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Back in October of 1971, I went to see Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band at the Gymnasium at Tuft’s University in Medford, Mass. This gig was shortly prior to the early 1972 release of their THE SPOTLIGHT KID album. I was 19 years old and I had seen earlier incarnations The Magic Band of going back to 1967. I had all the Beefheart albums in my record collection, and I knew all the songs. Something was different at this show; there were new songs and there were unprecedented improvised blues-rock guitar solos on many of the tunes – from a guy with long hairRead More →

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“The Winged Eel slithers on the heels of today’s children” —Don Van Vliet, Beatle Bones ’N’ Smokin’ Stones Elliot Ingber (or Winged Eel Fingerling as he was a known during his time with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band) has the distinction of being one of the only of the celebrated guitarists who passed through the ranks of The Magic Band to enjoy total freedom—free reign, as it were– to improvise long psychedelic guitar solos by Don Van Vliet — a band leader notorious for insisting that his musicians pretty much stick to the notes and forms laid down in their marathon rehearsals. Elliot is probablyRead More →

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My perspective will be different than most who knew Elliot as was in the band for just a few weeks in 1975, the Knebworth band, Soundstage Show public television and the Roxy, Hollywood. I also did some recorded jams with Beefheart, Jimmy Carl Black, Elliot and myself. He was a serious guy. He worked hard on his guitar parts to be exact. I sometimes switched back and forth between guitar parts from the albums. Elliot never complained about having to then switch his guitar parts. One night I stayed at Elliot’s home. He had a lot of dental floss strands draped over a door knob,Read More →

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Sad news today: Elliot Ingber just passed away. I first met Elliot a few days after Ry Cooder quit the band in June of 1967 after the Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair incident. Don Van Vliet and I went to the famous “Log Cabin” on Laurel Canyon Blvd. There was a party going on, but we went into a room there that I think was Miss Christine’s room. It was filled with amps and drums, and a guy who looked a great deal like King Neptune was playing lead. Don and Elliot were already acquainted, apparently. The band was “Fraternity of Man.” Elliot asked Don toRead More →

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Elliot the wonderful hipster!!…. He became a respite from “ THE HOUSE” for me and because it was just us working on the tunes we would go off into blues land. Those were the best moments for me because he was in his element. One time we were rooming together in Manhattan and we had the window open, he asked me “what key is New York in?” I told him definitely F# … with a long pause I added “minor”  … he was thrilled! I had so many funny times with him. We hadn’t connected for many years and a few years back we hadRead More →

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I’ve had the thrill of hanging out with various affable weirdo geniuses from the Magic Band over the decades, but the strangest meet-up was a dozen years ago with Elliot Ingber. Guitarist pal Henry Kaiser was visiting L.A., and he invited me to tag along for a super-secret clandestine rendezvous with Winged Eel Fingerling himself. (Henry had first seen Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band perform in 1971, and Elliot’s searing guitar solos were so galvanizing that the next day Henry bought his first guitar and changed his life. You can hear Henry’s band Monster Island play “Alice in Blunderland” on a 1976 7-incher.) AccordingRead More →

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Artist and musician Alison Mosshart talks about how Don’s artwork has influenced her “in millions of ways” in a video on the Harpers Bazaar website. You can find it here – https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/bazaar-art/a63202571/alison-mosshart-the-art-that-inspires-me/ Alison covered ‘Dropout Boogie’ when she was in The Kills. She has also performed with Jack White, another Beefheart fan, in the band Dead Weather.  Read More →

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Astounding, astonishing, awesome and any number of superlatives all the way through to zut alors (or should that be zoot alors!) This tour de force is THE craziest attempt at covering Beefheart’s music ever … but it works. An exact five-part harmony a cappella version of every sonic second of one of the most challenging albums of all time. So exact, in fact, that you can play the original and the cover together and they will mesh perfectly! Here is the proof : This is not the first attempt by The 180Gs at covering the seemingly impossible. After an amble through the foothills of strangeRead More →

Don Vliet's graduation photograph

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Don’s school career is shrouded in misinformation, mainly from the man himself. What the school he attended thought of him at the time we’ll probably never really know. However … on Thursday 19 September 2024 Don, Class of 1958, was given recognition by his old high school when he was inducted into the Antelope Valley High School Hall of Fame along with three other former pupils and staff of the school. According to the AVPress – https://www.avpress.com/news/five-people-to-join-av-high-hall-of-fame/article_d72784f0-756b-11ef-89db-3bbfa3dd6cfe.html – (who seemed a bit confused over the spelling of ‘Vliet’) : Van Vleit, Class of 1958, was nominated in the Visual and Performing Arts category, Van Vleit, whoRead More →

