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Since no agreement has yet been made after ten months, I have withdrawn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.