I was roady for Don when he and the band came to England in the 70s. The first moment the band started up, for me it was like walking through a door of perseption. I had ever heard anything like it! I was stunned. Don was really freindly and appreciative for my roady efforts. I miss him, the good memories will never leave me. Tim Branston (Terry Dactyl and the Dinosors)
I saw Captain Beefheart in about 1975 or so. I knew about him because of Zappa so i was interested. I was about 5 rows back from the stage a little left of center when he got a real strange look on his face . He looked scared. I turned to look behind me and a guy who was definitely freaking out on acid was screaming at him and coming through the crowd heading Dons way screaming No, No No. Don was scared and quickly stepped back and to the side. A bunch of people grabbed the guy that was tripping bad and pulled him out of there. It definately threw Don off his game. He was nervously trying to look through the lights into the crowd for the rest of the show. I guess Don freaked the acid guy out and the acid guy freaked Don out. It was interesting to see.
Holy shoot! I had no idea CB did 'Diddy Wah Diddy'. I feel embarrassed lol. CB is usually venerated for the avant-guard/blues stuff. But they rarely get credit for making one of the greatest 60s garage rock albums of all time... 'Safe as Milk'! Beef fans often treat it as some kind of oddity or novelty. But many garage rock fans hold 'Safe' in the highest of regard.
Trout Mask Replica is like great difficult books that are hard to read at the first time. Afterwards you find out that it is a masterpiece. It pays off! See what Matt Groening said in this documentary.
Fortunate enough to see the Captain on the "Doc" tour at the University in Bellingham WA. Capt. had a bottle of "Perrier" water that seemed out of place till it came time for him to play harmonica. He opened the bottle and use the water from "Source.Perrier" to wet the reeds on his 'harp' before playing it! Great laugh from the college town crowd. Class on another level. Cheers! -dugair PDXtc.
"But Beefheart...Beefheart is the real McCoy. You ain't gonna get more avant-garde than Captain Beefheart" - I'm still miles away from that bit but I recall it with much vividity from nearly twenty-five years ago when this was first on the telly.
A good friend once told me that "Trout Mask Replica", one of his favorite records which he played often at high volume, was a major factor in the divorce from his first wife.
I saw this docu many moons ago and enjoyed it, but, watching it tonight on You Tube - I thought, wow, we were a lucky generation, spoilt with thinking, talented people, not afraid to stretch their musical muscles. I linked my daughter into Capt. Beef’s music and that really made me proud knowing she just got it! Love to all you Beefheart peeps out there x JaneR
Me also, your comments are indeed like only the gifted can tune into this very cleaver character who had a special almost saintly presence, anyone who thought well of him are the chosen few!.
@@astragreen hey Pal, To clarify, I was just really chuffed my daughter dug some music/musicians I thought a great deal of. I’m not looking to preen on some gilded plinth . Okay, can we be friends now? JaneR
I love that you shared with your daughter and she just got it. Makes me feel the love you two share, thanks My daughter just turned 23 on Jan 25, hasn’t spoken a word with me since just before her 14th BD 😭 I’m afraid between my failing her and the collapse of social society that is today it’s influence has a stronger grip than my undying love I have for her. Thanks for sharing I’m looking for love in all the off beat places, and it’s everywhere 🩷🙏 Blessings and Love Amen
I have deep appreciation for his approach to music. The style is all his. Those talented Magic Band members certainly contributed to the sound. From Safe As Milk to Ice Cream for Crow Don was a Bright Light in a Dim World. RIP.
Trout Mask was Don’s magnum opus. I loved that record with all my being. When I was young, I was quickly bored. There’s no way to get bored listening to Captain Beefheart and I didn’t. The brilliance is spread out across his many records and I digested them. Not ‘listened’ but digested. There are themes of his that are as fresh in my musical brain today as at the moment I learned them 50+ years ago. The most important influence I took away from the Captain would have to be the pleasure I take challenging an audience to like what I’m doing. I’ve always felt that was a gift to a listener and I still do. To this day, I have a sense of humor in my words, a verbal prankster as John Peel called it. To me, the words make total sense while the least imaginative get viscerally angry with me. Thankfully, there’s a lot of space between.
be sure to give Mr Bungle a listen to. Might i suggest a song named PINK CIGARETTE give the video a go mate. early album is def very hard rock/metal bits infused w jazz. then theres just avant garde whackiness of latter albums. Mike Patton the singer has some pipes as well as the band being musical geniuses. something there for everyone. i would have to say Mr bungle was heavily inspired by Zappa and Captain very much. they have been around since 80s to current. they are very good live. genuine like Beefheart and Zappa. Cheers
@@johnryan3913 Seeing as Trout is a far more individualistic, even outré record, I would state the exact opposite - that the later records betray another, possibly moderating influence, where Trout is more pure, avant gardé and irascible Don Van Vliet. That said, I like every one of the Captain’s adventures, including even Moonbeams, an exceptional piece I can’t find anyone else to admire. That stark contrast IS Captain Beefheart.
