Big Eyed Beefheart Blog from Bad Thadd

Captain Beefheart. Where do I begin? The music of Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart pretty much grabbed me by the collar and shook me senseless until I was brought to a higher understanding of music and artistry. I would consider Captain Beefheart himself to be a musical genius. As a child he was a sculptor and later in life became a successful painter. He blurred the lines between music and art. To be frank, he had no clue about how music was supposed to be written. He flat out did it his own way and didn't give a shit.

Now, The Magic Band. This was the ever changing group of musicians that surrounded The Captain. Their job was to figure out what he wanted the music to sound like. Not an easy task. But they made it into Magic. Beefheart was a maniacal band leader and a huge control freak. During the making of the album Trout Mask Replica, the band members weren't allowed to leave the house, except one of them was allowed to pick up groceries once a week. But still, no matter how dysfunctional the group was, when they performed they played with so much conviction. No matter what incarnation of the band it is, you can see and hear how much they believe in the music.

Here are my top 5 most important Captain Beefheart videos.


1. "Electricity"/"Sure 'Nuff Yes I Do"

This is The Captain and The Magic Band perfroming at Cannes Beach in 1968. They perform two songs from the album Safe As Milk, which had recently been released. This was toward the end of the blues period for them, before they got really psychedelic and before they got really weird.





2. "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby"

This is them in 1972 on German television. When I first watched this, I thought, "Three guitars. Isn't that a bit much?" Then I realized just how perfect it is. Even compared to the sweet version on Spotlight Kid, this live version is even bette. I was reading the autobiography of guitar player Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad, in red on the right) he said when they recorded this, the people in the television studio made them play at a super quiet level. For me that would be annoying, but that didn't stop The Magic Band from killing it!





3. "Upon the My Oh My"

1974. The Old Grey Whistle Test. Enter The Tragic Band. After years of putting up with Beefheart's crap, The Magic Band left after recording the album Unconditionally Guaranteed. Beefheart was obviously changing his musical direction, attempting to make more accessible recordings. The new direction did not set well with The Magic Band and also alienated many fans. He hired a completely new group of musicians to be The Magic Band. Since many people harshly criticize this period of Beefheart's career, they refer to the band as The Tragic Band. However, I still enjoy the work Beefheart did with The Tragic Band, especially the album Bluejeans and Moonbeams. Even the worst Beefheart album is better than most albums.





4. "Big Eyed Beans from Venus"
This French TV concert from 1980 is amazing. You can see the Captain still kickin' it even towards the end of his performing career. The Magic Band from this performance consists of many guys that worked on the last 3 Beefheart albums. On "Big Eyed Beans from Venus", the long lunar note is not played by Mr. Zoot Horn Rollo, who recorded it on the fabulous album Clear Spot but by Mr. Midnight Hat-size Snyder and Mr. Jeff Morris Tepper. And the drums in this song are just as awesome as the guitars.





5. "Ice Cream for Crow"
When my friend first showed me this video, I thought "WTF!" Later, he played it for me a few more times. Then I love it. I still don't understand why I love this, because there's nothing I've ever heard that sounds like this. It's just Beefheart, and I guess that's why. "Ice Cream by day. Sun Cream by Night"





If you can handle it here's some more Beefheart goodies. Another insane performance by Zoot Horn Rollo and the rest of The Magic Band in this perfromance of "Click Clack" in Paris 1973.

Also, here's a documentary about the Captain that the BBC did in 1997. Most of the parts are up on youtube.