Where The Action Is -- ABC (US TV) 1966
This
is the earliest piece of film of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band.
At this point they had been together almost 18 months and were trying
to 'make it'. They had recorded their first single for A&M with
David Gates producing - 'Diddy Wah Diddy' (an update of a Bo Diddley
song) and 'Who Do You Think You're Fooling?' (written by Don) - and
it had been released in April 1966.
As part of the promotion for the single their management got them an
appearance on Where The Action Is on 24 May 1966. (Note: they also appeared
on the TV music show '9th Street West' at around this time but no copy
of that seems to have survived.)
The band performing here is slightly different to that which had recorded the single. Guitarist Rich Hepner had left and Alex Snouffer had moved back to guitar after a spell in the drum seat which was now occupied by Paul (PG) Blakely. Doug Moon was on second guitar and Jerry Handley was on bass.
As
was the case for any rock and pop act back then there wasn't an option
to play live. You mimed to your record or didn't get airtime.
The band look a bit self-conscious on the beach surrounded by a lot
of teens in swimming costumes. The camera drifts off several times to
the kids fooling about in the surf. In hindsight this looks quite incongruous
- a blues band playing in these surroundings - and very 'un-Beefheart'
like!
Where The Action Is was a popular midweek afternoon music show produced by Dick Clark for ABC TV. It filled a spot that had been vacated by American Bandstand's move to Saturdays. It ran from 28 June 1965 to 31 March 1967 and had thousands of teens rushing home from school to catch the show.
The
show lasted just 30 minutes. It's theme song was 'Action' sung by Freddie
'Boom Boom' Cannon which became a moderate hit in late 1965. The house
band was Paul Revere and the Raiders and the show provided them with
a launch pad for a successful career.
There were other show regulars who along with Paul Revere would mime
to cover versions of current pop hits. Each show would include usually
two guest singers or bands performing their latest release. And the
whole thing was hung together on Dick Clark's voice-over commentary.
The
show pioneered the use of exotic locations for shows and it toured several
popular resorts across the USA.
Most episodes were, however, filmed in southern California, at the Big
Bear ski resort in the winter, and Malibu in the summer (which is possibly
where this footage was filmed).
Songs performed
- Diddy Wah Diddy
- Who Do You Think You're Fooling?
