OMG!! I finally got a grasp of Capt. Beefheart!

[bpdp3]

I've tried and tried with this guy. I own "Trout Mask", "Lick My Decals Off" "Safe as Milk" "Doc at the Radar Station" "Bat Chain Puller" but it's always escaped me. However, if I find one of his releases cheap enough I've always felt it's my duty to pick it up and TRY.

Last night I picked up a scratchy but playable $1 copy of "Spotlight Kid". I put it on the turntable and suddenly understood the appeal, found myself actually enjoying it(!!). It's like a twisted, unearthly blues; sounds like a hungry dog looking for a bone in the middle of the night. Last night I felt like that dog!!

Now I feel compelled to go back and see if I can put together what I've been missing with this guy.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the Captain?

[darwinsky]

Seems nobody else does. But let me reply 'cause I have nothing better to do.

Does Captain Beefheart sound anything like Frank Zappa? Just that I seem to recall reading about them in one mag article.

dar

[UniversalRadio]

I've got one of his albums but often forget I have it, but I do like it. The two songs I like on it are Bat Chain Puller (love that one) and Tropical Hot Dog Night but for the life of me can't remember the name of the album. He does seem to be worth checking out.

[bpdp3]

Thanks for responding, I really thought I was all alone in the world...

The reason I brought him up was because so many of the early new wave artists used to name him as an influence. However, his music is not as approachable as most new wave... his albums are flat-out wierd; disjointed beats, difficult vocals, odd time-signatues. Zappa was involved with Captain Beefheart - - I believe he produced some of his early work.

[MikeP]

Though I'm not that knowledgeable about the Captain, I like the early songs I've heard from him ("Aba Zaba", "Click Clack") as well 80's period stuff like "Ice Cream for Crow" with all his crazy non-sequiturs ("the sun ain't stable!").

Did you know he actually performed on SNL ("Hot Head") during the forgotten, notoriously bad 80-81 season featuring Charles Rocket (R.I.P.) among others.

[UniversalRadio]

I was inspired to pull out and listen to a bit of that disc I have. It is Shiny Beast but says Bat Chain Puller in parentheses. Makes me think the title was changed in a re-issue or something. He is worth checking out more but I've got too much on my plate right now with what I need to check out. SNL? Wow--that's weirder than when I found out that Kate Bush did SNL--her only appearance in the US sadly...

[KYYX4ever]

Off topic, but [i]SNL[/i] was Kate Bush's only US appearance ? I had no idea. Why was that, I wonder?

p.s. Sorry bpdp3, i didn't mean to hijack your thread![:I]

[ghosty]

Beefheart complete my holy trinity of The Residents and Zappa. I love those guys (especially "Trout Mask Replica"). In recent years The Magic Band have taken to recording interesting but inessential instrumental albums.

[rockadelic]

I have the BBC Beefheart Documentary from 1994 w Host John Peel includes a very strange video 'Some Yo Yo Stuff'. it's done me no good to watch I still don't understand what he's done.