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When I put together the Radar Station tribute to Elliot Ingber I approached his brother, Ira, and asked him if he’d like to contribute something. Ira said he’d prefer to talk to me about Elliot. So over the course of three facetime sessions we spoke about Elliot’s career and a whole bunch of other related stuff. It’s taken me a while to collate it all as there was a hell of a lot to sort through, but, finally, here is a transcript of our chat about Elliot. I also took the opportunity to ask Ira about his involvement with the Bluejeans and Moonbeams album. IRead More →

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In March 2025 I spoke at length to Ira Ingber about his brother Elliot when putting together a tribute following Elliot’s death and I took the opportunity to ask Ira about his involvement with the Bluejeans and Moonbeams album. Not much is written about this 1974 Beefheart-lite album because it’s not liked by many hardcore fans. So, I thought it would be of interest to find out a bit more about how it came together from someone who was involved with the recording. Our chat inevitably rambled over other Beefheart topics and so I have also included some of  these reminiscences and comments from IraRead More →

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Here at the Radar Station we were saddened to learn of the death of Elliot Ingber on 21st January, he was 83. This is Don’s simple but expressive sketch of ‘Mean E’ taken from the cover of The Spotlight Kid album which also included this poetic sketch, also by Don : No B.O. for this boy it’s like a winged eel fingerling crawling thru lime jello it’s like chrome black eyebrow rolled out real long a paper brow magnifying glass fried brown, edge scorched, yoked like a squeak from a speaker behind forehead of the time, licorice schtick open tube of valuable JuJuBees. Our shortRead More →

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John French has created a 20 minute ‘Bucket List’ video update on various projects and preoccupations that are keeping him busy. He talks about various Trout Mask Replica related issues, drum videos, chasing royalties from his book and some Magic Band live albums that are in the pipeline. It’s well worth a look :Read More →

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Moris Tepper is releasing his seventh (?) album on 23 February 2024. This is his first for 14 years ! It’s called Building A Nest and is on his Candlebone label – www.candlebone.com It will be released initially on streaming platforms – Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music etc. but a physical CD will be available on 5 April. Here’s the first single, She Had To Run, from the album :Read More →

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If you haven’t already bought a copy of Jeff’s recent excellent album The Fantasy of Reality then here’s your chance to pick up a copy of the double vinyl album at a special reduced price … plus it comes with a signed fine art print of Jeff. Check it out on the Burning Shed website – https://burningshed.com/jeff-cotton_the-fantasy-of-reality_double-vinyl?filter_name=jeff%20cotton&filter_sub_category=trueRead More →

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The Mosae Zappa – Overnight Sensation – event celebrating the music and life of Frank Zappa is taking place over the next weekend – Friday 24th – Sunday 26th November – at various venues across Landgraaf-Heerlen in the Netherlands. Special guest for Saturday 25th November is the ever busy Gary Lucas who will be performing at De Oefenbunker. Gary promises a set full of Beefheart music as well as showing scans of his art. Visit the Mosae Zappa website  Read More →

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Released August 2022 on Madfish SMACD1214 (Double vinyl released November 2022) Radar Station Review by Steve Froy This is one review I thought I would never be writing but here we are. Jeff Cotton has released his first solo album after a 50 year break from the music business. Jeff had already been a professional musician for several years before joining Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band in late 1967. He would go on to achieve legendary status amongst fans for his guitar work on Mirror Man, Strictly Personal and Trout Mask Replica. On leaving the Beefheart band he launched another band that would becomeRead More →

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As  a taster for his new album, The Fantasy of Reality, to be released on 12 August by Madfish, Jeff has produced this video for his ‘single’ from the album. The track ‘Does It Work For You’ is the opener to the album and features Jeff’s trademark slide guitar work. It’s a strong comeback by this talented musician. Preorder the album – https://jeffcotton.lnk.to/fantasyofreality Here’s a message from Jeff: Greetings and Aloha to all my music loving friends! The single, Does it Work for You, the first tune on my new album, “The Fantasy of Reality,” exemplifies the overall sentiment of this new work. I sincerelyRead More →

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To say this is long awaited would be an understatement … Magic Band and Mu alumni Jeff Cotton, aka Antennae Jimmy Semens, announces his debut solo album The Fantasy of Reality – available on CD and digital on 12 August via Madfish. Pre-order/Save: https://JeffCotton.lnk.to/FantasyOfReality Trout Mask Replica cover designer Cal Schenkel returns to contribute to the internal artwork to continue the Captain Beefheart canon into the 2020s. Now blending together musical strands such as jazz, delta blues, Hawaiian and the avant-garde to create a melting pot of ideas, Jeff Cotton will astonish fans with his comeback.  Read More →

