Frownland by Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band: Analysis
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Composer Samuel Andreyev analyzes 'Frownland' from the album Trout Mask Replica (1969), by Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band.
Don Van Vliet: vocals
Bill Harkleroad: guitar
Jeff Cotton: guitar
Mark Boston: bass guitar
John French: drums
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ERRATUM: the drums on this particular track are not covered with cardboard. My apologies for the error.
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Hi, everyone. Many people have asked if it is possible to make a one-time donation to support my work. I have just set up this option -- it takes two minutes, and you can donate any amount: www.samuelandreyev.com/donate
Hello, I know it’s been a little while since his video was uploaded, but is it possible to get a transcription of this song online? If not, is it possible for you to publish yours?
@@fooball4589 I was thinking that. Not that playing it by sheet music would sound like TMB but it would be educational
Dude is killing me. I mean I'm feeling him, but I'm not mucician. My spell check apparently doesn't speak English.
Clear Spot I feel was the best sound wise.
On the 5th listen you realize that it’s the best thing you’ve listened to
sean brennan sorry bout the weasels, bro
Event at my first listen i understood beefheart was lightyears behind zappa, even Kraldjursanstalten.
That happened to me at a John Zorn concert. At first I was wtf; by the time the show was over I thought it was the perfect music
Musa Tebi watch out hes an intellectual
than what do u think about this: th-cam.com/video/69eNBO7Km_s/w-d-xo.html
going back some 40 years ago i recall thinking maybe one day somebody would break this piece down and show that this is not some random improvised piece because as as a drummer i could hear repetitions with the performers syncing these crazy dynamics. This is mind blowing stuff. thanks for being the guy to explain this and enhancing my enjoyment.
No problem, glad to hear that.
Who knew when we were listening to this in 1971 for pure enjoyment? Those of us who are still alive (RIP John) are still huge fans.
Thank you, Samuel, for having such a great love for Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band. This analysis is amazing.
i’m his great nephew, and john is definitely not dead, he’s alive and kicking.
I've always admired CBAHMB for their oddness and complexity. However, I've never seen their music broken down so completely and so interestingly as this. Thank you for reminding me why music is so important in human thought and processing.
So glad you enjoyed it.
A 32-minute lecture on one minute and forty seconds of music? I have died and gone to heaven.
One of my composition teachers in college said that if you could transcribe something from Trout Mask Replica, then you would automatically pass all 2 years of aural skills. You did incredible work pulling out all the strands from the thicket of sounds, it shows you are as dedicated to this music as the original musicians were. Thanks for this amazing analysis, bravo! The blocks of unrelated and repeating cells remind me of Stravinsky.
I agree the piece overall is in G. But I wonder if the harmony might be better understood from a blues (rather than a classical) perspective, since Beefheart was coming from the blues. For example, it's possible to hear Block 1 in G mixolydian, a common blues mode. This is more convincing than saying the piece opens in C major, then eventually settles on G major. Likewise, I'd say both guitars are still in G mixolydian in Block 5, with Guitar 1 adding ninths and sixths to the G chord, also a common blues device. The strange collection of pitches in the bass in Block 5 makes sense if derived from the C blues scale, which features the sharp 4 and flat 7 degrees. This is supported by all the other bass cells which seem to be in C minor. Of course, having the bass in another key complicates things, but it's not so far out if you consider that C is the IV chord in a G blues.
Actually, the tritone is one of the most common sonorities in rock music, because it is in the blues scale. Just ask Black Sabbath :)
That Van Vliet and the Magic Band crafted a full-on avant-garde music directly from the blues was their singular achievement on Trout Mask Replica. Usually, avant-garde music and the blues couldn't be further apart!
Thanks for taking the time to write this, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video. My analysis is by no means perfect, and in retrospect I'd probably want to refine one or two points, but I stand by my harmonic analysis. You'll notice that I didn't include the voice part in my analysis -- mainly because I wanted to emphasize the intricacy of the instrumental parts. However, the voice part in Block 1 clearly grounds the section in C major, as do the instruments. I really can't hear this section as being a subdominant of G, mixolydian or not. At any rate, the piece uses a complicated mesh of modal, tonal and some chromatic elements, and as such, other points of view are certainly possible (and welcome). Best regards, Samuel
Huh
I think you’re essentially right. This seems to boil down to an attempt to combine the blues with the sort of pattern music Terry Riley and others had been experimenting with earlier in the decade. Whether the Captain had ever even heard of Riley is open question, but similar ideas were in the air at the time.
