| Captain Beefheart Discography |
| Captain Beefheart Related Releases |
| Fast 'n' Bulbous: Pork Chop Blue Around The Rind |
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| Song list: |
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Suction Prints - (4:20) |
| Line Up |
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| Further information |
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A seven piece tribute band put together in 2001. Led by alto sax player, arranger and conductor Phillip Johnston. Their intention is to use Don's music as a starting point for jazz and rock based improvisation. One of their first appearances was on 9th February 2002 when they played as part of The Captain Beefheart Project at the Knitting Factory in New York. Beefheart biographer, Mike Barnes, was there reading extracts from his book and has this to say about Fast 'n' Bulbous:- "If anyone can get to see Fast ‘N Bulbous I would recommend, nay insist, that you go and see them. What impressed first and foremost is that the group are faithful to both the spirit and form of the music. I’ve heard loads of Beefheart cover versions, few of which have added anything to the material - most dilute it and some musicians seem merely keen on fame-by-association. Whereas groups and artists can cover the music of great songwriters and do worthwhile versions, Beefheart’s music is such a personal art form it rarely travels well. Fast ‘N Bulbous play it just right. "For starters, they are all excellent, exploratory musicians and cope with the structure of even the Trout Mask songs with great aplomb; "Pachuco Cadaver" had all the obtuse correspondences of instruments - and sudden time changes plucked from the ether - down brilliantly. The guitar and bass parts were spot on and only an ultra nerd/pedant would criticise the drummer for not playing John French’s parts exactly beat-for-beat. Anyway that wasn’t the point he got under the skin of the rhythm in a freewheeling, French-ian style and hit all the cues spot on. Meanwhile, Gary has obviously done his homework and got all the knuckle-busting chords down, and the bass player is a dextrous monster. I’m not surprised the crowd were baying in between the pieces. "Composer, arranger and alto saxophonist Philip Johnston is the guy who initially hatched the idea and has written some extraordinary horn charts. He has circumvented the thorny problem of getting a singer by having a cooking horn section which can play in super-tight harmony to bring out the melodies, without having to go for a faux-Beefheart growler like Freddie Wadling (featured on the Swedish "Music Of Captain Beefheart Live"). They formed a beautiful brass chorale throughout "Abba Zaba" and when they all let rip on "Veteran’s Day Poppy", they almost blew my wig off - they are great soloists. Similarly, the power trio reading of "Click Clack/Ice Cream For Crow" was a blast: aggressive and improvisatory but without a whiff of self-indulgence. The drummer got all the inside-out rhythms, while Gary's slide playing was fearsome. And "Suction Prints" was right up there with the original Magic Band version. "I chatted to Philip Johnston before the show and he mentioned that he was working on scoring "Dali’s Car" for four horns. That sounds great on (black ants crawling across white) paper and I’ve no doubt it will be great to hear. He’s working on doing some "Decals" stuff too. This might all sound gushing, but I’m actually trying to play it down. The group’s big, physical yet intricate sound was a joy to hear for both the Beefheartophile and, I’m sure, for the merely curious. I was expecting it to be good but my expectations were surpassed in grand style. Who knows…. maybe even Don would have liked it. " Some further information, with photographs, is available on Phil Johnston's website |
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