In the “Weird Music You Love” thread, Fast ‘n’ Bulbous (of all people) made the following declaration :
(emhasis added)
I truly beg to differ and hence, this thread. Beeheart is someone that many of us listen to over and over again. Given, he is an acquired taste and not for everyone, but repeated listenings bring out new nuances and shadings almost every time. Even when he started becoming more accessible with “The Spotlight Kid” and “Clear Spot” his music carved out a niche almost of it’s own. (I might possibly put Sun Ra in the same category, but he’sa different bird altogether.)
I loved the Captain the first time I heard “The Blimp,” and have “Safe as Milk” and “Lick My Decals Off, Baby” on LP. I’m annoyed that “Decals” doesn’t appear to be on CD or available for download – it’s an amazing record.
But his music is very hard to get into – too strange and wild – and I know many people who can’t stand him (even if they heard him at all). I call it “ugly” music (instead of pretty music), but it is worth the effort.
A friend of mine (a Beefheart fan) once told me about attending a Beefheart concert in a club and seeing Ric Ocasek of the Cars standing in the audience. He said to Ocasek, “What’s it like seeing a real musical talent?” Of course my friend was a jerk.
I first got into the Captain via Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot (still my favourite Beefheart albums) so when I first heard Trout Mask Replica it was something of a shock. I loved it and still do (as you might guess from my screen name), but in order to really get into the album one has to listen to it many times, and because the album is a difficult one to listen to few are willing to expend the time and effort required. I consider it almost like free jazz, in that it is highly challenging, with few (if any) hooks or similar, but is ultimately very rewarding and I think the Sun Ra comparison is a valid one. Having said that, I have to be in a very specific mood to listen to it and am much more likely to listen to some of Beefheart’s later stuff or Safe as Milk, which still has the imprint of the Captain’s unique style but requires a little less concentration.
RealityChuck, “Decals” is out of print on CD but Amazon marketplace has a few (expensive) copies and there are some on ebay as well.
I have a good percent of Trout Mask up in my iTunes library.
Dust Blows Forward n’ The Dust Blows Back
Ella Guru
Moonlight on Vermont
China Pig
Dali’s Car
Hair Pie: Bake 2
Pena
Sugar n’ Spikes
The Blimp
Veteran’s Day Poppy
But I’m still going to have to vote that he was more high than creative, at least for Trout Mask. But of course, it wouldn’t be worth listening to if he wasn’t skilled enough to make stuff that was still good music even while blasted out of his mind.
Trout Mask Replica- glad I own it, but don’t pull it off the shelf very often. My favorite song of his is one that is suprisingly very beautiful in a weird way “My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains”.
The White Stripes covered a Beefheart song called Party of Special Things To Do that absolutely rocks. This made me check out more Captain Beefheart and while I simply don’t get a lot of it, I can’t say it isn’t some really interesting stuff.
Trout Mask Replica is his magnum opus, but you should probably download a track or two before spending money on it, as 99.999% of humanity regards it as unlistenable and flees the room if you play it. Sage Rat’s list is a good place to start. Safe As Milk is much closer to normal 60s garage band music, and the CD that has Clear Spot and The Spotlight Kid are a lot easier to follow. Try “Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles.”
When I used to ride the subway to work I listened to it all the time. I found it gelled well with the noise of the subway.
I really like his more accesible stuff like Spotlight Kid, but I’ve never been able to get into Trout Mask Replica. I like some of the spoken word stuff on there, but musically it’s just to discordant for me to really appreciate.
It’s also really hard to have sex to, I would imagine.
There’s a hilarious essay in the book Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island, by some lunatic who picked Trout Mask as the one record he’d take with him. I’ll poke around online and see if I can find it.
