DOC AT THE RADAR STATION

I had just two albums with Captain Beefheart on it in the LP (vinyl) era: Zappa's Bongo Fury, which he guested on and Doc At The Radar Station. Trout Mask Replica was the first CB CD. That one I really can't recommend. I picked it up on the strength of it being one of his better known releases, but I just didn't care for it even though I do have a taste for weirdness in music. I think because of that I have been hesitant to add any more of his albums to my collection.

I had no hesitation to adding Doc though. If you can call a CB album accessible, this one is more so for me than Trout. For what it's worth Henry Kaiser covered three CB songs on his album of cover tunes, Those Who Know History Are Doomed To Repeat It, and two tracks were from Doc.

Doc has one of the funniest song titles I've ever heard: Making Love to a Vampire With a Monkey on My Knee. Amidst all the weirdness, there is actually a straightforward beautiful instrumental: A Carrot Is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond. Most of this album is just plain weird though. If you don't like strange music on occasion, you might be better off passing the Captain by.