The way he rubs his hands together, his intense focus, lack of empathy for others etc are all signs of Asperger's syndrome. Was Don ever tested for it?
Its so nice to hear Yer man John Peel esq talk in those dulcet tones again. I miss him. Wonderful doc on the Captain btw, I am now going to catch up on all his records..
He said something else. He sang his own song. He absorbed other art: (blues, DaDa lyrics and approach in music & abstract expressionism in painting) but he told his own story.
I had the pleasure to meet both Don and FZ in NYC.Saw both of them several times perform.Including together on the BongoFury tour in 75.God bless and RIP.
I never really got him, and I was scared when I listened to "Doc at the Radar Station" and LOVED it, it's an insane, twisted, fuck up of an album, I mean "Dirty Blue Gene" is glorious...help me!
An exquisite essential substantive archival journey so well done leaving waves to "swim"in its wake for creative minds to ride with and on for an eternity. "Enjoy the environment...absence of space between the opposite minute" in the "wet of the ocean...dry of the desert."
Never saw this video before so just Wow, thank you for the upload. Just amazing. Saw his first Royal Albert Hall show when as prequel a ballerina came on stage and danced a while before Rockette Morton appeared, went up to her and asked for a light for his cigar. She obliged and he started playing... Just amazing. Trout Mask is my all time favourite too. Only took 20 or 30 times to get into it! Cheers
Yeah Captain Beefheart was ahead of its time, and now a sound that could never be realized. It's a dimension that can't be realized in this digital age. It's too real.
They absolutely loved Lamps and especially Green Shag Carpets and He was known to collect toenail clippings and hide them on the top shelf of his bedroom closet. How Cool Man! Rock on Dude!!! So Groovy!!!
I love Beefheart! First time I heard him I was tripping on acid and the album was Trout Mask Replica. It terrified me and I loved it. His Letterman interviews kill me!
When I played Beefheart for the wife she naturally hated it and said " it sounds like random noise". I said true,but they can play it the same way twice.
Tbf a lot of his albums were ‘challenging’ - it took a strong stomach to sit through an entire album in one go. But he was also a lot more interesting than contempories like The Stones, Eric Clapton, The Band . . . . .
Really good retrospect. Have listened to him since the late 60s. I am also one of the few radio DJs who actively played his stuff because I was the midnight-6 am DJ at a big progressive station that let me play anything. Maybe that’s why I was the #1 guy in the city in the overnights…I played Beefheart and Zappa?
One of the few times being a spoiled only child had a positive effect....... Playing the heretic for a while ; apart from a track or three I never was able to appreciate "Trout" for the revelation it's considered to be. It'snot for lack of trying though ; even had it for a year , because I was *considered* to have it . Being one of those simpletons who mainly went for Don's "rock" phase. If it hadn't been for Don's more accessible material he most likely would've remained an unknown . Most likely his paintings got attention because of the popularity he gained from his years as a controversial "rock" performer.
If you understood the r&b/blues basis of his music and have an ear for the avant garde, meaning music that strays from standard song structures, you can “get it”. I love his poetry too. Beautiful, ingenious, often hilarious stream of conscious lyrics and wordplay. Everyone talks about Trout Mask as the pinnacle but I’ve always loved “Lick my Decals off..” and even the much-maligned “Strictly Personal”. He wasn’t necessarily musically illiterate because he obviously could play blues harp and his vocal’s definitely were a combination of Howlin’ Wolf with a dollop of beat poetry.
"the much-maligned “Strictly Personal” ?.......by a few maybe , because of the added phasing ? by some considered to be opportunistic "psychedelic brownie points" . It was around "68 still seldom done anyway , only by the 'Iron Butterfly" or 'Small Faces' . 'Strictly Personal' is still considered a classic despite the "much-maligned" phasing. Personally I found it gave the tracks an otherworldly underground ambience . Without the phasing it might've been a regular reasonably interesting rhythm and blues rock album, what the later released "Mirror Man" somewhat proved.
