Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Beefheart

Proto punk par excellence

December saw the passing of Don Van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart. He'd bowed out of the music biz way back in the early eighties to concentrate on his wonderful colorific daubings, but his music, especially "Trout Mask Replica" will continue to reverberate for many a long day to come. I only got introduced to his music in the late seventies about 5 minutes before his retirement via Magazine's dislocated version of "I Love You Big Dummy" (B side of their 3rd single "Give Me Everything" 1978) and because Robert Williams (of the new version of Magic Band) collaborated with Hugh Cornball (of the Shanglers) on their "Nosferatu" album in 1979.

Beefheart is an important listen for many high falutin reasons I'm sure, but for me, lyrically, no one has ever bettered him for doing serious, funny and personal and thought provoking all rolled into one song, and so effortlessly. Yeah important bloke Beefheart and I've always thought it was lucky he retired in '82 for one person in particular, Tom Waits. '83 saw Waits turn his back on his "bland years" and begin to skew reality for the first time with the "Swordfishtrombones" album. A gaping space was opened up when Beefheart left the stage; time for a new guttural and growling, unhinged black blues imbiber, and TW was there on the ground and ready to partly fill the spot.

"Trout Mask" is the one that usually makes it into the pick of great albums but personally "Replica" is a far too heady brew for my taste, and so rarely makes it onto the turntable; its "Safe as Milk" and the "Spotlight Kid" that get played most often and "Harry Irene" from "Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)" that I often find myself singing, usually whilst taking tea in a grotty café somewhere. For that reason among many Don Van Vliet we salute you!

Interview from Creem Mag April '79
Clip from BBC2 Documentry - Guess they'll show it again sometime soon