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In: It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper, Mirror Man, Music info, Strictly Personal, Uncategorized
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On his Facebook page John French further tries to explain what happened with the recording of the legendary ‘It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper’ album.   After writing an 864-page book, “Beefheart: Through the Eyes of Magic,” in which I tried my best to accurately “set the record straight” on many of the myths and misunderstandings that have collectively swirled and snowballed down the hill of legends into the confused form-a-heap ( yes, I’m using that phrase from Bill’s Corpse from TMR) it is today, I still find the number one thing people seem to keep scattering misinformation about is Strictly Personal,Read More →

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In: Mirror Man, Song notes
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Steve Brewster writes about the opening lines “Baby Percy told Elixir Sue / Listen to me baby / I’m gonna tell it to you”: Don was referring to a common product in the USA in the 1950s – Percy Medicine and their mascot “Baby Percy”. I’m sending a photo of the box for the stuff that clearly shows who Baby Percy is.Read More →

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In: Lyrics, Mirror Man
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[alert_box type=”info”]Originally appeared on Mirror Man[/alert_box] Mayflower child met uh 25th Century Quaker She’s uh pickin’ poppies ‘n’ bringin’ them into her hue Sun sifting thru and thru and thru Letting them all and all fill thru Me into you me to you me to you Into hue Blue cheese faces laces blue cheese faces faces ‘n’ phases ‘n’ phases ‘n’ faces Going thru the cottage cottage Going thru the cottage cottage Going thru the cottage cottage come with me baby, come with me come with me baby, come with me Quaker child Quaker paper child Flutterin’ ants flutter like fireflies Eyes that flutter likeRead More →

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[alert_box type=”info”]Originally appeared on Mirror Man[/alert_box] Baby Percy told Elixir Sue Listen to me baby I’m gonna tell it to you Gonna need somebody on your bond You gonna need some bodies on your bond Just you bear this in mind True friends is hard to find You gonna need some bodies on your bond Gonna need somebody on your bond You gonna need some bodies on your bond Just you bear this in mind True friends is hard to find You gonna need some bodies on your bond I say bear this in mind I say bear this in mind Just you bear this inRead More →

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In: I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain't Weird, Lyrics, Mirror Man
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[alert_box type=”info”]Appeared on I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain’t Weird, and then on The Mirror Man Sessions[/alert_box] Wee little doors Her lunar spoon croon n’ tune Rust doth thrust thru sienna slippers Through hydrangea blue meadows Babble clabber streams O’ gather the children for they keeper o’ wing ???????? (1967) Thanks to John French in his book for these partially remembered lyrics. He says Victor Hayden (The Mascara Snake) and Herb Bermann had a hand in them. The song was also known as ‘Wee Little Doors’.Read More →

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[alert_box type=”info”]Originally appeared on Mirror Man[/alert_box] Mirror man mirror me Mirror than mirror me Mirror man mirror than Mirror land farther than Mirror day mirror way Mirror man mirror way Mirror man mirror me Mirror man mirror me Mirror me..(inaudible)… Mirror dawn dawnin’ on me Crack o dawn mirror dawn Mirror man mirror gone Mirror fall down mirror gone down Mirror girl mirror boy Mirror frog mirror man Mirror worm mirror worm Mirror bird mirror germ germ..(inaudible)… Little girl little girl Little girl little girl Mirror man mirror me Mirror man mirror me Mirror man mirror me Mirror man further than Mirror day mirror wayRead More →

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Track list Tarotplane Kandy Korn 25th Century Quaker Mirror Man Musicians Don Van Vliet – vocals, harmonica, oboe Alex St. Clair – guitar Jeff Cotton – guitar Mark Marcellino – keyboards John French – drums Jerry Handley – bass Myths and legends The original cover proudly proclaimed “recorded one night in 1965” thus making it seem, in 1971 when it was eventually released, like an unearthed time capsule providing proof that the Magic Band were at least a couple of years ahead of the competition and made the very first psychedelic sounds to be recorded. Fantastic and ground-breaking though it certainly is, it was recorded in 1967. Album overview from Graham Johnston Four long,Read More →

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[alert_box type=”info”]This review of Mirror Man (Buddah BDS 5077) was originally published in the 1st April, 1971 edition of Rolling Stone. Kindly sent to me by Jim Flannery.[/alert_box] Captain Beefheart still plays to a relatively minor following, but most of them believe, as I do, that he’s one of the four or five unqualified geniuses to rise from the hothouses of American music in the Sixties, an innovator whose instinctive idiomatic syntheses and wildly original approach to composition and improvisation preview an era of profound changes to popular music. Statements like that would be extreme anywhere else, but only Cap has managed to fuse theRead More →

