A bit remiss of Chrome Dreams not to have sent you a copy. They'll probly get more sales through this site than anywhere else. Shame!

Sorry I meant probably

Chrome Dreams sent me a copy. My review is almost complete.

Meanwhile I must point out that some of the links Graham points to contain not reviews of the DVD, but are quotations from the hype issued by Chrome Dreams/Sexy Intellectual.

Much of this hype is misleading, in particular the idea that Don Van Vliet participates.

The most important statement made by this company about this production is published on the sleeve of the DVD itself.

"This DVD is not authorised by Captain Beefheart or members of his family, his legal or personal representatives, or any record or publishing companies associated with the release or ownership of Captain Beefheart's music."

This DVD contains a great deal of Captain Beefheart's music, so that is a curious disclaimer to print.

Incidentally, none of the Captain Beefheart audio tracks or film sequences on this DVD are complete.

Derek: "some of the links Graham points to contain not reviews but quotations from the hype issued by Chrome Dreams."

I wonder which ones... presumably not the one which described it as "terrible".

I'm still very interested in seeing this film - the makers have interviewed a wide range of people directly involved with the creation of the music (most of which can usually be relied upon to provide an interesting anecdote or two at the very least) and some peerless and articulate Beefheart authorities. Even if they've completely botched up the editing, those Ozit idiots have had no involvement in it so it can't all be bad.

Derek: "Much of this hype is misleading, in particular the idea that Don Van Vliet participates."

The only reference to that which I noticed was a line in one of the articles which says "The Beefheart DVD includes interview footage of Don Van Vliet himself". Although there's no doubt in my mind that Don probably loathes the entire project, I don't think this line is misleading nor that it suggests his involvement; archive footage of Don's interviews are a big draw.

I've often told people that this site has lots of interviews with Don Van Vliet on it, but I hope no one has ever felt mislead when they discover that they all predate the existence of the internet and come from other sources.

Until Elaine Shepherd's magnificent Beefheart BBC documentary enjoys a DVD release (not likely, apparently), I suspect this will be the best we're getting.

I just can't wait to actually see it.

more here;
http://www.texasgigs.com/news/2006/apr/23/new-cd-and-music-dvd-releases/

"derek@beefheart.com said...
Incidentally, none of the Captain Beefheart audio tracks or film sequences on this DVD are complete."


Thanks Derek. I've been waiting for someone to mention if the "rare live and studio
performances" were complete or just excerpts. (The press/write-ups are not very clear about this.)I think Beefheart fanatics would rather have a dvd of promos and live material rather than a documentary. But, that'll probably never happen. Oh well, there's always zillionth generation dvd boots out there.

-Ross

I just bought this last week and was very disappointed. I'm a new fan and I hope there is more out there than this, it looks like something the drama department at a local college would do as a project. I will try to find that BBC documentary. Maybe someone will trade me for this one.