Frank & DonA stubborn-stubborn octopus with whips for hands, earthquakes in his brain and a cymbal-hat designed by the Mad Hatter himself:
Captain Beefheart.
This is a guy who actually imprisoned his band mates in a house for eight months, barely fed them, sometimes beat them up and made them rehearse one album day-in day-out until they dreamt it and then recorded that album in less than five hours, live, under the astonished and mild supervision of Frank Zappa. That album was called Trout Mask Replica, it made musical history and still stands firm on the 58th position in Rolling Stone Magazine's top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Number 1 in that top are The Beatles, the band the Captain sometimes lampooned.
Now, that's gotta count for something, more so considering that Don Van Vliet had no musical training whatsoever. He described the sounds he was looking for to the band members using complicated metaphors with frogs dipped in mud and crashing airplanes instead of just handing them the sheet music. He couldn't write one to save his life.
I gave Trout Mask Replica a try something like seven or eight years ago and hated it. Fucking dilettantes, I thought, not only these guys can't play for shit, but, look, the singer sounds like Tom Waits! Should have been more careful with the chronology there, for in fact Tom Waits sounds like Captain Beefheart and not the other way around. Tom Waits started sounding like Tom Waits after listening to Trout Mask Replica, and "Moonlight on Vermont" in particular.
Don Van Vliet had influenced tons and truckloads of artists, from PJ Harvey to Ween and from Pere Ubu to The Residents. I seem to remember Tom Barman using the lyric "what this world needs is a two dollar room" - from Beefeart's "The Buggy Boogie Woogie" - in a dEUS song somewhere, maybe a live version somewhere, I don't know. Anyway, the octopus's tentacles stretch very far, so its garden must be just as big.
Speaking of big, let's talk huge. I have summoned all my courage and insanity and decided to try and face Zappa's discography as well. Joggled some numbers and came to the conclusion that I should first quit my job, rent a cave or a desert, cut any connections with my family and friends and buy a monstruous amount of supplies that would last me at least three lifetimes. Piece of cake, only 89 albums.
We all know about the friendship and competition between Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart. Actually, no, we all don't know that, I just said it so I'd sound expertish. Which I am not. I'm more -ish than expert, but I do fake the expert part very well. I am an expert in that.
Frank helped Don a number of times. Bailed him out of jail, produced his album, took him on his Bongo Fury Tour so that Don would earn some honest, legal money and so on and so forth. But it's really hard to fit two elephants in the same matchbox. The friendship went sour and although they did bury the hatchet, they did it right before Frank went after the hatchet himself. Unfortunately. Don followed him 17 years later, this past December.
Oh yeah, but before that he quit music and became a famous painter instead. And he started as a sculptor at the age of 4. Do you follow?
(You know, I played with my mashed potatoes when I was a kid as well, I just didn't know there was a name for it: sculpture.)
I'm not even gonna attempt to describe Captain Beefheart's music. It's got a lot of blues, and it's got rock, and it's got jazz and beyond that you're on your own. I'm gonna try to restrain myself here and not post ten songs at once. I'll put...say three, for now. It's really hard to choose. But there will be more, I'm sure.
Captain Beefheart.
This is a guy who actually imprisoned his band mates in a house for eight months, barely fed them, sometimes beat them up and made them rehearse one album day-in day-out until they dreamt it and then recorded that album in less than five hours, live, under the astonished and mild supervision of Frank Zappa. That album was called Trout Mask Replica, it made musical history and still stands firm on the 58th position in Rolling Stone Magazine's top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Number 1 in that top are The Beatles, the band the Captain sometimes lampooned.
Now, that's gotta count for something, more so considering that Don Van Vliet had no musical training whatsoever. He described the sounds he was looking for to the band members using complicated metaphors with frogs dipped in mud and crashing airplanes instead of just handing them the sheet music. He couldn't write one to save his life.
I gave Trout Mask Replica a try something like seven or eight years ago and hated it. Fucking dilettantes, I thought, not only these guys can't play for shit, but, look, the singer sounds like Tom Waits! Should have been more careful with the chronology there, for in fact Tom Waits sounds like Captain Beefheart and not the other way around. Tom Waits started sounding like Tom Waits after listening to Trout Mask Replica, and "Moonlight on Vermont" in particular.
Don Van Vliet had influenced tons and truckloads of artists, from PJ Harvey to Ween and from Pere Ubu to The Residents. I seem to remember Tom Barman using the lyric "what this world needs is a two dollar room" - from Beefeart's "The Buggy Boogie Woogie" - in a dEUS song somewhere, maybe a live version somewhere, I don't know. Anyway, the octopus's tentacles stretch very far, so its garden must be just as big.
Speaking of big, let's talk huge. I have summoned all my courage and insanity and decided to try and face Zappa's discography as well. Joggled some numbers and came to the conclusion that I should first quit my job, rent a cave or a desert, cut any connections with my family and friends and buy a monstruous amount of supplies that would last me at least three lifetimes. Piece of cake, only 89 albums.
We all know about the friendship and competition between Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart. Actually, no, we all don't know that, I just said it so I'd sound expertish. Which I am not. I'm more -ish than expert, but I do fake the expert part very well. I am an expert in that.
Frank helped Don a number of times. Bailed him out of jail, produced his album, took him on his Bongo Fury Tour so that Don would earn some honest, legal money and so on and so forth. But it's really hard to fit two elephants in the same matchbox. The friendship went sour and although they did bury the hatchet, they did it right before Frank went after the hatchet himself. Unfortunately. Don followed him 17 years later, this past December.
Oh yeah, but before that he quit music and became a famous painter instead. And he started as a sculptor at the age of 4. Do you follow?
(You know, I played with my mashed potatoes when I was a kid as well, I just didn't know there was a name for it: sculpture.)
I'm not even gonna attempt to describe Captain Beefheart's music. It's got a lot of blues, and it's got rock, and it's got jazz and beyond that you're on your own. I'm gonna try to restrain myself here and not post ten songs at once. I'll put...say three, for now. It's really hard to choose. But there will be more, I'm sure.
Captain Beefheart - When I See Mommy I Feel like a Mummy
Captain Beefheart - Pena
Captain Beefheart - Sun Zoom Spark
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