First time I heard Willie, I was on mescaline. It was New Years Eve in friend's apt in Astoria, Queens. Friend took 1000 mikes of yellow sunshine and the evening was a bit paranoid. When Beefheart began singing, there were flames on the walls and a swastika in the shadows. Friend's roommate went autistic for the evening and was sort of goose stepping across the living room through Nazi decor & Beefheart doing Willie. There was more, but I won't bore you. Never did mescaline again.
Funny to see Doug Moon show how his attitude that he couldn’t defeated any chance he had to adapt. I have an aunt who is the same about any modern technology
Such a shame he got that degenerative bone disease can’t put my finger on it however it effected his brain also, that is obvious from the 70s his appearance changed totally after all he wasn’t that old, he eventually couldn’t talk near the end of his life, I’d say he had huge talent and loved his music was a strange character indeed, they say all very cleaver people are mentally unstable and I’d guess don was indeed touched that way, all the same he was a tragic individual, I loved him and thought he was a real cool guy!..
I've been teaching this guy since 1990. Given patience, high schoolers eventually learn to love the Magic. They never really like the ornette/trane vibe, but love his lyrics.
Clear spot was a favorite of mine. “Her eyes are a blue million miles” and “my head is my only house” may not have the advant garde that he was so known for but are two amazingly beautiful songs.
As a teen, a co musical writing friend of mine turned me onto Don’s music and we both ended up emulating his ethos if you will. We sounded nothing like his music but were musically eccentric. Unfortunately our music was quite out of place for the times. Don did get a resurgence when punk arrived but by then he was too old and less inspired though I did love “doc at the radar station” .
I don't like all of his work but grosso modo I think he was a genius. My interest in producer Ted Templeman led me to the Captain and my first acquaintance was Unconditionally Guaranteed. Although not music critics favourite (being too conventional), that album, together with Safe as Milk, are probably the best entrance for the ignorant listener. From there get your yoyo stuff.
31:48 That sounds like Tom Snyder on the Tomorrow show. Great answer from th' Captain. Shame John Lydon and Keith Levene didn't just say something self-deprecating and throw the smug old man off his high horse when he interviewed PiL in 1982.
A unique and most original individual that influenced so many people on so many different levels...but also a complex and troubled soul who in my opinion was highly romantic in the true sense of the world. His angular, challenging music throws a lot of people off but when it sticks it never leaves you. I never agreed on the comparison with Zappa. They were friends as youngsters bonding over r 'n b records but they were definitely two different worlds. The whole 'who's the bigger genius' discussion is silly. Frank was a true musical genius without any doubt. Don carved his own particular niche and explored it to the fullest. There's no comparing those two. Don could sing really beautifully when he wanted: "Autumn's Child", "This is the day", "Observatory Crest" or he could bite and belt like the best of the old bluesmen: "Big Eyed Beans from Venus", "Electricity",...and then he did stuff so off the wall it defies definiton: all of 'Trout Mask Replica'. Great guy. Great artist.
One great adventure in music by some of the top of the creative minds of early experimental rock and their influences and realities of its life. Cool beans...
He was an avant garde Bluesman! His music was based on Blues but with a twist lyrically. Sometimes it sounded like a fragmented piece of Blues. He had no hits and retired to painting. I wish I could see his paintings. I bet they are interesting. Beef heart and Zappa were two originals! Both incredibly intelligent and innovative. RIP
@@mozlikelyii6932 His music was interesting, too. The live in Paris show is excellent! I wish someone would scan his Art 🖼 and put it on the Internet. It would increase the interest and the value, I think. People like to see samples and then they buy. Thanks.
God its jarring seeing and hearing John Peel again. Much missed. The Safe As Milk band were SO fucking tight. I freely admit I don't like much of his music, and I'd be a lying pretender just attempting to look cool, saying Trout Mask Replica is a favourite. But you cant deny how extraordinary he was. Anyone that uncompromising AND popular, deserves respect, at the very, very least. I grow tired of seeing people comparing or pitting Beefheart and Zappa against each other. Yes they were cut from a similar cloth. But they were separate artists. With different goals. He has more in common with the Bonzo Dog Band than Frank Zappa.
*And the hotlick kicked, and the fire leaped an' licked And the hotlick kicked and the fire just leaped an' licked And the hotlick kickin' an' the fire jus' leapin' an' lickin' And the fire leaped and licked*
And you just know they’re only the tip of a much larger, crazier iceberg. That machine crossbow story is hilarious but I guarantee that was just one of many such occurrences that culminated in Ry’s decision to bolt for saner pastures.
