Steal Softly Thru Snow: issue by issue

[wp_quote]”He was born in the Desert, became the Zig Zag Child, sold out on the My-O-My, returned with a vengeance as a Hot Head Jazz Punk and now is the Old Fart. Yes, he’s big, he’s bad, he’s beautiful …. he’s Beefheart!! … but sadly he’s not back so how can we have a Fanzine? Pass. SSTS will now skilfully avoid the problem, in this and possibly all future issues, by just dealing with Beefheart’s worldwide memorabilia.”[/wp_quote]

The above foreword appeared on the first page of every issue.

A closer look at all the issues

Issue #8: Love Over Gold

Published January 2000
60 pages
Compiled & edited by Paul

• Full information about Grow Fins and the Buddha reissues of Safe As Milk and The Mirror Man Sessions.
• Pete Mulvey’s interviews with those at Virgin responsible for UG & BJ&MB.
• Tour reviews from the era.
• Full discography for all releases of UG & BJ&MB.
• Bill Gibbons interview with Don Van Vliet from 1974.
• Steve Froy’s round-up of Beefheart-related activity on the Internet.
• Four new bootleg reviews.
• News about WC Bamberger’s Riding Some Kind Of Unusual Skull Sleigh book and Irwin Chusid’s Songs In The Key Of Z.
• An interview with Don Aldridge (Magic Band associate in the early days) by Steve Froy.
• 1974 chronology.
• News of all the recent and forthcoming vinyl re-issues.
• + many other tidbits of gossip, news, sightings, releases, etc etc.

View scans of Issue #8

Issue #7: Singing for Women

Published November 1998
72 pages
Compiled & edited by Paul

• Clear Spot discography and working chronology
• Where’s the beef / outtakes
• The tenderised Beefheart of Clear Spot (Circular 1972/11)
• Clear Spot promo booket
• Golden Birdies cartoon
• Clear Spot by Pete Mulvey
• CD box set from Revenant
• John French – solo concert and drum clinic May 1996
• John French – Drumbo’s new soloCD
• 1972 french Clear Spot original lp
• Record Collector “Beef art” special
• Bill Harkleroad’s Lunar Notes book
• BBC’s “The Artist formerly known as” documentary

View scans of Issue #7

Issue #6: Blowin’ the Stacks

Published April 1996
Compiled by Paul & Colin

• Tribute to the late Gerry Pratt
• Discography and chronology for the Spotlight Kid album
• Pete Mulvey’s trawl through the Spotlight Kid outtakes and listing of unreleased studio sessions
• Interview with Rick Snyder by homepagereplica’s Justin Sherrill
• Text of 1983 Vanity Fair interview with Don
• A personal view of Spotlight Kid by Steve Froy
• Theo Tieman’s translation of the interview with Don by Dutch magazine Aloha in 1972
• Assorted bootleg cd reviews and other latest releases
• Anton Corbijn’s Some Yo Yo Stuff video

View scans of Issue #6

Issue #5: Marimba Magic

Published March 1995
72 pages
Compiled & edited by Gerry

• Discography and chronology for Lick My Decals Off Baby album
• 1971 piece by Ben Edmonds from Circus magazine
• Decals 16 track tape recording sheets sent by Henry Kaiser
• Text from Warner Bros newsletter, Circular, giving details on the Decals TV commercial
• Report on the Stand Up To Be Discontinued exhibition in Brighton
• Bumper set of pages of What’s shaking in Vlietland
• Reviews of various bootleg cd releases
• Special insert with Beefheart crossword

View scans of Issue #5

Issue #4: Old Fart At Play

Published September 1994
72 pages
Compiled & edited by Gerry

• Trout Mask Replica discography and chronology
• Frank Zappa on Trout Mask Replica in ’69
• Henry Kaiser on Trout Mask Replica
• Hot Rats discography
• An old fart at play” – Paul S. Brown on Beefheart on film
• Mallard bootleg
• Lost episodes of the Trout Mask Rehearsals by Colin Webb
• 1970 French Pachuco Cadaver / Wild Live 7″ single
• Letter from John French about Mojo #2 article
• Trout Mask Replica – The Captain must be mad (Zigzag magazine)
• More roots of Captain Beefheart
• The “Trout” team
• Fred Frith on ‘Dali’s Car’
• The 2 Trout Mask Replica photo shoots
• Amougies Festival, Oct ’69 (interview with Frank Zappa)
• “It’s the blimp, it’s the blimp” (Zappa interview from Guitar Player ’93)
• Meatball Fulton interview, July 1969
• Bill Harkleroad telephone interview by John Ellis, January 1994
• John Peel in conversation with Rhodri Marsden, early ’92
• Friends magazine article, December 1969

View scans of Issue #4

Issue #3: Plain Brown Wrapper

Published March 1994
56 pages
Compiled & edited by Gerry

• Beefheart at the Beeb – the 1968 BBC Beefheart recordings
• Sgt. Beefheart’s Lonely Personals Band by John Ellis
• Refusal of leave to land report – 24 Jan 1968
• Autumn ’67 to ’68 discography
• The Strictly Machinations by Colin Webb
• Stand up to be discontinued
• Strictly Personal: meet the band
• Gig reviews
• Captain Beefheart – the May 1968 tour by Jean Scrivener

View scans of Issue #3

Issue #2: Delta Fusion

Published September 1993
56 pages
Compiled & edited by Gerry

• John Peel in conversation with Rhodri Marsden, early ’92
• Safe as Milk discography
• The Rising Sons
• Ry Cooder interviews ’70/71, ’76, ’83 and ’92
• Captain Beefheart – Safe as Milk” by Colin Webb
• The 1966 10 page Great Gnome biography
• The two-year-shift problem
• Chronology up to November ’67
• The roots of Captain Beefheart?” by Stuart Troutman

View scans of Issue #2

Issue #1: A&M Days

Published March 1993
28 pages
Compiled & edited by Gerry

• A&M discography
• John Peel
• Avalon ’66 bootleg
• UK news
• Captain Beefheart – A&M by Colin Webb
• The 1984 A&M press kit

View scans of Issue #1