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In: Elliot Ingber, Magic Band members
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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 →

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In: 1980.11.02 Schouwburg Sittard, Your stories and tributes
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I first got to know about Captain Beefheart through the music of Frank Zappa. I didn’t know what to do with this strange music. The story of the Simpsons guy, Matt Groening, is very accurate. I had exactly the same experience: I got Trout Mask Replica on tape and it all sounded very messy, as if there were no different songs on the album. My recording was of a German Straight pressing which had no song seperation – confusing. Then, in November 1980 the Captain was coming to the Netherlands. At the same time The Cure were touring, so I was hesitating. A good friendRead More →

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In: Evergreen Galleries 1976
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One of the earliest and little known of Don’s exhibitions. This time it’s shared with Cal Schenkel, Frank Zappa’s ‘art engineer’, who also worked for other artists represented by Herb Cohen, including Tom Waits, Tim Buckley and Captain Beefheart. Perhaps one of Cal’s best-known album covers is Trout Mask Replica. Don exhibited 22 drawings and 6 paintings. The venue was an art gallery at the school which Matt Groening was attending at the time: Evergreen Galleries at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Matt Groening’s interest in Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band is well known. A review of the exhibition was written by oneRead More →