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Track list Side 1 I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or the Big Dig) My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains Click Clack Side 2 Low Yo Yo Stuff Too Much Time Clear Spot Lick My Decals Off, Baby Big Eyed Beans from Venus Rhino blurb : Captain Beefheart’s “Now Playing” vinyl LP includes 10 seminal tracks from across the artists’ catalog. Introducing Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band ‘Now Playing’- a diverse mix of blues, soul, and experimental rock, featuring songs like “I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby” and “Her Eyes Are aRead More →

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An exhibition of Don’s artwork opens at Galerie Michael Werner in Berlin on Friday, July 5, 2024 from 6 – 9 p.m.; the show will last until August 31, 2024. The exhibition will occupy the ground and first floor of the gallery at Hardenbergstraße 9A, Berlin-Charlottenburg. There doesn’t seem to be a title for this particular exhibition. I’m guessing that the artworks on show will be those that were exhibited earlier this year in London. Gallery opening hours are Tue to Fri 11 am – 6 pm, Sat 10 am – 4 pm. For more information, please contact the gallery by phone at +49(0)30 31491880Read More →

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A great cache of previously unseen photographs of the band’s 1973 concert at the legendary Rainbow Theatre in London have finally seen the light of day. The photographer, Jan Podsiadly, had considered the shots were not good enough until he took another look just recently. Here’s what he has to say : It has been about six years since I dug out a set of negatives of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band performing at The Rainbow, in 1973. The contact sheet suggested a lot of blur and overexposure from the spotlights so I just copied one image and left the rest. Just now [FebruaryRead More →

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John French has created a 20 minute ‘Bucket List’ video update on various projects and preoccupations that are keeping him busy. He talks about various Trout Mask Replica related issues, drum videos, chasing royalties from his book and some Magic Band live albums that are in the pipeline. It’s well worth a look :Read More →

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Great news ! Another Beefheart album gets the Record Store Day treatment by Rhino/Warner. For release on 20 April 2024 will be The Spotlight Kid (Deluxe Edition), which means a second disc of outtakes from those sessions is included. There will be 7000 copies on 140g ‘milky clear’ vinyl. The track list of the bonus disc is as follows : C1. THE WITCH DOCTOR LIFE (instrumental ) [5:27] C2. SEMI-MULTICOLORED CAUCASIAN (instrumental)* [4:37] C3. YOUR LOVE BROUGHT ME TO LIFE (instrumental) [3:11] C4. TWO RIPS IN A HAYSTACK/KISS ME MY LOVE [2:38] C5. HARRY IRENE [3:33] C6. BEST BATCH YET (TRACK) [VERSION 1] [2:18] C7.Read More →

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An unexpected event – well, I didn’t see any adverts for it – was PJ Harvey’s appearance at Don’s art exhibition, Standing on One Hand,  in London between November 2023 and February 2024. Polly read several of Don’s poems. Does anyone know which ones? She finished her set with a poem, Man Can’t Anticipate Cat, that Don had written especially for her about her cat called ‘Garden’. Polly and Don often spoke on the phone and she sent Don some photos of her with her cat. Don loved cats. A recording of the poem is available on YouTube :Read More →

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Moris Tepper is releasing his seventh (?) album on 23 February 2024. This is his first for 14 years ! It’s called Building A Nest and is on his Candlebone label – www.candlebone.com It will be released initially on streaming platforms – Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music etc. but a physical CD will be available on 5 April. Here’s the first single, She Had To Run, from the album :Read More →

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Cinematic. From his first words he sets it out, frame by frame. The situation whereby us folk gather in a circle stunned by the alien assault and preparing for the next wave of human annihilation. Possibly the circle of “earth people” is world leaders in a United Nations type emergency meeting, but it doesn’t really matter. The greatest existential challenge portrayed in fascinating drama- all in just a few words. Lyrically perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Over the years as I struggled to decipher the lyrics to some of his songs and grasp their meaning, I would have many moments of enlightenment and laugh aloud-did he identifyRead More →

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If you haven’t already bought a copy of Jeff’s recent excellent album The Fantasy of Reality then here’s your chance to pick up a copy of the double vinyl album at a special reduced price … plus it comes with a signed fine art print of Jeff. Check it out on the Burning Shed website – https://burningshed.com/jeff-cotton_the-fantasy-of-reality_double-vinyl?filter_name=jeff%20cotton&filter_sub_category=trueRead More →