I'm sure many of the people who check beefheart.com were a little puzzled by the fact that there seemed to be no information concerning the Magic Band reunion concerts. The reason for this is simply because we were asked by the promoter of the event to keep the whole thing secret until all agreements were made in order to avoid confusion. Graham Johnston was merely co-operating with our request.

Since no agreement has yet been made after ten months, I have withdrawn from the plan and I hope the following will explain why.

This is basically my personal opinion and does not reflect the feelings of any of the other Magic Band members besides myself.

1. I was contacted in mid-August 2001 by a British promoter/agent
(heretofore known as "Agent C" ) who actually works for the record company he formerly sold to a larger company. He is not a true agent but is interested in the Magic Band (Trout Mask/Decals era). He suggested that the Trout Mask band, playing instrumental versions of Van Vliet compositions, should consider doing a concert or two, and that said concerts could actually generate enough income (a first in itself) to make it worth the large amount of time required to relearn and re-memorise these rather difficult pieces.

2. Late August 2001 - I met with Harkleroad and Agent C in Eugene Oregon.
The proposal was for a concert at UCLA (University of California / Los
Angeles - through contact of Agent C heretofore known as Mr. Baitenswitch) with guarantees high enough to spark an interest and all expenses paid, tentatively scheduled either June or September of 2002. The concert was to be billed as a "Fine Arts" event, and partially subsidised by grant money. There would also be a concert about a month later in London and scheduling would be dependent upon the UCLA agreement.

3. 28 - 30 October 2001 - Through grant money from UCLA, Magic Band rehearsal took place. Jeff Cotton was not available so Denny Walley was chosen to replace him. The rehearsal proves that the band can produce 40 minutes of music with no problem.

4. November 2001 - we agree upon September 2002 date and wait for contracts. A press release was tentatively scheduled for 15 January 2002 - allowing plenty of time to examine and sign contracts. It is insisted upon that all plans remain secret until the date of press release.

5. 15 January 2002 - still no contracts, so no press release. Only sporadic and generally vague emails from Agent C. Suddenly we receive word that contracts are delayed because Baitenswitch is on holiday (hey, good planning).

6. February 2002 - Agent C now informs us that UCLA is "encouraging" us to play at the "All Tomorrow's Parties" festival with no real explanation why. There is no talk of compensation changes, but we would be featured with several "rock" bands and so everyone basically says no because we wouldn't really be playing exclusively to Beefheart Fans.

7. March 2002 - Baitenswitch then gives another completely different offer based on ambiguous figures which no one in their right mind would agree to without more information. We are rushed into agreeing upon a date in November, only five days prior to Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Holiday Season. We settle on a January 2003 date, but can't commit until seeing actual contracts - the outline of which contains a complicated offer based on percentages rather than guarantees and puts all the financial burden upon us. It also seems to only offer half the amount of the original guarantee.

8. April 2002 - We are now being told that we are no longer going to be presented as a "Fine Arts" concert, but must hold our own as any "commercial" act - a completely mystifying change of plans, especially since we were never commercial NOR an "act." Still absolutely no explanation for any of the delays, nor for the changes in the offer. In fact, not much information at all...

9. June 2002 - I withdraw from any further dealings with Agent C. Although I feel Agent C's attempts were sincere, I have no intention of dealing with, much less signing any binding contract with Baitenswitch any longer. (Note: None of us have ever had any personal contact with Mr. Baitenswitch). Since the Magic Band isn't a "band" in any sense of the word, we have no representation, and no one to look out for our interests. Also, I felt that we were being treated quite shabbily by Baitenswitch and any faith I may have had in him was destroyed by his continuous altering of the original offer.

10. If there is a legitimate agent out there reading this, who would wish
to contact us regarding LEGITIMATE and STRAIGHTFORWARD offers for a couple of reunion concerts (non-UCLA), please send to Graham Johnston and he will forward to me. I will gladly share any legitimate offers with other Magic Band members. Who knows? I'm warning you however - we're a bit on the expensive side! Learning this material is a time-consuming process.

This concert at UCLA was supposed to be "top secret" information, because UCLA doesn't like people calling to buy tickets for events that are not yet contractually confirmed. Many thanks to Graham Johnston, who, at my request, kept the "secret" even at the expense of looking clueless throughout this whole ordeal. I appreciate his co-operation.

One last thing: The people who are successful in the corporate side of the music business seem to come in two types. There is the honest, straightforward sincere businessmen. They are very rare.

Most of those I have come in contact with are highly exploitative. First of all, they are mostly dealing with very young, inexperienced, naive musicians anxious to play on stage and become "stars." So, it is very easy for this dishonest element to exploit these musicians and play them like puppets. In their effort to get known, the young and naive will sign just about anything put under their nose. Baitenswitch, or perhaps the powers that reign over him, seem to reflect this type who like to exploit this element, or, at least, seems to practice these kinds of techniques.

The reason I name him this is because of the old "bait and switch" technique in bad business, in which one thing is offered to entice or "bait" the performer, and then when it gets down to contract time, a switch is made, and an offer of much less value replaces the original offer. Unfortunately, the Magic Band members are a little too seasoned to be fooled by such tomfoolery, and thus probably immune to this type of exploitation, which causes quite a dilemma for people like Baitenswitch.

There is also a principle involved here. The more musicians give in to this type of nonsense, the more the perpetrators are encouraged to practice these kinds of business practices thus perpetuating the exploitation even further. This is one reason that in recent years "products" have replaced "artists" in the music business.

I hope this explains the situation. Like I said, I have only met "Agent C" who seemed like a nice, sincere fellow. I have never met Baitenswitch, who may have been forced by the "powers that be" to deal with us in such a way. I can only guess what kind of person he actually is and have heard he is a Magic Band fan, which makes all this even more puzzling.