Vic was the band’s drummer during 1965 taking over from Paul Blakely playing with them locally as well as in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and Hawaii. He was probably more interested in the girls he could pull than the music he played. He can be heard on the demo of Call On Me released on the Grow Fins compilation. Vic says he wrote the music for that song but didn’t get the credit when it was released on Safe As Milk (sounds familiar!) only hearing the song when his mother sent him a copy of the album when he was in Vietnam. John FrenchRead More →

Here’s a snapshot of another old Captain Beefheart photograph from Miss Pamela’s collection. The original was taken by Pamela des Barres herself in 1965. Pamela was unsure of the name of the other band member pictured here but the esteemed authorities at The Fire Party write that this is almost certainly drummer Vic Mortensen who played with The Magic Band in that year. Vic may also have been the (uncredited) writer of Call On Me. Pamela is offered prints of this photograph from a limited edition she produced for sale at eBay.Read More →