From the CD front cover:-

Includes 16 page colour booklet ilustrated (sic) with rare photographs. This CD contains no music by Captain Beedfheart. It is not authorised by the artist, his record company or management .

From the booklet:-

Proving once and for all that with Beefheart you can only expect the unexpected, this fascinating dialogue finds a man at the height of his creative prowess happy to discusss what really makes him tick.

Originally never intended to be released this CD had to be sonically cleaned to make it listenable but even so there is general background noise from the diner and a 'whining' sound throughout. Conducted in 1974 by rock journalist Steven Rosen (although he doesn't seem to be able to remember exactly when it was) this finds Don in garralous form.

It is interesting because on one hand it seems that Don is saying things that his management (the di Martino brothers) would want him to say to make him more accessible while on the other he enthuses about his pet interests.

Is his tongue firmly in his cheek when he says how good his new band - aka The Tragic Band - are? And as to his answers about his favourite music...

But he gets to talk about his love of the natural world - whales, a particular female mandrill, the books of Jean Pierre Hallet (his favourite, Congo Kitabu was about the pygmies of Africa) and the legendary eucalyptus trees at the Trout house.

Rosen doesn't always get a straight answer to his questions, Don usually prefers to talk about what he wants to, but he does get him to comment on each of his albums in turn which is quite a triumph.

Other topics discussed include Frank Zappa, having or not having children, possible projects with other musicians (none of which came to fruition), the songs and poetry he's written and the theosphist Manley P. Hall (whom Jan knows and Don heartily recommends).

The glossy booklet has a short written piece by Steven Rosen about his meeting with Don illustrated with a number of photographs (mainly from 1974 and 1975) that some of you might find familiar.

By its very nature this release will have a limited audience and be of interest only to Beefheart fans. So, if you're fan enough to have visited this site and read this far then you'de probably enjoy this CD. After all, there is no other legitimately released interview with Don and this one is priced reasonably low.

The Radar Station's resident newshound, Derek Laskie, tracked down Steven Rosen and asked him about his meeting with Don:-

D: I'd like to know something about your reactions to Don's interview techniques. For you, as a professional interviewer of rock musicians, just how different or difficult was it to talk with him?

SR: Talking with Don was a pleasure and an honor. I'd heard a lot about how difficult he was, wouldn't talk about certain stuff, Zappa, et al. But I spent over two hours with him and he was open and funny and gregarious and insightful. A true delight.

D: Was this your first meeting with Don? Did you keep in touch? Are you still in touch?

SR: This was my first and only meeting with the Captain. I know that he wanted copies of the interview we did and I wanted to send them to him but I never did. I don't know why because I'm usually very good about that stuff. I think if/when he sees the Chrome Dreams CD, he'll be pretty happy.

D: Where and when was the interview done? Was it for 'Guitar Player' or some other publication? Was it ever published?

SR: It's difficult to remember exactly where and when. When you listen to the CD, you'll probably be able to tell because I talk about certain albums that have come out. I'm pretty sure it was after the Clear Spot album. I remember driving out to where he lived in Lancaster, California, which is kind of a nowhere place. We met at a restaurant he had chosen and I remember people there did recognize him. which he seemed to enjoy.

The interview was never done for any guitar mag. I just thought an interview with him would have some value but as it turned out, no one has ever read anything from that interview. And the Chrome Dreams CD is the first time anyone will ever hear some of the content.

D: Is all your Beefheart taped material on this disc or can we look forward to more later?

SR: We spoke for over two hours and I'm pretty sure the Chrome Dreams CD is only about an hour. So I do have another hour or more of stuff with him. I remember the original cassettes were in terrible condition; terrible audio quality, squeeky and scratchy. So I went to a buddy's pro studio and spent a small fortune on de-noising the tapes and having everything EQ'd. Stuff you couldn't even understand before is now completely legible.

I loved his music. And I was so pleased when I was given the opportunity to speak with him.

• 2004 CD on Chrome Dreams CIS2009