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Releases 1971 US Original on Buddah BDS-5077. There are four distinct issues here: Multi-colored label, die-cut cover Multi-colored label, no die-cut cover Reissue on regular Buddah label, die-cut cover (pictured) Reissue on regular Buddah label, no die-cut cover Scan very kindly sent along by Chris Perry 1971 UK Original on Buddah 2365 002 Black Buddah label and gatefold sleeve 1982 UK Re-issue on PRT NCP 1002 Two versions exist of this with slightly different layout on back (Export version?) 1986 UK Re-issue on EDSEL 184 This version features more appropriate artwork – alternative Cannes Beach Publicity Shot on the front cover, photograph of the bandRead More →

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A brand new re-issue of Mirror Man, complete with the glorious remastering and bonus tracks from Buddha’s 1999 CD reissue. Released on 15th November 1999. Track list Side 1: Tarotplane Side 2: 25th Century Quaker Mirror Man Side 3: Kandy Korn Trust Us (take 6) Side 4: Safe As Milk (take 12) Beatle Bones N’ Smokin’ Stones Moody Liz (take 8) Gimme Dat Harp Boy Press release from Simply Vinyl It’s taken us literally ages to get access to the good Captain’s better material but we think you’ll agree that it’s been worth the wait because a whole heap of additional bonus tracks and differentRead More →

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Track list Tarotplane 25th Century Quaker Mirror Man Kandy Korn Trust Us (Take 6) Safe As Milk (Take 12) Beatle Bones N’ Smokin Stones Moody Liz (Take 8) Gimme Dat Harp Boy Album overview Graham Johnston: The first four tunes were previously available on Mirror Man, the remaining five were previously available on the now deleted I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain’t Weird Sequel collection. The Mirror Man album has been thoroughly re-mastered, bringing massive improvements in sound quality. Packaging is based upon the original vinyl release, with new sleevenotes by John Platt. A small press item appeared announcing this release. Released onRead More →

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In: Mirror Man, Safe As Milk
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1977 UK SAM/MM Combination Re-issue as Beefheart File of SAM/MM on Pye FILD 008 Two inner sleeves contain “rare” photos and informative article by Connor McKnight First sleeve has real slot on front later sleeve front cover has Internal Memo artwork and no slot 1983 UK Re-issue as Music In Sea Minor Six tracks from SAM and two from MM on a 10″ Album with Cannes Beach publicity shot cover on Buddah PRT DOW 15. 1984 UK Re-issue as Top Secret – Breakaway BWY 66 Five tracks from SAM and two from MM. 1984 UK Re-issue as Top Secret on 12″ Picture Disc Design PIXLP4 HasRead More →

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In: Grow Fins, Mirror Man, Safe As Milk, The Dust Blows Forward
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[alert_box type=”info”]This review for all the Beefheart discs issued in 1999 (Grow Fins, Dust Blows Forward, Safe As Milk and The Mirror Man Sessions) was taken from the 27th June 1999 Philadelphia Inquirer. Many thanks to Chris Previti for sending it along.[/alert_box] Oh, the yin and yang of it all. At the exact moment the music industry is overrun with homogenized teen harmonisers, along comes a grizzled, determinedly weird voice from the deep vault, bellowing a sloppy counterattack to all that manufactured cheer. It’s Captain Beefheart, superhero of the surreal, right on cosmic cue. More than 35 years after Beefheart (the nom de rock ofRead More →

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[alert_box type=”info”]My review for Buddha’s two classic Beefheart albums repackaged, re-mastered and ready to take off into the wind.[/alert_box] It was with some excitement that I first heard about these re-releases, perfectly timed to coincide with what appears to be a significant increase in interest in the magic music of the Magic Band from both music consumers and the industry itself. Just as we are all about to Grow Fins and feast upon a host of previously unreleased music from Revenant, here are two Magic Band classics which, although hardly wilting anyway, have benefited from having a serious breath of fresh air breathed into them.Read More →

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[alert_box type=”info”]From March 1999’s Ice Magazine came the following news, kindly sent to me by Brian Beuchaw and Uwe Krueger.[/alert_box] BMG-owned Buddha Records will debut in the spring with expanded, newly remastered reissues of such out-of-print works as Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s Safe as Milk and Mirror Man, Nilsson’s John Lennon-produced Pussy Cats, Graham Parker’s The Mona Lisa’s Sister and Daryl Hall’s Sacred Songs. All will be fleshed out with CD bonus tracks, some of them previously unreleased. Like Sony’s Legacy imprint, Buddha – with a new spelling to boot – will have access to its parent company’s vaults, but will focus onRead More →