Henry Kaiser has put together this video tribute for Elliot featuring some solo guitar inspired by Elliot’s time in the Magic Band and a group version of Alice in Blunderland originally performed in 1995. The video also includes contributions from Scott Colby, Max Kutner plus Jimmy and Morgan Agren.Read More →
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 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 short tributeRead More →
Back in October of 1971, I went to see Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band at the Gymnasium at Tuft’s University in Medford, Mass. This gig was shortly prior to the early 1972 release of their THE SPOTLIGHT KID album. I was 19 years old and I had seen earlier incarnations The Magic Band of going back to 1967. I had all the Beefheart albums in my record collection, and I knew all the songs. Something was different at this show; there were new songs and there were unprecedented improvised blues-rock guitar solos on many of the tunes – from a guy with long hairRead More →
“The Winged Eel slithers on the heels of today’s children” —Don Van Vliet, Beatle Bones ’N’ Smokin’ Stones Elliot Ingber (or Winged Eel Fingerling as he was a known during his time with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band) has the distinction of being one of the only of the celebrated guitarists who passed through the ranks of The Magic Band to enjoy total freedom—free reign, as it were– to improvise long psychedelic guitar solos by Don Van Vliet — a band leader notorious for insisting that his musicians pretty much stick to the notes and forms laid down in their marathon rehearsals. Elliot is probablyRead More →
My perspective will be different than most who knew Elliot as was in the band for just a few weeks in 1975, the Knebworth band, Soundstage Show public television and the Roxy, Hollywood. I also did some recorded jams with Beefheart, Jimmy Carl Black, Elliot and myself. He was a serious guy. He worked hard on his guitar parts to be exact. I sometimes switched back and forth between guitar parts from the albums. Elliot never complained about having to then switch his guitar parts. One night I stayed at Elliot’s home. He had a lot of dental floss strands draped over a door knob,Read More →
Sad news today: Elliot Ingber just passed away. I first met Elliot a few days after Ry Cooder quit the band in June of 1967 after the Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair incident. Don Van Vliet and I went to the famous “Log Cabin” on Laurel Canyon Blvd. There was a party going on, but we went into a room there that I think was Miss Christine’s room. It was filled with amps and drums, and a guy who looked a great deal like King Neptune was playing lead. Don and Elliot were already acquainted, apparently. The band was “Fraternity of Man.” Elliot asked Don toRead More →
Elliot the wonderful hipster!!…. He became a respite from “ THE HOUSE” for me and because it was just us working on the tunes we would go off into blues land. Those were the best moments for me because he was in his element. One time we were rooming together in Manhattan and we had the window open, he asked me “what key is New York in?” I told him definitely F# … with a long pause I added “minor” … he was thrilled! I had so many funny times with him. We hadn’t connected for many years and a few years back we hadRead More →
I’ve had the thrill of hanging out with various affable weirdo geniuses from the Magic Band over the decades, but the strangest meet-up was a dozen years ago with Elliot Ingber. Guitarist pal Henry Kaiser was visiting L.A., and he invited me to tag along for a super-secret clandestine rendezvous with Winged Eel Fingerling himself. (Henry had first seen Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band perform in 1971, and Elliot’s searing guitar solos were so galvanizing that the next day Henry bought his first guitar and changed his life. You can hear Henry’s band Monster Island play “Alice in Blunderland” on a 1976 7-incher.) AccordingRead More →
Track list Side 1 I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or the Big Dig) My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains Click Clack Side 2 Low Yo Yo Stuff Too Much Time Clear Spot Lick My Decals Off, Baby Big Eyed Beans from Venus Rhino blurb : Captain Beefheart’s “Now Playing” vinyl LP includes 10 seminal tracks from across the artists’ catalog. Introducing Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band ‘Now Playing’- a diverse mix of blues, soul, and experimental rock, featuring songs like “I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby” and “Her Eyes Are aRead More →
A great cache of previously unseen photographs of the band’s 1973 concert at the legendary Rainbow Theatre in London have finally seen the light of day. The photographer, Jan Podsiadly, had considered the shots were not good enough until he took another look just recently. Here’s what he has to say : It has been about six years since I dug out a set of negatives of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band performing at The Rainbow, in 1973. The contact sheet suggested a lot of blur and overexposure from the spotlights so I just copied one image and left the rest. Just now [FebruaryRead More →