I mentioned the tritone myself, by the way, in another comment I posted before reading your comment.
@@samuel_andreyev For a video of this length there was certainly plenty to digest, and I thank you for that! However, an analysis that completely ignores what is happening musically in the primary melodic line isn't really getting the job done, is it? You could have used the time you spent with the text on the musical content of the vocal instead, even if it was just a sumarization. I'm hoping you or someone else will finish the job that was well started here!
This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in TH-cam. Period. Thank you so much Samuel. Rarely have I seen someone talks so intelligently and eloquently about music. Frownland was actaully always one of my least favourite tracks in TMR but now I will listen to it completely different.
Yochai Wolf You're welcome, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Really? I've always loved Frownland. But I never realized it was the most musically complex piece on the album.
Trout mask
I bought this album when I was a kid because I loved the colors of it. I was surprised that the music sounded exactly like what it looked like, and I loved it.
And, in five hundred years, people will be watching this and so thankful that Samuel recorded this analysis. And, that he championed it.
Every cut on this album is worthy of the fine analysis you've given here.
"If you are a music student, and you haven't listened to this entire record at least 4 times, then your musical education is woefully incomplete. Every composer should know this record, everyone seriously interested in music needs to know it, because it's an amazing achievement on all sorts of levels". Samuel Andreyev, Composer Thank you Samuel, I agree 100%. This was a very important album for me in 1969, and it still is today.
Another whole-hearted agreement with those pronouncements here. TMR is a transcendent musical achievement, quite unlike anything else ever committed to record. The closest thing are the other albums in the Beefheart catalog. I'm a huge fan of the first two 80's albums, Shiny Beast and Doc at the Radar Station.
for you!!!!!!!!!!!!
A 30 minute analysis of a dog taking a shit
Actually, I agree.
If you know anything about Captain Beefheart/Don Vliet’s history can you really believe that Trout Mask Replica was “Technical Genius” or just “Creative Chaos” by one crazy guy & 4 starving musicians that wanted to be rock & roll stars?
THIS is the kind of video that makes me hate myself for not spending time learning more about music.
Thank you so much for posting this incredible video.
It's an honour to be of some use. Thanks for watching.
This was absolutely amazing. Would love more Trout Mask analysis! Would click a donate button if necessary as this is important work.
Chris Huff Thank you. There is a patreon link if you are interested in helping me to keep the channel going -- it's in the video description.
I have to side with Chris. You need to set up a Paypal button. Think of it in terms of music purchases; some people just want to buy a song (Paypal), and others are more interested in the album (Patreon).
Your video on Varese with this one compel me to throw money at you, but not on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, I am not on Patreon and don't wish to go through the rigamarole so I can remunerate you for your service.
heckler73 So you feel compelled to throw money at me? I like the cut of your jib. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see about setting something like that up.
Samuel,
Please do, so I can get this evil $10 bill off my conscience.
But seriously, you do realize this is all leading to you eventually doing some Zappa analysis, right? ;-)
You've already been laying out the groundwork for _his_ influences, and here is an album he _produced_. It only seems a natural consequence.
Keep up the weird work, I'm loving every minute of it (usually multiple times, because your vids need more than a once over ).
Yes, Zappa would be a logical choice, although I'm far from an expert on his music and there are lots of people out there who are. I'll keep it in mind.
My favorite Trout Mask song. Been listening to this record 35 years. Epic analysis! Thanks!
Thank you so much for breaking down what I had always felt in my gut - that this album, and this song in particular, is a work of genius. Of special importance is your analysis of the patterns - so many people think it's just discordant improvisation, but they've merely heard it, not listened to it carefully. Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band locked themselves up in a house for eight months, rehearsing, and when they went into the studio they knocked out the entire double album in 4.5 hours. It's essentially a live recording.
Samuel, you certainly got it right regarding the way critics talk about it. To be fair, they do talk that way about everything ... the awful searching for non-musical adjectives to misappropriate that they haven't already flogged to death previously, and so forth. This is fine music indeed. Records that get right down to business without wasting time tend to be off to a good start with me, and this leadoff track is a good example of that.
I had no idea that the musicians were so young at the time; that makes it seem even more remarkable to me.
His singing reminds me at times of the great Howlin' Wolf.
I was very interested in this review. Trout Mask Replica is an album which changed my life. I discovered it in my teens in the mid 70s and became totally fascinated by it. The album is an amazing piece of work, totally tied down, very tight and rehearsed on the one hand, but wild and liberating to listen to. I have to say that I love this album more than any other rock/pop album and today I live a better more open life than I would have if I had never encountered it. I love experimental art in all its forms, I even live in Brighton & Hove city in England because there is such a great experimental art scene here. All this because of Trout Mask Replica.
