Captain Beefheart, R.I.P.

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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited December 2010
    I'm telling you, just go find the debut album "Safe as Milk". Go home. Make believe it's 1965 and Donovan and maybe Jefferson Airplane are pushing the envelope. The Count Five is trying their best with "Psychotic Reaction", but it's a one-hit wonder. Now put on "Electricity" off Safe as Milk, and remember, it's 1965. Anybody who sits through the whole thing and doesn't go running scared out of the room, and LIKES it, welcome to the club.
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,878
    edited December 2010
    You know ... been posting from work lately: one tech manual on the desk, one on my lap, and CP on the monitor. For whatever reason, stuff sticks in my memory stack better that way.

    BUT: Mr. G, you're seriously distracting me from my duly appointed rounds ! :eek:

    Been trying to figure out what would be the best way to listen to "Electricty".
    Even though the sound might be as good, playing it off a SACD just wouldn't be .........right.
    Playing it from vinyl off a high end turntable (VPI ?) would be technically superior, but just wouldn't be .... right.

    No, .... almost need some good vinyl turning on an old Garrard. Now we're talking.


    This Youtube vid doesn't do "Electricity" justice, either, but ..... well ...


    <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S8eRDkiwGMM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S8eRDkiwGMM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&quot; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>



    Singin through you to me
    Thunderbolts caught easily
    Shouts the truth peacefully
    Electricity

    High voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need to hide their shadow deed
    Go into bright find the light and know that friends don't mind just how you grow

    Midnight cowboy stained in black reads dark roads without a map
    To free-seeking electricity (repeat) (Repeat both lines)

    Lighthouse beacon straight ahead straight ahead across black seas to bring
    Seeking electricity

    High voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need to hide their shadow-deed hide their shadow-deed (repeat)
    Seek electricity...........
    Sal Palooza
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,878
    edited December 2010
    Enjoying reading the Youtube comments ; one poster mentioned this little tidbit:

    Electricity - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band [Glendale, California] - 1967 - "AMG Pick. ...Van Vliet would later claim the label dropped them after hearing the song 'Electricity' and declaring it 'too negative.' " - Safe As Milk (Buddha Records)-


    That's .... :smile:


    In the late 60's, our local FM radio station (KSHE) was pretty darned good and was the only hope for hearing any sort of avante garde/underground/? music.
    Sal Palooza
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited December 2010
    mrbigbluelight wrote: »
    You know ... been posting from work lately: one tech manual on the desk, one on my lap, and CP on the monitor. For whatever reason, stuff sticks in my memory stack better that way.

    BUT: Mr. G, you're seriously distracting me from my duly appointed rounds ! :eek:

    Been trying to figure out what would be the best way to listen to "Electricty".
    Even though the sound might be as good, playing it off a SACD just wouldn't be .........right.
    Playing it from vinyl off a high end turntable (VPI ?) would be technically superior, but just wouldn't be .... right.

    No, .... almost need some good vinyl turning on an old Garrard. Now we're talking.


    This Youtube vid doesn't do "Electricity" justice, either, but ..... well ...


    <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S8eRDkiwGMM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S8eRDkiwGMM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&quot; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>



    Singin through you to me
    Thunderbolts caught easily
    Shouts the truth peacefully
    Electricity

    High voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need to hide their shadow deed
    Go into bright find the light and know that friends don't mind just how you grow

    Midnight cowboy stained in black reads dark roads without a map
    To free-seeking electricity (repeat) (Repeat both lines)

    Lighthouse beacon straight ahead straight ahead across black seas to bring
    Seeking electricity

    High voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need to hide their shadow-deed hide their shadow-deed (repeat)
    Seek electricity...........

    Thanks. I couldn't agree more..vinyl on a old Garrard....the memories. It's still a great tune!

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

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  • bikerboy
    bikerboy Posts: 1,228
    edited December 2010
    I got to see the band play in the 80s. Sad to hear he is gone. I have 4 lps: Safe as Milk, Trout Mask Replica, Ice Cream for Crow, and Shiny Beast. I have 7 cds also, so I guess I'm a fan. I annoyed many friends by playing Captain Beefheart at loud volumes. I find the off beat rhythms very complex. Thats what most people dislike about their sound I guess. If you want a good cd of CB get The Spotlight Kid. Its a great set of CB and the sq is very good.