Great news ! Another Beefheart album gets the Record Store Day treatment by Rhino/Warner. For release on 20 April 2024 will be The Spotlight Kid (Deluxe Edition), which means a second disc of outtakes from those sessions is included. There will be 7000 copies on 140g ‘milky clear’ vinyl. The track list of the bonus disc is as follows : C1. THE WITCH DOCTOR LIFE (instrumental ) [5:27] C2. SEMI-MULTICOLORED CAUCASIAN (instrumental)* [4:37] C3. YOUR LOVE BROUGHT ME TO LIFE (instrumental) [3:11] C4. TWO RIPS IN A HAYSTACK/KISS ME MY LOVE [2:38] C5. HARRY IRENE [3:33] C6. BEST BATCH YET (TRACK) [VERSION 1] [2:18] C7.Read More →
Cinematic. From his first words he sets it out, frame by frame. The situation whereby us folk gather in a circle stunned by the alien assault and preparing for the next wave of human annihilation. Possibly the circle of “earth people” is world leaders in a United Nations type emergency meeting, but it doesn’t really matter. The greatest existential challenge portrayed in fascinating drama- all in just a few words. Lyrically perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Over the years as I struggled to decipher the lyrics to some of his songs and grasp their meaning, I would have many moments of enlightenment and laugh aloud-did he identifyRead More →
Tracklist Disc One Electricity Take Me To Your House / You’re Gonna Need Somebody I’m Gonna Boogalise You Baby Mirror Man Upon The My-O-My Full Moon Crazy Little Thing Improu Peaches Take Me To Your House / You’re Gonna Need Somebody This Is The Day Upon The My-O-My Disc Two Peaches Upon The My-O-My Hot Head Feel Like An Ashtray Heart Intro In French Nowadays A Woman Gotta Hit A Man Beast Batch Yet Dirty Blue Gene Safe As Milk Flavour Bud Living Bat Chain Puller Big Eyed Beans From Venus The above track list is as printed on the cover of this release, sadlyRead More →
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. Vic told the Radar Station : I went on active duty on 28 December, 1965. When I was in ‘Nam, I was a Commissioned Officer, a Second Lieutenant, a Platoon Leader and Executive Officer of the 297 th. Transportation Company in Nha Trang in 1966. 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 wasRead More →
Not a lot is known about the di Martino brothers – Andy and Dave (aka Augie or Auggie). (Note: not to be confused with the music journalist Dave di Martino who has written a few pieces about Don and the Magic Band) They seem to have been hustlers in LA, trying to make money where they could but hung around the fringes of the music scene there. Andy was a guitarist and the more ‘musical’ of the two whereas Auggie wasn’t a musician and was probably the business ‘brains’ of the operation. I have seen one reference to Andy as ‘a guitar teacher from SanRead More →
This show at Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC Jouy-en-Josas), Paris, was filmed for French TV. Good quality footage but unfortunate that it’s the 1974 touring band. Setlist – Mirror Man – Upon The My-O-My – Full Moon, Hot Sun – Crazy Little Thing – Sweet Georgia Brown – Peaches – Take Me To Your House/Who’ll Be The Next? (Chester Burnett) – You’re Gonna Need Somebody On Yer Bond (Traditional)Read More →
In late October/early November 1969, a few days after playing at the Amougies Festival in Belgium, Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) and Frank Zappa plus Magic Band member Mark Boston (aka Rockette Morton) made an appearance at the famous London club The Speakeasy, joining the band Juicy Lucy on stage. They were also joined by Cream drummer Ginger Baker and played a set that included Willie The Pimp. Juicy Lucy later covered Willie The Pimp on their second album Lie Back and Enjoy It, released in 1970 (the back cover of that album is featured at the bottom of this post). This live performanceRead More →
On Friday November 13th 1970 Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band were scheduled to play a live show at the Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, California. The supporting act for the show was to be the avant garde musical theatre troupe The Cockettes, who usually performed in drag. The Cockettes had planned to premiere their brand new show Pearls Over Shanghai. However, the show was cancelled completely after Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) had gone to see the troupe beforehand and was not impressed with what he saw, as recounted in this link: https://www.beatbooks.com/pages/books/38991/pearls-over-shanghai (sadly the original info on this link has disappeared) Pearls OverRead More →
Tracklist Side One 1. Yellow Brick Road 2. Abba Zabba 3. Sure ‘Nuff ‘n’ Yes I Do 4. Electricity 5. Beatle Bones ‘n’ Smokin’ Stones 6. Safe As Milk 7. Kandy Korn Side Two 1. Trust Us 2. Steal Softly Thru Snow 3. Click Clack 4. Golden Birdies 5. I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby Publicity Blurb Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band are showcased over 12 tracks recorded live for radio and TV. The material is sourced from two 1968 sessions for John Peel plus a 1972 appearance on Beat Club and features tracks from four different Beefheart LPs. Beat Club tracks are excellent soundRead More →
An interesting experiment has turned up on Youtube. Using AI software Ant 2 Man Bee has deconstructed the Trout Mask album. He’s taken each of the songs and isolated each individual track, breaking it down so you can hear Mark’s bass, John’s drums, Bill’s guitar, Jeff’s guitar and Don’s vocals separately. As Ant 2 Man bee explains: I was shocked at how good the neural net was after I tested using Sugar ‘n Spikes. While it isn’t perfect, it is still amazing how quickly the technology evolved when just a few years ago you couldn’t isolate instrumentations from whole songs without having a very goodRead More →