It's interesting how very important music is, isn't it. I first heard TMR when I was about 15 and it certainly left a lasting impression. It's a clarion call to imaginative freedom and creative utopia.
👍🏾🎸🤯✌🏾I never knew! I totally blew this off. I used to gig at the old Fillmore back in the day. When Beefheart played his set, I thought they were 3rd rate posers, trying imitate Ornette or Trane. I’m all ears now - better late than never!!!!!!
They were 3rd rate posers. You were spot on. The album is only 'celebrated' because of its drug associations.
@@annaclarafenyo8185 no one’s gonna be discussing your music 50 years from now.
@@floobuscanoobus No one is going to be discussing Beefheart's music either. The only reason people are discussing it today is for historical reasons, for association with Zappa.
@@annaclarafenyo8185
I hope you are attractive.
With your negative attitude about life, music, and people, your friend list is still trying to achieve 1.
Fun fact: the song “Vertigo” by Aztec Camera has the following lines:
Now that her smile has stuck
I cannot go back to your frownland
And that song sounds NOTHING like Captain Beefheart.
Like "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Frownlands" sounding nothing like Bob Dylan's "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" nor with Beefheart's "Frownland".
Thanks for that...much appreciated delving into the complexities of this masterpiece.
So refreshing to have this material demystified and taken 'seriously' & held aloft with other great composers. As a drummer, this album changed my perception of what was possible in composing behind the drum kit, let alone where a song could go.Thanks for committing time to this and dissecting it.
BTW, I love hearing the phrases played on the acoustic instruments to illustrate the transcriptions. I could listen to the entire album rendered in that fashion - it would really highlight the album's complexity as well as illustrate cleanly what is REALLY going on!
:)
I've been listening to this album since 1971! It had more of an effect on me than my first semester of college, which happened at the same time. I bought the album right at the beginning of my first semester. Well, even after all these years, I would still say that Pachuco Cadaver is my favorite song on the album. It's an amazing song, and not just the music. The lyrics of the album were a big part of why I was just blown away by the album. I memorized many of them and would recite them for the poor students in my French class, mainly. I don't listen so much anymore, but still I would say that this album had a huge effect on me. Other songs that were quite influential on me are Steal Softly thru Snow, Ella Guru, The Blimp, Old Fart at Play, The Dust blows forward 'n the Dust blows Back (my ex-wife's favorite! :) ... oh, there were so many...
"Energy flies through a field, and the sun softly melts the nothing wheel... The black paper between the mirror, breaks my heart that I can't go, steal softly thru sunshine, steal softly thru snow..."
I gotta stop now. I'll get started on a Beefheart "thing" and nobody wants that! haha
Trout Mask was the greatest noise of the 60's. Lick my decals was the greatest noise of the 70's. Doc at the Radar Station was the greatest noise of the 80's. All at the hands of Don Van Vliet. In 1,000 years people will be listening to Captain Beefheart. England has a good vision for majestic talent. They worship Buddy Holly, Brian Wilson and Captain Beefheart. So do I. All revolutionary people in the world of recorded sound and composition. Beefheart went for all the marbles and he got them and he has them for all time. Nobody slays the captain.
mcbillygoat !
mcbillygoat !
“Exactly,Mascara Snake.
Fast...and bulbous”!
I always play " Big Eyed Beans From Venus" or "Electricity" or "Kandy Korn" to people who've never heard Beefheart. People start playing air guitar or air drums and headbanging and moving! Good times I'm sure we'll have again!
@@lawrencefeldman7744 the drop in electricity is insane
I never read the text of Frownland until now. Beefheart is clearly saying he took acid and never came down. Changes my view of this album.
"Sometimes I get tired of just smilin'" - S. Clay Wilson
I thought that it was about him accepting a new frontier of music and asking others to accept it too? I don't know anything though, haha
@@Noah-wx7fm I love this alternative. The interpretation of the word smile can influence the rest of the song. Thank you for sharing, man.
@@minimonkey252 haha, thank you for listening😊. As I said, I really don't know anything about Beefheart or the time it was written in. I'm just now getting into it this week. I formed this interpretation when I first heard it like around two years ago. I think its because I heard someone say that Frownland gets you ready for the rest of the album, before I played it for myself
Not coming down can be kinda tough
Trout mask replica needs a remix, because even knowing the harmony, I can barely hear anything over the tinny attack of the guitars. Listening extremely closely, hearing underneath the mix into the music, it sounds amazing. I feel I have missed out, and others have missed out as well.