    The camel wore a nighty.
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited December 2010
    Ron Temple wrote: »
    BTW there was a legendary gross out contest onstage between Beefheart and Zappa in LA when they shared a bill. I'm not sure if it was urban legend or not, but it was repeated as gospel. The climax, supposedly, was that one of them shat onstage...you don't want to know what the other did to top it. Can't remember which was which and now, in retrospect, highly doubt it (especially knowing more about Zappa in later years), but it was an entertaining story.

    This is just so ridiculous. Both of those individuals had far too much class to perpetuate a fabrication like this, if it had been you that the fabrication was aimed towards.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited December 2010
    It's sad but his music sucked.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,986
    edited December 2010
    I was just talking about this on Facebook with Adam Sohmer. I had never heard of this man, or his music. With the recent polethera of posts across the net regarding his death (for which I sympathize), I've done my due dilligence listening and reading.

    In my (albiet short compared to some) audio journey, I've NEVER heard him on the radio. I've never heard his music mentioned in a review. I've never seen an announcement of 'remasters' or 'now on SACD', or 'limited edition vinyl'. I've never had anyone ask me if I wanted to listen to some Captain Beefheart. I've never had anyone ask me if I had some THEY could listen to.

    I find that facinating, again, with all the 'online love' spewing forth after his departure (RIP) from 'audiophiles' (not pointing fingers, referring mostly to all the posts on Facebook / Blogs etc).

    He's not a genius. He's not creative. He's not cutting edge. He's not before his time. His music is almost completely unlistenable. He's a weirdo, and proof you can put just about anything down in a studio, and SOMEONE will buy it. He doesn't get a pass just because he did some work with Zappa.

    There, I said it. Someone had to.
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • jgido759
    jgido759 Posts: 572
    edited December 2010
    RuSsMaN wrote: »
    He's not a genius. He's not creative. He's not cutting edge. He's not before his time. His music is almost completely unlistenable. He's a weirdo, and proof you can put just about anything down in a studio, and SOMEONE will buy it.

    You just described every Rap recording I've ever heard! :biggrin:
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  • decal
    decal Posts: 3,205
    edited December 2010
    Isn't it great to live in a place where you can express your thoughts and not get executed for doing so?
    If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
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  • Rev. Hayes
    Rev. Hayes Posts: 475
    edited December 2010
    This is the first I've heard of his death.
    Another pioneer gone.

    This makes it easy to pick some tunes to listen to waiting for the eclipse tonight.




    "Mister Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long lunar note and let it float."
    Sounds good to me...
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited December 2010
    RuSsMaN wrote: »

    He's not a genius. He's not creative. He's not cutting edge. He's not before his time. His music is almost completely unlistenable. He's a weirdo, and proof you can put just about anything down in a studio, and SOMEONE will buy it. He doesn't get a pass just because he did some work with Zappa.

    He was all of those things and more, and the last thing he should be recognized for, or "get a pass for" is any of his work with Zappa. I don't think they worked well together at all from a musical standpoint. But from the standpoint of throwing together two of the wildest boys ever, and thinking about them roaming around the high desert near Lancaster before either got famous (or notorious) is the greatest. Read the books, and don't listen to the fairy tales like the banana printed a couple of posts ago. The Beef used to drive around out there with a werewolf sculpture mounted to the hub of his steering wheel. He probably sculpted it himself. You ever think of doing something cool like that? 45 years ago?


    A pass to what? Join the ranks of Rush? Pearl Jam? The Steve Miller Band?
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  • tentoze
    tentoze Posts: 133
    edited December 2010
    Never was a fan of his music; always loved his attitude.
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,878
    edited December 2010
    The only category that Captain Beefheart can be placed in is the category of either you like him, or you .... well ... hate him, IMO.

    I'd have to disagree with you, Russman, that he wasn't a genius, or creative, or cutting edge. He was all that, and more.
    WYSIWYG: What you saw is what you got. He put it out there, and if you liked it, that was cool. If you didn't, that was cool.