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Are you looking for some live Beefheart music? Well, there’s some coming up in New York … THE WORLD OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART featuring GARY LUCAS and NONA HENDRYX — with Fast ’N Bulbous and Gods and Monsters vets Jesse Krakow on bass, Richard Dworkin drums, and Jordan Shapiro keyboards — will perform for the first time in several years as part of Bang On a Can’s Long Play Festival in Brooklyn the last weekend in April. The group will perform at Roulette, the venerable avant-garde music club at 509 Atlantic Avenue at 8:30pm on Friday April 29th More about the festival and tickets here: https://bangonacan.org/longplay/Read More →

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Updated 17 August 2021 Gary continues to surprise ! You never quite know what he’s going to do next … but you always know that it’s going to be interesting. His latest adventure – entitled Le Beast Concrete – sees him join forces with David Sisko, an NYC based producer, mixer and remixer to produce some startling and intense soundscapes. Gary’s incendiary guitar forms the centre around which swirl the electronics, beats and rhythms conjured up by David. In the press release it’s described as “combining the elements of the past, present and the near future, it can be considered a “genre-fluid” mix blues, rock,Read More →

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If you don’t already have a copy of John French’s (almost) definitive book, Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic, then here’s your chance as The Last Music Company are reprinting it. An essential read for any fan of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band. It will be available from 23 April 2021 in Europe and from 2 September in the US in hardback and digital formats. If you having any doubts about getting a copy then read my review of it here : Review of Through The Eyes Of Magic Alongside the book they are also releasing a limited edition vinyl version of John’s excellentRead More →

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Wow, how about this cover version of Steal Softly Thru Snow! The Android Trio, Andy Niven, Eric Klerks and Max Kutner, are in fact from the last incarnation of the reunion Magic Band. It’s great to see that they learnt their lessons well from John Drumbo French and that they are keeping the Beefheart flame burning. Guest vocalist, Peter Niven’s vocals are throat-shredding and are closer to grindcore than Beefheart but, amazingly, it works. Check out the band on Bandcamp – https://androidtrio.bandcamp.com/Read More →

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In 2020 Greg Bendian, who runs the ProgCast channel on YouTube interviewed Bill Harkleroad, aka Zoot Horn Rollo. They discuss details of his work on Trout Mask Replica, and Lick My Decals Off, Baby, as well as their collaboration on Bill’s excellent solo album, We Saw A Bozo Under the Sea. Greg played drums and vibes on Bill’s album.Read More →

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Released January 29th 2021 through NYC’s Knitting Factory Records, Gary Lucas’s 40 year career is celebrated with this 36 track 2CD set. The first CD concentrates on songs recorded with Gary Lucas’s art-rock psychedelic supergroup Gods and Monsters. The second CD is devoted to Solo, Rarities and Collaborations. Drawing on a wealth of material – including rare and previously unreleased tracks — the deluxe double disc package offers ample evidence of this maverick artist’s trailblazing and unique career — going back to his earliest appearances on record and stage with Captain Beefheart in the early 80’s, which put Gary on the musical map … to hisRead More →

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Don would have been 80 years old today. To celebrate that milestone Gary Lucas has written a piece for the Please Kill Me website about the dysfunctional relationship between Don and Frank Zappa. Gary offers his take on the rivalry between to the two old friends and also looks at the recording of the last Beefheart album Ice Cream For Crow. Read the article – Don Van Vliet and Frank Zappa: Two Peas In A Misshapen Pod   Another album that gets mentioned in the article is Doc At The Radar Station which last year reached its 40th anniversary. Gary devoted three of his FacebookRead More →

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Originally published in the Wall Street Journal December 19, 2010 Noted avant guitarist and composer Gary Lucas was a colleague and friend to Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, who died Friday. Calling him “the most compelling conceptualist I’d ever heard,” Lucas once told the Journal that Van Vliet had “taken the structure of the jazz and blues and rebuilt it like no one else had.” We asked him to record his thoughts about his mentor and friend. Don Van Vliet was an American maverick visionary genius who single-handedly changed the face of music we know it over a dozen uncompromising albums. HeRead More →