Fix your eq
true, its so un-listenable lol
Maxy boy Try Strictly Personal th-cam.com/video/Cuv1HBTbHO4/w-d-xo.html
Yes..much of his best work was poorly recorded.
Surely it sounds like Mr. van Vliet wanted it to. FZ did the work but it's hard to imagine the Captain compromising on that.
I love (almost)* all of Beefheart's work, but TMR is my lifelong Rosetta Stone. I probably wouldn't have ever made my own music if not for the inspiration of Don and the band(s), to say nothing of how it's inspired me in visual art, too. GREAT work on this, thank you for putting the time in. Somebody's leavin' peanuts on the curbins... and it's you.
*Tragic Band era, obviously
Thanks for this... my favorite Beefheart track is" Bellerin' Plain" off of Lick My Decals Off... great live recording from Detroit showing how the live versions were the studio versions live... no improvisation
Thanks for this video and analysis. It ended up meaning more to me than I expected. Captain Beefheart is a name that I link, through my childhood as a little kid in the 70s, to my stepfather ( who passed away back in 99). He had these giant wooden cabinets filled with hundreds of albums on vinyl. Over my lifetime, we sat down together and listened to about 50% of them, and on my own I listened to another 20%. He had orchestral music, he had Captain and Tennille, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Beatles, Stones, Mac Davis, and on and on and on. He had a bunch of Captain Beefheart albums. We never got around to those. He told me they were great but hard to explain. But because my stepdad was a chubby guy, somehow I always associated the name Captain Beefheart with him because it sounds like a funny name for a chubby guy. So all my life that name made me think of my stepdad. But I never actually listened to the music. I got real deep into jazz and progressive rock and strange music but I always assumed Captain Beefheart was something silly but pleasant, based on the name. And these days I'm hardcore into Dominican traditional music as well as anything afro-cuban.
So it was an incredible delight for me to watch this video, and realize this band was something meaty and deep that I could bite into. I probably would never have found out if I hadn't seen this channel and watched the analysis. It gives me something completely new to me to discover, and it has let me reconnect with fond memories of my stepdad that I never expected.
While this is obviously just a happy coincidence, I still want to thank you for this analysis and for giving me some new and old roads to explore that a mere week ago, I never would have dreamed of. Thank you!!!
What a great story -- glad to hear from you. It's wonderful to know that my videos can help people discover music off the beaten path.
Great job, Samuel Andreyev!. I bought this album when it first came out and I've never ceased to love it. So good to see it taken seriously in precisely the way that you have done - not too seriously but seriously enough. Well done, keep going. I'm listening.
Absolutely fascinating analysis of incredibly unique music. Thanks for this, Samuel.
I've listened to the album twice, and I can't bring myself to enjoy it. After listening to your analysis, I have even more appreciation for it, but it also made it feel like even more of an academic exercise in nonstandard composition. The latter sounds very atypical for rock musicians of 1969.
Yes, it is highly atypical. I chose to do a fairly dry analysis because there is so much hyperbole and mythology surrounding this album that it can prevent people from hearing what is really there.
Samuel Andreyev in my opinion, the mythology of it is part of what makes it so neat, but you are correct in the notion that separately from all of the folklore the music is astoundingly complex and intricate
CommunistKiro - Try this instrumental rehearsal recording:
th-cam.com/video/8xaYFNhsjBY/w-d-xo.html
Try other Beefheart albums like Safe as Milk, or Clear Spot, then come back to Trout Mask Replica. It honestly does take about five listens for it to click. Don't be discouraged - it's worth it.
this is unbelievable that now after all this time someone.....you sam ........ has shown the world how amazing and intricate and awe inspiring and original and unique this music
eally is Bravo Mr. Andreyev
Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you for creating a quantitative musical analysis of this piece. I can't imagine the time it took to think of it all and put this together.
It took me a year of listening for me to "get" this album. It was well worth this commitment. It defeinately expanded my musical universe. I agree that John French should get much more recognition for his contribution. He should get co authourship I think. This stuff is so frightfully original it really helps dispell many layers of banality that suround us these days. Thank you soo much Samuel Andreyev for this analysis. It is truly WONDERFUL. It verifies to me all the wonderful things I hear in this album are based on sound musical principals and not just chaos. This makes me very happy. My smile is stuck. Long live Captain Beefhearts music.
In the early '70s, I listened to this album most nights. Later, I saw them play live in Leicester, England and every number they played from TMR was reproduced note for note. Typically, the support act was a lone ballerina....
