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Released August 2022 on Madfish SMACD1214 (Double vinyl released November 2022) Radar Station Review by Steve Froy This is one review I thought I would never be writing but here we are. Jeff Cotton has released his first solo album after a 50 year break from the music business. Jeff had already been a professional musician for several years before joining Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band in late 1967. He would go on to achieve legendary status amongst fans for his guitar work on Mirror Man, Strictly Personal and Trout Mask Replica. On leaving the Beefheart band he launched another band that would becomeRead More →

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As  a taster for his new album, The Fantasy of Reality, to be released on 12 August by Madfish, Jeff has produced this video for his ‘single’ from the album. The track ‘Does It Work For You’ is the opener to the album and features Jeff’s trademark slide guitar work. It’s a strong comeback by this talented musician. Preorder the album – https://jeffcotton.lnk.to/fantasyofreality Here’s a message from Jeff: Greetings and Aloha to all my music loving friends! The single, Does it Work for You, the first tune on my new album, “The Fantasy of Reality,” exemplifies the overall sentiment of this new work. I sincerelyRead More →

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To say this is long awaited would be an understatement … Magic Band and Mu alumni Jeff Cotton, aka Antennae Jimmy Semens, announces his debut solo album The Fantasy of Reality – available on CD and digital on 12 August via Madfish. Pre-order/Save: https://JeffCotton.lnk.to/FantasyOfReality Trout Mask Replica cover designer Cal Schenkel returns to contribute to the internal artwork to continue the Captain Beefheart canon into the 2020s. Now blending together musical strands such as jazz, delta blues, Hawaiian and the avant-garde to create a melting pot of ideas, Jeff Cotton will astonish fans with his comeback.  Read More →

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Are you looking for some live Beefheart music? Well, there’s some coming up in New York … THE WORLD OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART featuring GARY LUCAS and NONA HENDRYX — with Fast ’N Bulbous and Gods and Monsters vets Jesse Krakow on bass, Richard Dworkin drums, and Jordan Shapiro keyboards — will perform for the first time in several years as part of Bang On a Can’s Long Play Festival in Brooklyn the last weekend in April. The group will perform at Roulette, the venerable avant-garde music club at 509 Atlantic Avenue at 8:30pm on Friday April 29th More about the festival and tickets here: https://bangonacan.org/longplay/Read More →

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Updated 17 August 2021 Gary continues to surprise ! You never quite know what he’s going to do next … but you always know that it’s going to be interesting. His latest adventure – entitled Le Beast Concrete – sees him join forces with David Sisko, an NYC based producer, mixer and remixer to produce some startling and intense soundscapes. Gary’s incendiary guitar forms the centre around which swirl the electronics, beats and rhythms conjured up by David. In the press release it’s described as “combining the elements of the past, present and the near future, it can be considered a “genre-fluid” mix blues, rock,Read More →

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If you don’t already have a copy of John French’s (almost) definitive book, Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic, then here’s your chance as The Last Music Company are reprinting it. An essential read for any fan of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band. It will be available from 23 April 2021 in Europe and from 2 September in the US in hardback and digital formats. If you having any doubts about getting a copy then read my review of it here : Review of Through The Eyes Of Magic Alongside the book they are also releasing a limited edition vinyl version of John’s excellentRead More →

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Wow, how about this cover version of Steal Softly Thru Snow! The Android Trio, Andy Niven, Eric Klerks and Max Kutner, are in fact from the last incarnation of the reunion Magic Band. It’s great to see that they learnt their lessons well from John Drumbo French and that they are keeping the Beefheart flame burning. Guest vocalist, Peter Niven’s vocals are throat-shredding and are closer to grindcore than Beefheart but, amazingly, it works. Check out the band on Bandcamp – https://androidtrio.bandcamp.com/Read More →

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In 2020 Greg Bendian, who runs the ProgCast channel on YouTube interviewed Bill Harkleroad, aka Zoot Horn Rollo. They discuss details of his work on Trout Mask Replica, and Lick My Decals Off, Baby, as well as their collaboration on Bill’s excellent solo album, We Saw A Bozo Under the Sea. Greg played drums and vibes on Bill’s album.Read More →

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Released January 29th 2021 through NYC’s Knitting Factory Records, Gary Lucas’s 40 year career is celebrated with this 36 track 2CD set. The first CD concentrates on songs recorded with Gary Lucas’s art-rock psychedelic supergroup Gods and Monsters. The second CD is devoted to Solo, Rarities and Collaborations. Drawing on a wealth of material – including rare and previously unreleased tracks — the deluxe double disc package offers ample evidence of this maverick artist’s trailblazing and unique career — going back to his earliest appearances on record and stage with Captain Beefheart in the early 80’s, which put Gary on the musical map … to hisRead More →

