Captain Beefheart

Coincidentally, I was just about to buy the "33 1/3" series audiobook about TMR. Can't wait to see what new insights I'll get into this crazy thing.

Searched for Beefheart, and found this thread.

I don't want to give off the impression that I think Trout Mask Replica is all chaos and insanity. There are many logical, comprehensible and  - with a bit of adjustment - even memorable songs on the album, and I like it overall. But it makes it harder for the listener than any other Beefheart album. Lots of "field recordings", incomprehensible lyrics, odd vocal intonations (need I mention "Pena"?) and some of the most dissonant and incoherent guitar "interplay" the world has ever seen. The segments where the two guitars plus the bass guitar all play independently of each other are hard to swallow. Most Beefheart albums have some of this stuff , but not that much. I much prefer the two drums, one guitar setup on Decals or even two-guitar albums like Shiny Beast where the interplay is more conventional.

Also, I've always felt that it's frontloaded with some of its least accessible tracks. "Frownland" hardly has a semblance of a steady rhythm or a guitar riff, "Dust" is a cappella, "Dachau Blues" pairs disturbing lyrics with a nursery rhyme-like melody, "Ella Guru" is kind of catchy but has Don using a really odd voice, "Hair Pie: Bake 1" begins with two minutes of sax noises for no good reason. I would say "Moonlight on Vermont" is the first relatively normal song on the album, preceded by five of the most difficult ones. Pretty much all other Beefheart albums begin with comparatively straightforward and riff-oriented bluesy numbers.

HolyMoly wrote: I mentioned in my review of Trout Mask Replica that one of the things that holds it back is the apparent attempt by Frank Zappa to turn it into a "freak show" kind of album like Wild Man Fischer's.

Oh yes, absolutely! When I go track by track, I find surprisingly little stuff on it that I outright dislike. But taken as a whole, it's such a giant, sprawling mess that I rarely find myself getting through the whole thing (or even one disc, although the second one is slightly less manic, so I have better chances there).

HolyMoly wrote: I still gave Trout four stars because it is a great album, but I gave five stars to "Doc at the Radar Station", which I feel is his most powerful and focused album.

I don't know. Doc has some great songs, but there's some stuff in the middle that's uglier than anything he'd done since Trout Mask Replica. For instance, the two chord guitar part in "Sue Egypt" strikes me as one of the dumbest-sounding things Beefheart ever did, and the vocals in "Telephone" are just a step too far. I'd hand the crown to Decals, whose only flaw are the stupid saxophone loops he plastered all over "Japan in a Dishpan" and "Flash Gordon's Ape".

HarbouringTheSoul wrote: In general, I think too much has been made of Captain Beefheart's strangeness, as if he were some kind of incomprehensible, erratic madman. He had his own logic, and I like him best whenever he makes that logic apparent to the listener. That's why my favorite albums of his are Lick My Decals Off, Baby and Shiny Beast, not Trout Mask Replica, which too often seems to be chaotic for its own sake. It's sad how many people have probably dismissed Beefheart because they only heard Trout Mask Replica. I almost fell into the same trap.

Actually, Trout Mask Replica isn't that chaotic. I'm not sure if this was a deliberate decision or not, but for an album as freaky as this, it frequently gives the listener moments to catch his or her breath, including "The Dust Blows Forward And The Dust Blows Back", "Ella Guru", "Hair Pie" (both bakes), "Moonlight On Vermont", "Paucho Cadaver", "China Pig", "Dali's Car", "Well", "Sugar 'N' Spikes", "She's Too Much For My Mirror", "The Blimp" (maybe), "Old At Play" (not sure if I can say ) and "Veteran's Day Poppy". Nearly half the album. But maybe it's just me.

Oh, another thing - Is it me, or does the first few notes of "Dali's Car" sound similar to the main riff of King Crimson's "Red"?


Edited by KingCrInuYasha - January 29 2013 at 10:26

I don't. I think it's a mistake to read too much into Beefheart's lyrics in general. I expect he just noticed that "mommy" and "mummy" sounded similar and built the song up around that in his typical stream of consciousness way.


Edited by thellama73 - January 26 2013 at 09:05

Considering that no more than a few thousand people in the world or so have ever heard the song and even fewer have ever taken explicit notice of the lyrics, I don't think there's much opportunity for controversy. I guess you could read sexism into the lyrics if you really wanted to, but you could do that with just about any song about sexual obsession.

Slartibartfast wrote: (Making love to a vampire with a monkey on my kneee. )

That particular track also appears on the album Songs In the Key Of Z: The Curious Universe Of Outsider Music.  (It's listed as "Vampire Suite" because it's preceded by a couple of scratch tracks that show how it developed.)  Beefheart was definitely an outsider, no question about it.

I listened to Frank Zappa's "The Lost Episodes" earlier, an album which is second only to "Bongo Fury" for most Beefheart vocals on a FZ album.

Happy Birthday (and RIP)  to the Captain.  Credit to John Fugelsang.

Edited by Slartibartfast - January 15 2013 at 19:04

Got into Beefheart pretty late. But by now I've gotten all his albums, except the two everyone seem to hate: Unconditionally Guaranteed + Bluejeans & Moonbeams. How bad are they, really? I don't mind if its catchier or more conventional, as long as his energy is intact. Should I give them a try?

So far I think all his albums are great, with a slight preferance for the 67-72 period.