Hope you can do more of this album!
Love your channel! I'm a music composition student and have never heard this album and thanks to this video I'm now checking it out. I listened to this song right before watching tour analysis and didn't hear anything in it. Then after watching your analysis I was able to hear all the stuff you were talking about. Interesting how analysis can change the way you hear. This track reminds me of Perriot lunare in the sense that the instrumental parts seem to stand on their own and the voice part is just another color on top of it giving the piece a lyrical narrative.
Nicholas Mackelprang I'm so happy to hear that -- it means I've done my job as an analyst! Thanks for writing.
You know your Tadpoles. Thank you for putting your Read Magic Spell on this Frownland enchantment.
Having seen the wizards at work I knew they played what you hear on the records.
Your explanation has made it much clearer to a written music illiterate.
This analysis demonstrates that music appreciation is a skill that can be developed. Whether its the music theory, the meaning of the lyrics, instrumentation, affect, or the historical context, etc the more you know and understand the more likely you are to enjoy any piece of music and be informed by it. I just bought the vinyl of TMR on the basis of reputation and I don't know how many listens it will take as its apparently very 'difficult'. It 'only' took me 6 listens of Laura Nyro's stark and emotionally intense but relatively accessible avant-garde pop of 'New York Tendaberry' (1969), and only a few listens to 'get' Nico's gothic dirge 'The Marble Index' (1969). Gotta love those 1969 challenges!
Indeed, the more effort you put into it, the more you are able to distinguish in the art. It's like the difference between seeing a stick figure drawing of a person, and a high-resolution photograph.
Superb analysis of a brilliant work. Ill never forget how this album - and this opening track in particular- startled me when I first played the vinyl 30 years ago. Im still listening!
Many thanks for that illuminating analysis. I’ve been trying to convince others of this album’s brilliance since I first heard it as a 15 year old back in ‘71. I was still at it only last week but got the usual “this is just a terrible racket!” response. It’s their loss. I had the pleasure of seeing them live a couple of times in Birmingham, UK.
I’d love you to talk more about those unique truncated riffs they used such as in “Ice cream for crow” (though by that time it was a completely new Magic band).
Thanks again.
DURR POLYRHYTHM = "GOOD". HAHA. THEIR LOSS LOOOOLLL
Just fantastic. I thought I'd gotten lucky when I discovered your analysis of the Stravinsky Quartet Pieces, but I had no idea a video looking into Trout Mask Replica was on the cards. So glad I subscribed, please, more like this and anything else you want to make!
On that note, I don't know if you do requests, but I ache for more online video content analysing the works of Bartók. His string quartets in particular remind me of the dense complexity of this Beefheart album. A video looking into the endless wonders of, say, his 4th Quartet, or even just a movement, would be wonderful.
Keep it up please!
Sonny Williamson Thanks for taking the time to comment! Bartók is a great idea. The 4th quartet is one of the first pieces I ever seriously analyzed -- could be perfect for the channel. I'll keep it in mind.
Amen to Bartók and the 4th quartet
I'd also look forward to any analyses of Bartók's quartets.
Sonny Williamson YEAH ! Beefheart and Bartok , it don't get any better. 😀
beef heart & zappa had what was vital in music talent originality & a vision in sound.ths 2l p set is all about originality with talent the whole band deserve credit.although don was the conductor like frank zappa was the conductor of the mothers.its all about guiding the talent around them to create a masterpiece.their musicianship is top notch.but you have gotta hear it on analogue vinyl to fully unlock the unrestricted sonic,s.ive got an english american & german copy i dont know why but i got 3 copies lol.ive got the first lp safe as milk in mono & stereo.i highly recommend the mono.safe as milk & the legendary a & m sessions which is a 5 song set show the start of don experimenting moon child is a great original piece.don was badly fucked over by the record company on the strictly personal lp which was meant to be a 2lp set.but released as a single lp while don was away gigging.session musicians that simplified the original rhythms re-recorded the rhythm,s.there is still so much people havnt heard the outtakes are completely different much of this material has been released but sadly many reissue labels today are betraying musical history by enforcing a digital vinyl only reissue scheme.every digital reissue has criminal multiple overdubs purely to hide the inferior sonic,s this is the biggest betrayal to musical history done purely to make sure the cd & mp3 versions dont sound inferior to the vinyl release..
