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“And that pantalooned duck / white goose neck / quacked, ‘Webcor, Webcor.’” Those are the last lines on Clear Spot, from a song called “Golden Birdies.” Not exactly “I Can See Clearly Now,” I know, but if you find it hard to make sense out of lyrics like that, or feel that you must, rest easy. Captain Beefheart has come out of the haze. Even though his music has always been solidly rooted in the blues, Beefheart has remained a sort of cult figure: to his followers, a supreme genius; to many others, inaccessible both musically and verbally. Starting from Delta blues, which was neverRead More →

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The continuing evolution of Beefheart’s music has been one of the most fascinating developments of contemporary rock. The Captain has seemed an introverted, almost schizophrenic figure, mirroring in his work the apparent dichotomy between the rigorous ensemble playing of the Chicago-out-of-Mississippi bluesmen and the anarchic-sounding sprung rhythms of modernists like Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman. But the unique facet of Beefheart’s blues playing has always been his understanding of the essentially irregular metric structures of much Mississippi blues, and he has thus been able to translate the abrupt, quirky stridency of the early blues guitarists into abrupt, quirky arrangements for his Magic Band. In thisRead More →

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Recording details Date – Autumn 1972 Studio – Amigo Studios, Los Angeles Producer – Ted Templeman Engineer – Donn Landee Musicians Don Van Vliet – vocals, harmonica Bill Harkleroad – guitar Mark Boston – bass, guitar Art Tripp – drums Roy Estrada – bass Milt Holland – percussion Russ Titelman – guitar (Too Much Time only) The Blackberries – backing vocals unknown horn players Track list Low Yo Yo Stuff Nowadays a Woman’s Gotta Hit a Man Too Much Time Circumstances My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains Sun Zoom Spark Clear Spot Crazy Little Thing Long Neck Bottles Her Eyes Are ARead More →