownland (1:41)
  2. The Dust Blows Forward 'N The Dust Blows Back (1:53)
  3. Dachau Blues (2:21)
  4. Ella Guru (2:26)
  5. Hair Pie: Bake 1 (4:58)
  6. Moonlight On Vermont (3:59)
  7. Pachuco Cadaver (4:40)
  8. Bills Corpse (1:48)
  9. Sweet Sweet Bulbs (2:21)
  10. Neon Meate Dream Of Octafish (2:25)
  11. China Pig (4:02)
  12. My Human Gets Me Blues (2:46)
  13. Dali's Car (1:26)
  14. Hair Pie: Bake 2 (2:23)
  15. Pena (2:33)
  16. Well (2:07)
  17. When Big Joan Sets Up (5:18)
  18. Fallin' Ditch (2:08)
  19. Sugar 'N Spikes (2:30)
  20. Ant Man Bee (3:57)
  21. Orange Claw Hammer (3:34)
  22. Wild Life (3:09)
  23. She's Too Much For My Mirror (1:40)
  24. Hobo Chang Ba (2:02)
  25. The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica) (2:04)
  26. Steal Softly Thru Snow (2:18)
  27. Old Fart At Play (1:51)
  28. Veteran's Day Poppy (4:31)


Album Cover Lick My Decals Off, Baby
Label: Enigma Records/Retro Records/Straight Records
Release: 1970
Format: CD
Cat. no: 7 73394-2

Song list:

  1. Lick My Decals Off, Baby (2:38)
  2. Doctor Dark (2:46)
  3. I Love You, You Big Dummy (2:54)
  4. Peon (2:24)
  5. Bellerin' Plain (3:35)
  6. Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop (2:06)
  7. Japan In A Dishpan (3:00)
  8. I Wanna Find A Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go (1:53)
  9. Petrified Forest (1:40)
  10. One Red Rose That I Mean (1:53)
  11. The Buggy Boogie Woogie (2:19)
  12. The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or The Big Dig) (2:11)
  13. Space-Age Couple (2:32)
  14. The Clouds Are Full Of Wine (Not Whiskey Or Rye) (2:50)
  15. Flash Gordon's Ape (4:57)