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In: 1975 New Victoria Theatre London
With: 2 Comments

DON’T BELIEVE what your mother tells you kids, there really is a Legion of Super Heroes. Quiet, mild mannered, and sensitive he may be, but Don Van Vliet is also the Spotlight Kid and with Drumbo and Winged Eel Fingerling he beamed down to London to save us. He also saved his sagging reputation. Forget the self pity that’s haunted the Captain for the last couple of years, he’s once again the gargantuan figure that gave us “Trout Mask Replica” and “Clear ‘Spot”, and if his new material is anything to go by (from the up and coming album with Frank Zappa “Bongo Fury”) heRead More →

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In: 1972 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
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As we all know, Chicago is renowned for having its roots firmly planted in the blues. That, of course, makes it fertile territory for Captain Beefheart who unmistakingly got his start with the idiom (listen to his Budda LP SAFE AS MILK or an obscure A&M single from the mid-sixties Fryin’ Pan). No matter how far from its standards he journeyed in his avant garde jazz – verbal, imagery period well expressed on TROUT MASK REPLICA and LICK MY DECALS OFF BABY, he never really lost touch with it, he just used it as a launching pad for widely unexplored musical regions. Now, he’s returnedRead More →

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In: 1972 Royal Albert Hall
With: 1 Comment

“I really must apologise for this P.A.,” the Captain said to his Albert Hall audience, “I’m sorry, really sorry.” The audience fell silent – “I’m not THAT serious,” APPLAUSE – “but I am very sorry. The next time I am here, I will bring my own PA.” The long awaited concert was sadly marred by hired PA. trouble (stop me if you’ve heard this story). The Captain was visibly upset by the strange noises being emitted from the massive ($$$) system, and in the middle of one composition, he flung the microphone to the floor. He retrieved it quickly, “Well, I might as well singRead More →

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In: 1971 Ungano New York
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Ry Cooder, with his group, and Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, bowed to the New York Press at Ungano’s in mid-winter. Both are among the more progressive Warner/Reprise acts, though their use of musical traditions accounts in part for their unique sounds. Cooder, on first, played a brief set composed entirely of country blues pieces from the 1920s and 30s, originated by Blind Willie Johnson, Sleepy John Estes, and others. His bottleneck guitar, and his mandolin styling as well, were classic in that he approached his material as a series of composed pieces. (Few country blues pieces were improvisational in character; most were workedRead More →

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In: 1971 Detroit Tube Works, Grow Fins, Multimedia
With: 3 Comments

Hmmm… is this the very best surviving clip of Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band? I think it could be. Copies of this amazing footage have circulated for many years amongst collectors but the quality has not been the best. Now that Reelin In The Years have gained ownership of the film they have made it available but you have to put up with their watermark throughout … it’s definitely worth it for the superior quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUa5DcDmc48 Recorded on 15 January 1971 at WABX Studio, directed by Chuck Reti. (Incorrectly dated on the video). Available on the enhanced disc of Grow Fins but not in suchRead More →