Friday 16 October 2009

Captain Marvel

Despite the rather dodgy cover (is that Don?), this live recording from Seattle, 1981, is one of the better Beefheart boots.

The recording obviously came from within the audience, but the quality isn't bad; I give it an A-.

Along with an excellent set list - reads almost like a 'Best Of', although it doesn't feature 'I Wanna Find A Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go' [his finest moment], it does feature 'Veterans' Day Poppy', 'Big Eyed Beans From Venus' and 'Hothead', the best tracks from Trout Mask Replica, Clear Spot and Doc at The Radar Station respectively - a band that was in touch with what their leader was doing - it would have been nice to have a quality boot like this from 1971, but beggars can't be choosers, and 1981 does actually capture Beefheart and his Magic Band at a very creative time; he had been reborn: Doc at the Radar Station had gone down a storm, and his audience had never been bigger - and a half decent recording, this makes for an essential addition to any Beefheart collection.


Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Don's 40th Birthday Party (1981)

Flavur Bud Living
My Human Gets Me Blues
Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man
Hothead
Ashtray Heart
Best Batch Yet
Safe As Milk
A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond
The One Red Rose That I Mean
Doctor Dark
Bat Chain Puller
Sugar 'n Spikes
Veterans' Day Poppy
Sheriff Of Hong Kong
Suction Prints
Big Eyed Beans From Venus

CD rip to mp3s
Artwork included

Don yourself with Beefheart here

12 comments:

-d said...

can't wait to grab this one when i get home from work. thanks

Syd The Squid said...

nice one sir!

Anonymous said...

nice one roy, marvin..

. said...

Yeah, but that cover shot ... it just doesn't look like him at all, does it? This is driving me nuts. He's wearing a neckerchief, and I don't recall him ever doing that ... and the Fat Elvis shades - I've never seen another shot of him wearing shades ... and is that a tenor/alto sax bottom right? Or a mic? Because Don played soprano ... does anyone out there have a clue who this could be?

teifidancer said...

have to get this one Mr rocket, hope you well

teifidancer said...

LooKs Like A fat Michael Jackson to me!

dave said...

look what i found!

roy rocket said...

Nice one, dave!

Have y'all seen the David Lynch film about Don?
It's very good.
As is the Beefheart doc 'Under Review', but it's not as good as the Wild Man Fischer doc 'Derailroaded', that's essential; one of the best 'rockumentaries' ever made...

-d said...

beefheart.com has some more info about this release. They propose that it's Arthur Lee on the cover. The guy on this cover looks lighter skinned to me so I don't know if it's Arthur or not. here's the link to the beefheart page:

http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/albums/boots/dbp.htm

. said...

Yep. I just found that page and agree with the Arthur Lee ID. Poor old Arthur never did have much visual style, and the neckerchief would sit well with the 'fro rug and the - uh - rug thrown over his shoulder.

A classic bootleg goof.

zigzagwanderer said...

Thanks for this Roy,this one passed me by somehow. Got a few decent boots of the Captain - this from '71.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TS45DR20
Contact me if you want more.

Anonymous said...

it's definitely Arthur Lee on the cover.