Captain Beefheart

cloptrop

I hear lot of stuff about this fella . But never heard any of his music.
Now to be honest its usually from people who know alot more about music than me eg serious professional musicians and the likes.
So I downloaded his most talked about album : trout mask replica

I got through about 4 or 5 songs before I realised Im not getting this. Im very open minded with music. Is this what they call jazz. Did I lose interest before the jokey bit of the album ended . I wil listen to the full album tomorow but for now , does anyone get what im missing?

DyldeBrill

I absolutely love that album.You just need to give it time.Listen to it well because there are a lot of things going on within each song.The licks are genius!

Stereomaniac

Yeah. For me, The Magic Band were just an act that I had to invest a bit of time into. I try to listen to these records out of context. It is a constantly name-checked record which adds a certain amount of weight to the listener's ears on their first foray into it. So just listen to it a bit over time and it will start to click with you. Or else of course, you just might not dig that kind of music at all. But you will start to notice all these links within.

Rothko

I got it a few months ago and it took me a while to get into it. It was only after about 4 or 5 listens that I really started liking.

You should try listening to Safe As Milk too. It's his debut album and it's a lot more accessible. It's also highly regarded among critics and fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayUqmladJuo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8eRDkiwGMM

cloptrop

Yeh thats all Im getting so far, and I will hold my hands up and say ive only skipped over the album , Ive a pregnant missus and its very late , and the speakers on the laptop wont do it justice I need to stick it on the phone in the mornin , but it seems like some great licks but very little done with them ,
I could however be way off , and when I listen to it with good speakers I may come back here and hold my hands up and say im wrong .

Rigsby

I have always been a big Beefheart fan. His material does take some time to grow on you. Some people though, never grow to like him. You may have jumped in the deep end with "Trout Mask..." as an introductory album. It is hard to define the "Captain's" music. It borrows from blues and free jazz generally, with some psychedelia and avant garde thrown in for good measure. I would highly recommend the "Safe as Milk" album for starters. Another favourite of mine is the "Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot" album (actually two albums in one.... see link below). While there are some "far out" tracks on it, over all it is quite good IMO.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Captain-Beefheart-Spotlight-Kid-clear-Spot-NEW-CD-/350528016631?pt=UK_CDsDVDs_CDs_CDs_GL&hash=item519d1910f7

smokedeels

Personally, I'd recommend Safe as Milk for starters. If you like Blues, Doo-wop and Garage Rock you'll hear the influences, the slant being put on them and appreciate why Beefheart is so well regarded.

After that I'd jump a good bit forward in his discography to Doc at the Radar Station. It's the ideas on Safe as Milk taken to another level but it's got more polish than TMR... it's a lot easier to listen to.

If you loved those two then TMR is worth your investment otherwise it's probably not your thing.

rcaz

A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous, got me?

I'm in a weird place with Beefheart... I'd definitely say I really enjoy listening to him, but I'd hesitate to say I get if, you know what I mean... I would go so far as to say I have a favourite Beefheart tune, though;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYdjQCrO_xM

It's grating and dissonant and there's this arhythmic quality but it's still a song with verses and choruses and there's still a tune and a hook and a groove... For me, anyway, it never settles enough for me to completely judge it.

And a really good, relatively 'normal' tune;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfX5Ymxf4Rg

Rigsby

I doubt very much if many people "get" Beefheart 100%. Even some of the band members did not know what to make of him. Still, they stuck with him because they could see how good he was.

Another "out" song by Beefheart is "The 1010th day of the Human Totem Pole." Only he could come up with a title and "lyrics" like this. I love the bit of free jazz saxophone around the three minute mark.

Executive Steve

^ seconded, "Ice Cream Eat Crow" is a great album, but I've never really strayed too far beyond that and checked out the rest of his stuff.

He's one of those heads who can be measured as much by the influence he had than his own output.

DominoDub

Watched this the other day ..well worth watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVWeRninKnA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayL4fV5JQg8

or in full on Filmon.com
http://myflix.filmon.com/captain-beefheart-under-review

Rigsby

Yeah, that's a great documentary alright. The book of his biography is well worth a read also. I thought it was a shame that his death came and went without even a mention (not even a sentence, or five second video clip) in the Irish media. I think the BBC did a small tribute to him. At the time of his death, I emailed RTE to bring it to their attention, hoping they might do something similar. A waste of time. :rolleyes:

thesultan

I bought Mask Trout after seeing it in TOp 100 album of all time. I know that the Coral have taking some of the guitar sounds and playing from it but by and large it's utter garbage

rcaz

thesultan wrote: »

by and large it's utter garbage

Why do you think so?

thesultan

I just don't think there is any melody to any of the songs. Singing is awful

rcaz

thesultan wrote: »

I just don't think there is any melody to any of the songs. Singing is awful

I get why a lot of people don't like his voice. There definitely is melody in there, albeit maybe particularly obscured. I think the real beauty of the music is how all that stuff is still in there but hard to find.

Rigsby

thesultan wrote: »

I just don't think there is any melody to any of the songs. Singing is awful

Like the OP, I think you may have jumped in the deep end with the TMR album being your introduction to Beefheart. Songs on other albums can be quite accessable and melodic, like in the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz3WJ1l1dNM