One of those real collectors’ items for the Beefheart fan. Track List Side One Electricity (version 4) Electricity (version 5) Plastic Factory (version 2) Grown So Ugly (version 3) Where There’s Woman (version 2) Side Two Yellow Brick Road (version 2) Aba Saba [sic] (version 2) Autumn’s Child (version 2) Sure Enough[sic] (version 2) At some point during the recording of Safe As Milk, an acetate was pressed with various versions of some of the album’s songs. Was it for the band or the producers .. or someone else? Were these tracks seen as the (almost) finished versions and committing them to disc was one way of helping makeRead More →

The sound quality of Safe As Milk is something that has been discussed in one way or another quite a bit over the years. Why does it sound the way it does and which release is the best version available? Some (but not all) of the issues can be traced back to the way the album was recorded in the first place. Ry Cooder and Gary Marker have both been critical about the way Bob Krasnow and Richard Perry took the recording out the superior eight track Sunset Sound Studios and moved it to the four track RCA Studios to the detriment of the overall soundRead More →

Before the recording of the Safe As Milk album there was a studio session where a number of demos were recorded produced by Gary Marker which became known as the Safe as Milk Demos, or the Buddah Takes or the Disneyland Demos. March [?] 1967 Original Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California Producer: Gary Marker Track List Sure Nuff ‘n’ Yes I Do Yellow Brick Road Plastic Factory Electricity Abba Zaba (Follow links above to hear the songs on Youtube) The story behind the demos The band finally left the desert and moved to Los Angeles, to a rented place off Armor Road in Laurel Canyon, inRead More →

The Safe As Milk baby featured in the 27 May 1967 edition of Cashbox: … and in the 17 June 1967 edition of Billboard; This version has the ‘Beware!’ caption added. From World Countdown, June 1967: Here’s another advertisement from World Countdown, July 1967: One side of the inner sleeve of the album plus the lyrics to two songs, Sure Nuff ‘N’ Yes I Do and Zig Zag Wanderer have been crammed together for this ad. From World Countdown, August 1967: Note the presence of Ry Cooder’s replacement, Gerry McGee (second from the left), who played with the Magic Band for only two live shows and did not appear onRead More →

  Track list Side 1 Gimme Dat Harp Boy Dirty Blue Gene Beatle Bones ’n’ Smokin’ Stones Pt. 1 & 2 Trust Us (take 9) Side 2 Safe as Milk (take 12) Moody Liz (take 8) On Tomorrow Side 3 Big Black Baby Shoes Flower Pot Korn Ring Finger Side 4 Safe as Milk (take 5) Trust Us (take 6) Moody Liz (take 16) Recorded November 1967 at TTG Studios, Hollywood, California 2-LP set on high definition vinyl Sundazed publicity Mastered directly from the original analog tapes and featuring a wealth of unedited takes never before on vinyl, Sundazed’s stunning gatefold double-LP release of this infamouslyRead More →

These excellent quality large scans were kindly sent to me by William. 27th – 30th July 1967, Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco. Designed by Tom Glass. Friday 9th and Saturday 10th September 1967, 1601 West Evans Street, Denver, Colorado. Designed by Bob Schnepf. 13 – 15th October 1967, Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco. Designed by Jack Hatfield.Read More →

Although Beefheart is probably renowned for being perversely anti-commercial or non-commercial (which ever way you want to look at). That wasn’t always the case. The early band when it started back in 1964/65 wanted to make it big just like all the other young guys in countless bands getting together across the States and the rest of the world. A hit record, money, girls … yes, they wanted it all too. With the release of Diddy Wah Diddy in April 1966 they could have broken through into the big time nationally if the east coast hadn’t been sewn up by the Remains version of theRead More →

Track list Tarotplane Kandy Korn 25th Century Quaker Mirror Man Musicians Don Van Vliet – vocals, harmonica, oboe Alex St. Clair – guitar Jeff Cotton – guitar Mark Marcellino – keyboards John French – drums Jerry Handley – bass Myths and legends The original cover proudly proclaimed “recorded one night in 1965” thus making it seem, in 1971 when it was eventually released, like an unearthed time capsule providing proof that the Magic Band were at least a couple of years ahead of the competition and made the very first psychedelic sounds to be recorded. Fantastic and ground-breaking though it certainly is, it was recorded in 1967. Album overview from Graham Johnston Four long,Read More →

Recording details Date – April 1967 Studio – Sunset Sound, Hollywood; RCA Studios, Hollywood Producer – Richard Perry, Bob Krasnow Engineer – Hank Cicalo, Gary Marker Musicians Don Van Vliet – vocals, harmonica, bass marimba Ry Cooder – guitar, bass Alex St Clair Snouffer – guitar, backing vocals Jerry Handley – bass John French – drums, backing vocals Doug Moon – guitar (Sure Nuff only) Milt Holland – percussion Russ Titelman – guitar Taj Mahal – percussion Sam Hoffman – theremin unknown horn players, harpsichord player and harpist. See Leach’s Listings for a thorough guide to who did what on Safe As Milk, compiled for theRead More →