Wow - what a brilliant piece on this track - it has given some resonance and rationale to my love of this album over the last forty eight years. John French was a saint to get all Don's ideas into a playable format. I have just recognised from your analysis of this one track how complex and difficult that must have been for him. He kept the music going by playing it live with a bunch of ex magic band members and some new additions from 2003 onwards but sadly has decided to call it a day. There's a project in there for you and a few like minded people...
Michael Barry Thank you for your encouraging words. I hope I'll get a chance to hear John French perform some day. He's a truly great musician.
Gimme that old time religion.....
if it's good enough for me, then it's good enough for you
Old Time Relijun is an amazing band.
It’s so very interesting and amusing to see Captain Beefheart’s music analyzed and dissected so skillfully and with such complete appreciation.
I have a very special place in my heart for this music. It is COMPLETELY outside of the box.
I just can’t get over how this was live. How is that even possible? I would become so overwhelmed with all the different stuff going on. I could understand if the parts were being recorded individually and then layered on top of each other but the fact a group of people stood round and played this is mind blowing.
Unexpected choice of music, indeed! Thank you for making these analyses, glad I subscribed.
I love this record and also Doc at the Radar Station. Thank you for this amazing breakdown of the piece.
Wow..... amazing analysis. Thank you.
I loved listening to this breakdown, I always saw Frownland as a pallette cleanser for what's to come and so I didnt ever think of it as much as i did the rest of the album, but this has reminded me of how amazing the song is and of how theres something else there that I as a listener can at least try to comprehend. This is what youtube is for
Perhaps I am not qualified to say but I feel without John "drumbo" French, this album would not exist. It is my understanding that Beefheart(with no musical training) just wantonly banged out the songs on piano. Drumbo then transcribed all those parts for the band to play. I'm sure without French, all those random parts would have been lost to the ether. It is my humble opinion that John French is at the very least co-author of this work and along the way had to fill in a lot of blank space.
Oh fuck yeah, the magic band quoted Beefheart as giving extremely vague orders.
This is true. His book, "Through the Eyes of Magic," describe the making of this album in detail. Don didn't like to write out his lyrics either, so Jeff Cotton gets credit for a lot of that as well.
Scott pierce. Hmm, It's funny that every Beefheart Album has that Beefheart 'sound', even with different musicians. Can't say the same for ANY musician that appeared on one of the Albums. That includes John French.
The undisputed truth is, that for all his faults, without Don Van Vliet, this Album would NEVER have been conceived, never mind made.
I agree with John and it is an excellent point. Beefheart used a parade of different musicians and always created profound works that will be listened to 1,000 years from now. Lyrics and music both. A genius like Don is a person who is so knowledgeable about the world, they can act lame or confused while the whole time they can switch into savage mode in a good way. Don was never struggling to steal a good sound, but a clever thief does it all while acting as a victim. In other words, you have to steal in an elegant manner to be a genius on Don’s level.
If John French wasn’t there then Bill Harkleroad would have done his work.
Thank you! Wonderful in depth work.
Best wishes.
Thank you so much. I saw Don's first East Coast performance with the Magic Band at Ungano's in New York City in 1970. It changed my life, and I was fortunate to see him live with different incarnations of the band 4 times. I miss him every single day.
And then consider this - after learning all this amazingly complex music, the band recorded it all live in the studio in one day.
Thank you so much for doing this, Samuel. Such a lot of work! Would love to see more.
This was a great analysis. Frownland is the most difficult track in this song for me to break apart and understand, and now I can see why. I've never heard 5s against 7s before.
Thank you for all your great work. All this Beefheart stuff is amazing. I made a donation using donorbox. Take care, Charlie
This music is in my marrow. Somehow. What cut and integrated it is a mystery; I did not do the emotionally responsive analysis you mentioned. Knowing what makes up a piece transforms my experience, taking away some of the stimulation it gives to parts of me- some parts of my psyche even unrelated to the actual music- and brings new and stronger emotional responses.
Thank you for the breakdown. Brilliant work. I’m going to listen with a fresh ear.
Brilliant analysis of a great work of art. Extremely interesting. One of the non professional musicians who watches 🙋 You can't an expert enthusing on their subject. 👏
I feel this music on multiple conflicting levels , it feels extremely odd yet normal, it feels H U M A N it feels free from our musical boundaries
I found Trout Mask in a used record store while attending the University of Kentucky in 1980. I paid $4.99 cents for the double album . I saw Zappa and Beefheart play together a few years prior. Poofters Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead.
