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Abstrakt View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Captain Beefheart Recomendation
    Posted: July 29 2006 at 07:13
I'm planning to buy some Captain Beefhert soon.
Any recomendations for a newbie? Embarrassed
"Doc At The Radar Station" and "Spotlight kid" sounds interesting, but are them a good place to start?
Help me!
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Syzygy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 29 2006 at 07:36
Originally posted by Abstrakt Abstrakt wrote:

I'm planning to buy some Captain Beefhert soon.
Any recomendations for a newbie? Embarrassed
"Doc At The Radar Station" and "Spotlight kid" sounds interesting, but are them a good place to start?
Help me!
 
I'd recommend Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) for starters - his discography is very varied, but this one covers most of the bases and is excellent throughout.
 
Clear Spot also mixes accessible and avant garde successfully, and is available with Spotlight Kid on a single disc, which is good value.
 
Avoid Bluejeans & Moonbeams and Unconditionally Guaranteed - they were an ill fated stab at going mainstream, not as bad as they're sometimes made out to be but definitely substandard.
 
Safe as Milk, Mirror Man and Strictly Personal are more psychedelic blues rock than prog - brilliantly done for the most part. Spotlight Kid was a partial return to that style.
 
Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Baby are his avant-rock masterpieces, but maybe not the best place to begin.
 
'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 29 2006 at 07:42
Thanks Alot!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 30 2006 at 01:49
Little More Help?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 30 2006 at 05:08
Well, I think Syzygy largely covered things but, my advice would be:

Start with: Safe as Milk, Mirror Man, Strictly Personal - all fairly accessible recordings from the Captains 60's peak.

From the early 70's I can only highly recommend Clear Spot - his other work from this period is fairly patchy and I have never returned to it much.

The late 70's early 80's albums for Virgin are all essential.

Trout Mask and Decals are the pinnacle of the Captains career but not for the faint hearted be prepared not to 'get' TMR but 'trust us' - it is a unique and brilliant album - no other band has ever sounded like this.

I have been lucky enough to see the Magic Band sans Captain play in Scotland twice in recent years and they are superb - go and see them if you get the chance.

http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/reunion/index.html
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 01 2006 at 02:24
What About "Doc At The Radar Station"?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 01 2006 at 05:18
Ice Cream For Crow - superb title track for an opener, and Gary Lucas's debut recording - a distinctive guitarist already sounding his trade mark self
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 01 2006 at 06:35
Originally posted by Abstrakt Abstrakt wrote:

What About "Doc At The Radar Station"?
 
Many Beefheart fans consider this to be the best of his last 3 albums. It's certainly the closest to the mind boggling complexity of Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Off, Baby, but it's maybe not the best place to start.
 
As Dick Heath said, Ice Cream For Crow is also a fine album, though oddly underrated by most critics.
'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 03 2006 at 09:06
 Virgin records reissues of Beefheart recordings  gets a full page review in the latest Mojo magazine - plus an interview with Gary Lucas. Again  Icecream For Crow has been slighted with 3 from 5 stars.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 03 2006 at 12:15
Doc at The Radar Station is excellent. Highly recommended!
RIO/AVANT/ZEUHL - The best thing you can get with yer pants on!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 03 2006 at 12:16
Think "Trout Mask Replica" will be next Smile
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