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Don would have been 80 years old today. To celebrate that milestone Gary Lucas has written a piece for the Please Kill Me website about the dysfunctional relationship between Don and Frank Zappa. Gary offers his take on the rivalry between to the two old friends and also looks at the recording of the last Beefheart album Ice Cream For Crow. Read the article – Don Van Vliet and Frank Zappa: Two Peas In A Misshapen Pod   Another album that gets mentioned in the article is Doc At The Radar Station which last year reached its 40th anniversary. Gary devoted three of his FacebookRead More →

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Originally published in the Wall Street Journal December 19, 2010 Noted avant guitarist and composer Gary Lucas was a colleague and friend to Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, who died Friday. Calling him “the most compelling conceptualist I’d ever heard,” Lucas once told the Journal that Van Vliet had “taken the structure of the jazz and blues and rebuilt it like no one else had.” We asked him to record his thoughts about his mentor and friend. Don Van Vliet was an American maverick visionary genius who single-handedly changed the face of music we know it over a dozen uncompromising albums. HeRead More →

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Yet another interview with John French. This time it’s with Joe Wong from the Trap Set which is a weekly podcast and terrestrial radio show about the lives of drummers. Amazingly John manages to keep it interesting by recalling ever more detail of his time with the Magic Band. You can hear it here :  Read More →

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During the pandemic lockdown Gary Lucas has been live-streaming performances on Facebook from home several times a week. In a special three part series of performances in June 2020 Gary featured a Beefheart tribute. If you missed those streams or don’t like wading through the morass that is Facebook then hurry on over to Gary’s website to catch videos of all three of his Beefheart shows. You will also find there a selection of paintings and drawings by Don Van Vliet from his personal collection, including the backstory behind each piece. And there’s more … Gary writes about his Top 5 Captain Beefheart albums whichRead More →

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Here’s a brand new interview with Bill Harkleroad (aka Zoot Horn Rollo). It was done by phone for the Greek website, Hit Channel, by Thodoris Dimitroulas who manages to ask some different questions. No great revelations but still some interesting answers from Bill.   Interview: Zoot Horn Rollo (Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, solo)Read More →

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——— Updated: 16 June If you missed the live session on 16 June, and if you didn’t, you can tune in again on Thursday 18 June and Saturday 20 June at the same time for a continuation of the symposium and some more of Gary’s great stories about being with Don. ——— During the lockdown Gary Lucas has been keeping himself busy by playing three half-hour concerts a week live on Facebook covering examples from all his musical interests. If you can, check it out and don’t forget to drop something in his Paypal account to help him out until he can get back outRead More →

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Pamela Des Barres has written a lengthy piece for the PleaseKillMe.com website about her great friend and soul mate, Victor Haydon (or Hayden is you prefer). Pamela writes well and this candid reminiscence is no exception. She reveals some of the demons that drove Victor, inspired his imagination and in some ways kept him at arms reach from the rest of the world. Very informative and enlightening. Read the article here – https://pleasekillme.com/victor-haydon/Read More →

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Well, folks, the Art Tripp fest continues. Samuel Andreyev has now bagged another interview with a former Magic Band member. In this interview, which is nearly two hours long, Art talks about working with Frank Zappa, John Cage and Captain Beefheart. If you’ve seen the other interviews by Samuel then you know you’ll not want to miss this one. Check it out on YouTube – https://youtu.be/ugMep20elgQRead More →

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Thanks to Kitty Marimba we’re able to get a look inside Art’s Magic Band Scrapbook. Well, it was actually Art’s mother, Jay, who took most of the photographs and put them in an album but it’s now in Art’s possession. Jay herself does appear in a couple of the photographs. I have done what I can to tidy up the scans and to enhance the faded colours of the original photographs. However, they are what they are  … but it’s a rare glimpse of life on the road with the Magic Band during 1971 and 1972 … I hope you enjoy them. To fit themRead More →

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The Radar Station is pleased to present this fascinating article by Art Tripp, aka Ed Marimba, aka Ted Cactus, drummer and percussionist for both Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and Beefheart’s Magic Band. Here he gives his take on what it was like to work for both these very different musical geniuses. Thanks to Kitty Marimba for helping to make this happen. ————————————————————————————— Zappa vs. Beefheart: What Were They Really Like? by Art Tripp “Hi, Art, this is Dick Kunc here. I was telling Frank about you, and we’re wondering if you could come down to Apostolic Studios on Friday?” “Sure, Dick. What should I bring:Read More →