Virgin Records has found in its vaults a previously undocumented film of Captain Beefheart in concert. A digital copy of the film has been produced to help promote Virgin's six forthcoming Captain Beefheart CD releases.


Click here to watch the new Beefheart film

It isn't very often that previously unseen film of Captain Beefheart in concert is released, so I'm especially happy to be able to report this news here.

The film is captioned as having been made in London, though to my knowledge there was no film crew present for the London concerts at that time.

I tracked down one of the directors of the film to ask him about it. He confirmed that the filming was not done in London but took place in Manchester and he kindly answered several more questions. His full story of how this concert came to be filmed and what happened afterwards will follow here in the next few days.

Details of Virgin's Beefheart CDs will be posted here before August 7th, the release date.

We'll also be giving away five complete sets of the six CDs in an easy to enter competition - so you may find it worthwhile to click-clack back to this page in the near future.

Posted by derek@beefheart.com at 7:19 PM  - 9 comments - post a comment

The Michael Werner gallery in New York has an exhibition on at the moment called 'Black and White: Drawings for Summer'. It opened on the 14 July and will finish on 9 September.

The exhibition features about 20 artists including George Baselitz, A R Penck, and Joseph Beuys. There is at least one piece by Don van Vliet - 'untitled' (1999) and is pictured here.

For more information take a look at this page http://www.artnet.com/gallery/1119/michael-werner-gallery.html

Posted by Steve Froy at 7:48 PM  - 0 comments - post a comment

Here are a few items which should have appeared here earlier. Sorry to have kept you waiting.


Hank Grebe's Beefheart photographs


The recently issued Captain Beefheart compilation CD, The Buddah Years features a cover photograph of Don Van Vliet hunkering down in a corridor to chat with some fans. The story of the taking of that photograph can be found at Hank Grebe's website, along with six pages of photographs of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band which Hank took over the years between 1971 and 1980.




Beyond the Palers



Some Procol Harum fans (Palers) have issued a double CD of Procol Harum cover versions including the song All Our Dreams are Sold as performed by The Shepard Rockette Band. This previously unknown combo is named after two of its members, one of whom is a well known Magic Band bass player. You can listen to the complete track here and read about the musicians who recorded it here. Thanks to Jack Briggs (who also plays on the CD) for bringing this to my attention.



Films of The Magic Band in Stockholm


Some amateur footage of The Magic Band in action at Jazzclub Fasching in Stockholm on the 20th of May has turned up at youtube. Taken on a camera 'not much bigger than a creditcard but thicker', these six short clips are a charming though completely unauthorised glimpse of The Magic Band in action. Thanks to 'Grizzly' for his efforts. You can also see some still photographs of the evening by clicking on Grizzly's eSnips folder here There is a review of the concert and a photograph of John French in Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter from May 22nd.

In case you missed seeing the Swedish television footage of 'Steal Softly Thru Snow' and 'Circumstances' and an interview with John French and Mark Boston just click on these links.

Posted by derek@beefheart.com at 4:19 PM  - 0 comments - post a comment

The legendary house in which Trout Mask Replica was endlessly rehearsed is up for sale. For $849,900 you can own and (hopefully) preserve a property of considerable historical importance to all Beefheart fans.

Why is it so important?

This is the house where a poverty stricken Magic Band were kept under virtual house arrest while honing the impossibly intricate album Trout Mask Replica, and subjected to virtual brain washing sessions to "help" coax the unique music out of them.

The music was written here; painstakingly transcribed by John French, taught to the band and many tracks on Trout Mask were even recorded here - Dust Blows Forward, Hair Pie Bake 1, China Pig, Well and Orange Claw Hammer along with much of the dialogue snippets ("No, it's Hair Pie" etc).

All of the Trout Mask Sessions section of Grow Fins was recorded here.

This was Don and Jan's first home together, where they lived before and after their wedding.

The "enchanted garden" photos from the cover of Trout Mask Replica and Grow Fins were taken here - the bridge under which John French was hiding was out the back of the property, bits of which still remain according to French.

The eucalyptus trees which Don was so concerned about hurting with his music lived here (no longer, sadly) resulting in him billing Frank Zappa for a tree surgeon to tend to them.

Ok, ok this is taking trivia to it's trivial limits, but anyone even slightly familiar with Beefheart lore will know the stories which took place at this location. Quite apart from any of this it's a strikingly beautiful and downright odd looking house; it's not just that it's pink, it looks every bit as strange and wild as the band itself in every way.

See the agents' listing for more information - it even mentions Beefheart as a selling point! If you know any wealthy Beefheart fans who might be interested in preserving this property then please give them a nudge in the right direction.

See stills of the house taken from the Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart documentary, some photos taken by Angel when she made a pilgrimage to the Woodland Hills house, and John French's comments about the house.

Posted by Graham Johnston at 8:19 PM  - 7 comments - post a comment