I've played the whole thing no less than four times in a row, ending with Poppy (with its bit of '60s jam, just to prove they could) and going straight back to Frownland with only a breath between them, on various occasions, often while doing paintings. I have a shrink-wrapped deluxe recent vinyl reissue in case my pristine unwrapped copy ever wears out, like when I'm 80. Now, 62, I only play the thing when I can give it my all. Anyway, thanks so much for an analysis that is really fun -- not just brilliant. I was riveted.
Samuel, as a guitar teacher of 40 years and the proud owner of Trout Mask Replica I must say that was the most fascinating 30 minutes I have ever seen on TH-cam and I've watched a lot. Your discussion of Bass Cell 14 and the F# and C notes and saying it doesn't appear in rock music reminded me that ,if I am correct, the flattened fifth interval was called the Devils Interval in earlier music and was not allowed to be played by order of the religious masters because of its demonic connotations. It does however appear in the intro to Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze. Of course if anyone was going to use it and get away with it then Jimi was the logical choice! Absolutely fascinating. I'm off to see the Mascara Snake! Cheers, Peter from Tasmania.
Thank you Peter, your comment made my day. Glad you enjoyed the video. Greetings from Strasbourg, France.
Masterful. I just noticed there's a pentatonic element consistent in a lot of this. 23:32 as an example..maybe Captain Beefheart was fond of the black keys on the piano, or was secretly a Scot??.. 25:14 is quite kilt-y/highland. How odd.
There's a lot of down-to-Earth folkiness in Beefheart's music (and his lyrics), and I think it's interesting that you spotted this. Pentatonic is a typically 'everyman' tonality, and I also heard that same cell 9(?) as reminiscent of American Country music.
The Fake Tenor I remember a radio interview with Captain Beefhart in the late 70's, probably with John Peel, where he mentioned that he was half Dutch and half English on his mothers side.
In an interview with the drummer - there were days he worked with all black keys, and days he worked with all white keys. This must have been a black key day.
Any chance you would do more analysis of songs from this great album?
So beautiful. I'm welling up.
You have a remarkable understanding young man.
This video is incredible! Although I love this album it has always been an impenetrable choas to me. Now at least I understand Frownland! Thank you!
Always liked Frownload and the whole album and could hear it wasn't just random improvs and there were patterns but didn't realise just how precise it was, fascinating stuff.
Bought this album at a Hockshop in 1993 because of the cover. Took me about 5 listens until I could actually hear music, it just sounded like noise to me. But as soon as I could HEAR IT, it became the best album Id ever heard.
This album has been part of my life for about 15 years now. I've always loved its sound, its texture, its absurdly complicated tapestry of rhythms, and I swear that, after watching this video, I'll never listen to it the same way again. I would've never imagined that these melodies and lines were buried in this song, and it makes me wish I wrote music like this.
Brilliant. Been a big fan of Beefheart for many years, and i have never seen such a careful and accurate analysis of his unique form of music. Yes, i also love Stravinsky. Thank you very much for this.
I just found your channel. At a quick glance it seems amazing
Thanks very much Samuel! I could have listened to you for another half-hour... Would you consider lecturing on the drumming? And Beefheart's "singing"?
Please do more Beefheart... I for one would love to have too much to think.
Jpof Thanks for your comments -- I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video. The subject is potentially inexhaustable. I'm sure an army of scholars will eventually analyze the whole album..
Samuel Andreyev I also would absolutely adore hearing more on Beefheart. I am a huge albeit rather new fan of Beefheart, and now of yours, best wishes!
Yes, there needs to be a proper analysis and appreciation of Drumbo's playing on TMR. It is, as you say, some of the most imaginative and complex drumming ever recorded. I think he is criminally under-appreciated. Frankly, his playing is just over the heads of even a lot of excellent drummers.
This is incredible they can keep up with the Time Signature changes......Crazzyyyyyyy
i don't think they could keep up, and thats why all instruments keeps changing. Whenever they couldn't keep up, they switch to something else without listening to each other. That's the whole ablum.
@Ayethere M8 thanks, i'll try again. Do they play live ? i'll be amazed if the live performance sound more than 85% like the album.
The thing about this album is even if you don't understand the technical parts of it, which I don't, you just learn to enjoy it. If you've heard it at a very specific point in your life in which you remember it for some very significant reason, it will impact you. Which it did myself. If you know, you know. I'm 22 years old. This album is very nostalgic which is even surprising to myself.
Picked up an original vinyl copy of this on the Straight label a few months ago. It's one of my prized possessions, a grail indeed.
Fascinating analysis of my favorite track from the most inspirational album in my lifetime. But I'm an old hippy with that utopian humanist vision of how things could be.