    To a much lesser degree, it's kind of the thing with Jim Morrison, or Jimi Hendrix, or Neil Young: here it is, like it or not, here it is. (and I hate trying to draw ANY comparisons with any other musicians/artists, because it's like mixing apples and ..... interstellar cosmic dust).

    Rush and the Steve Miller Band were mentioned; I happen to like them. Nice tunes, not going to rip the radio out of the dash if they come on during the drive to work.
    But compare those 2 groups with Captain Beefheart ..... well, .... it's not just the music (which it is), it's not just the lyrics (which it is), it's not just the poetry (which it is), it's not just the stage "presence" (which it is), it's the ... non-secured, non-safe, non-comfortable, non-I-know-where-this-tune-is-going, non-"I-could-do-that" whole schlemiel of Captain Beefheart and the 60's.

    George mentioned the Captain and Zappa roaming around the high desert near Lancaster. I had a mental picture of the Captain riding around in the desert and picking up a hitchhicker named Manson.
    And he would't have done it to get on "TMZ" or "Extra" to gain "market share".

    Hearing Beefheart on KSHE back in the day isn't the same as hearing LZ's "Stairway to Heaven" for the gagillionth time. "Stairway to Heaven" is a rock classic, musically excellent, performed very well by a talented band.

    But Beefheart WAS a stairway to heaven. And that probably doesn't make a bit of sense to anyone ... but it's true.
    Sal Palooza
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited December 2010
    He's still awful to me but at least the reply was nice to read MBBL. Rev.H - As far as the "pioneer" statement, that's really reaching.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited December 2010
    dorokusai wrote: »
    He's still awful to me but at least the reply was nice to read MBBL. Rev.H - As far as the "pioneer" statement, that's really reaching.

    An awful lot of people quote him as one of their main musical influences. Mark, we're not talking last week, last year, or last decade for that matter. This place was still kind of Pat Boone-ing when this wild man started bellowing. There was absolutely nothing like him, before or after.

    He was a stone lunatic, creative as all hell. The only time he had something negative to say was when someone messed with his precious earth, God's Green Golfball as he called it, or the animals that inhabit it.

    I have been a stone Zappa freak for as long as I can remember. But I must've gone 20-30 years before I read a couple things he said, which gave me more insight into him than I had ever had. In his autobiography, he mentions the Sicilian upbringing and some of its foibles. I can identify with this because I had the hot olive oil poured down my ear quite a few times also, and he brought me back 40 years when I read it. He's right, it used to hurt like a ****, but olive oil had all kinds of magic properties in my house. I also read in his autobiography that when asked "Who he really hated", his response was, "I don't hate anybody. Well, maybe Jean-Luc Ponty." Thirty or forty years of bile, and he turns around and says he doesn't hate ANYBODY, except for maybe some guy he used to write a paycheck for. Who woulda thought?
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  • Fongolio
    Fongolio Posts: 3,516
    edited December 2010
    George Grand wrote: »
    "I don't hate anybody. Well, maybe Jean-Luc Ponty."
    The quote is a Zappa quote being quoted by George Grand whom I quoted.

    Now why would he hate Jean Luc Ponty? I love Ponty.

    I think Beefheart music is like good Scotch. It's an aquired taste. Some never aquire it.
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  • bikerboy
    bikerboy Posts: 1,228
    edited December 2010
    I guess I always listened to the "other music". Stones, not the beattles. I love the crazy rhythms and crazy vocal range. And his band was magic. Listening to the Mirror Man sessions: Beattle bones and Smokin Stones, Gimme that Harp Boy. Great stuff!!!!!!!!
    Main system: Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 w Polk LSiM 703/ Pioneer 42" plasma w Flex Streamer, Sangaen HDT-1tuner
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    Bottlehead Eros
    Digital: I7 PC w/ Jriver playing flac -> Sonore Ultrarendu -> Twisted Pair Audio ESS 9028 w/ Mercury IVY
    CD: DIY Shigaclone
    Vinyl rips: ESI Juli@24/192->Goldwave->i7 PC server
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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,986
    edited February 2011
    <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WLdRh7qdi_g&quot; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    I'm gonna wipe my boogers on you baby? Cutting edge stuff. :rolleyes:
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • shack
    shack Posts: 11,154
    edited April 2011
    Reported fesbuck4141 spam
    "Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right." - Ricky Gervais

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