I never ever would have expected this!!!! Awesome Samuel, my favorite TH-cam channel in the present :)
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the kind words :)
As someone whose listened to more professors analyze contemporary music than I can keep count of, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would find such an entertaining and informative analysis of anything by Captain Beefheart, much less one of his most complex songs. I envy your students.
It follows the rules of good music. The more time it takes to get into, the longer it will last before boredom.
While teaching vocabulary words to 11th graders, we had the word cacophony. I played this song for them, and they seemed to understand the meaning, although I did explain to them why.
Superb analysis. As you say the drumming is so unique and special. I saw them live and the drum rhythm structure was extraordinarily satisfying. In fact the live performances as well as superbly performed and rehearsed showed each musician following their own pattern yet somehow meshed. Breathtaking. They rush to the front of the stage in waves and stomp all around the stage while playing their instruments with great precision.
Thanks for this analysis and the respect and admiration you show for this album. A lot of people just don’t understand.
You're right Samuel. I'd never heard of the band before.The P.A. was 200 watts (two hundred!). The band had 100 watt Marshalls. The P.A. monitor was on stage, my friend twiddling the knobs. I was at the back of the hall signalling to him by hand to get the levels right. First song Abba Zabba, my jaw hit the deck! Never been the same since.
As Zoogz Rift once pointed out, the song Suction Prints is an extended jam on the bass solo from Abba Zaba.
You've got to do some of this on The Residents, either Meet The Residents or Not Available
The fact that this is your most viewed video is glorious!
Lttp but thanks for successfully tackling the analysis of a TMR song. This is the best explanation I have ever seen.
Now I need time to go through your other videos!
"The fact that..." - you know who.
It sadden's me to know Don will never know his true stardom .
He was huge in his own lifetime man.
This is so cool. For me, probably the most difficult piece on the record, and so funny it kicks things off as the first track. My brain just crumbles when the first guitar solo hits and I just accept the chaos. This incredible analysis (32 minutes for 1:40 long track? haha) brings a new perspective. Really fun video, sir.
There is something funny about doing deep analysis of a song which was written by a guy who knew no music theory and wrote the song on a piano, instrument he couldnt play.
t3h_bunneh kind of. I think beefheart was an astutely minded artist. I think he knew how take things and combine them to make art. Lots of brilliant musicians and songwriters you like probably don’t know dick about music theory. It’s apparent that beefheart knew how to make musical statements, he just didn’t know the language of which to communicate them to other players. That’s what the band did, specifically French. He’s a surrealist artist making music that has rigid structure. The end product being what it is, well, its frankly baffling.
So should we not analyze any music that was not written by people with knowledge of music theory? That position puts away millennia of traditional musics passed down through hundreds (sometimes thousands) of years, by people who understood only what sounded 'correct' to their ears. I suppose it could be seen as slightly unusual (I don't think it is, really, but for the sake of argument I'll agree it is for the moment), but the music still functions, and trying to discover the order which exists behind that function is a valid pursuit.
t3h_bunneh The song was arranged by John French who knows music theory, can write music, and who transcribed and arranged the parts that Captain Beefheart created intuitively. So it's actually not so funny to analyse it. The song clearly has a great deal of structure to it
Steel picks as in fingerpicks?
The point is he cannot care less about music theory, he was driven by images and colors, he was basically a painter who could associate notes and degrees of colors. You can obviously decode his music using music theory but trout mask Replica was made using another language. I think he "simply" followed another code and we are uncoding it using traditional music theory.
I've had 'Trout Mask Replica' in my car CD player for years. It's my default music at all times.
Don’t really understand why it takes so many listens to ‘understand’ it. It’s just an unquestionably brilliant record, from first to last. Unquestionably brilliant
Thank you so much, it was about time that a professional took a serious look at this work of art. I bet there is a lot more to say about this album, I wish I could watch an analytical video of every song, I'm not a composition student but I'd definitively take my time to digest all of this.
The history of this album needs a movie.
100% agree
Wow. I really loved this. While I am not a musician at any definable level that I am comfortable admitting to, you have really helped me gain a deeper understanding as to why I love this music. Thanks. Great Work.
My man, this is no joke one of the best youtube videos I've ever seen. Thanks so much for this.
Thanks!
Astounding attention to detail Samuel, the work you are doing here is so important to me, Thank you so much !
Thank you so very much for your insightfully incredible analysis
British DJ John Peel played Moonlight on Vermont on his radio show. Since then I never looked back.
Love it -- simply fantastic. My smile is stuck.
Martin Harris Hi Martin. Mine too :)