The very great and might Mr Captain Beefheart, I have a liked and fully understood the Captain and his music and I never took any drugs in my long life
@@richardk6659 beefheart would say this in interviews, but other members of the magic band have stated that it is untrue. Gary Lucas speaks of smoking weed with Don on a European tour, and I believe the band was high on acid during the mirror man sessions. I think it is true of Zappa though.
OH, please, enough self-righteous idiocy from undereducated monoglots. Time for a cup of jo? 😮 A trip to the church? The only things more hideous than dead children happily watching us while flying around on little white chicken wings are the people that believe in them, and USA is #1 in that addictive delusion. 😢
I mean, is this guy serious? He’s calling that “vocal vomit,” music? I keep waiting for him to say, “Alright, alright, just kidding! Okay then, a one, a two, a one, two, three………”
![เปิดใจ "อาจารย์เบียร์ คนตื่นธรรม" อดีตเคยสุดทุกทาง ถ้าใช้หนี้หมดไปบวชแน่ l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IxeE0xVhy08/mqdefault.jpg)
I worked sound once for Zappa with Captain Beefheart. A transformative experience. And they were both great to work with, real gentlemen.
Total envy
Bongo Fury!!👍
I was roady for Don when he and the band came to England in the 70s. The first moment the band started up, for me it was like walking through a door of perseption. I had ever heard anything like it! I was stunned. Don was really freindly and appreciative for my roady efforts. I miss him, the good memories will never leave me. Tim Branston (Terry Dactyl and the Dinosors)
Did you get to know anyone else in the Magic Band?
Cool story. I had this documentary on VHS from when it was first on British telly. I discovered Beefheart aged seventeen through a friend.
Jonah Louie?
An "Appreciative" dedication.
Crazy how to play like Capt. Nuts
I saw Captain Beefheart in about 1975 or so.
I knew about him because of Zappa so i was interested.
I was about 5 rows back from the stage a little left of center when he got a real strange look on his face . He looked scared. I turned to look behind me and a guy who was definitely freaking out on acid was screaming at him and coming through the crowd heading Dons way screaming No, No No.
Don was scared and quickly stepped back and to the side.
A bunch of people grabbed the guy that was tripping bad and pulled him out of there.
It definately threw Don off his game. He was nervously trying to look through the lights into the crowd for the rest of the show.
I guess Don freaked the acid guy out and the acid guy freaked Don out.
It was interesting to see.
Holy shoot! I had no idea CB did 'Diddy Wah Diddy'. I feel embarrassed lol.
CB is usually venerated for the avant-guard/blues stuff. But they rarely get credit for making one of the greatest 60s garage rock albums of all time... 'Safe as Milk'! Beef fans often treat it as some kind of oddity or novelty. But many garage rock fans hold 'Safe' in the highest of regard.
Once you discover the music of this guy, you'll never be the same. Thank you Don and Magic Band
I love Captain Beefheart. The documentary narrated by John Peel is so great. Ry Cooder’s stories are bittersweet and poignant.
Trout Mask Replica is like great difficult books that are hard to read at the first time. Afterwards you find out that it is a masterpiece. It pays off! See what Matt Groening said in this documentary.
Fortunate enough to see the Captain on the "Doc" tour at the University in Bellingham WA.
Capt. had a bottle of "Perrier" water that seemed out of place till it came time for him to play harmonica. He opened the bottle and use the water from "Source.Perrier" to wet the reeds on his 'harp' before playing it!
Great laugh from the college town crowd.
Class on another level. Cheers!
-dugair PDXtc.
"The way I keep in touch with the world is very gingerly because the world touches too hard".
Poignant little piece Anton made at the end there.
When the (and I say this as an Irishman) insufferable Bono asked Don for a colab, he wrote back...
Dear Bongo...
No thanks...
Don...
F....genius 😢
Insufferable. I'm not number 2! I'm number 1!
jimmy carl black's "now frank is good," taunt is the highlight of this lol. may they all rest in peace
I came here to watch just that all over again 😂😂😂
Amen brother, Amen lol
what would jimmy know...he is as sharp as a bowlingball.
@@mikedemike5393met Jimmy myself. Correct observation. Lol
"But Beefheart...Beefheart is the real McCoy. You ain't gonna get more avant-garde than Captain Beefheart" - I'm still miles away from that bit but I recall it with much vividity from nearly twenty-five years ago when this was first on the telly.
A good friend once told me that "Trout Mask Replica", one of his favorite records which he played often at high volume, was a major factor in the divorce from his first wife.
😂
I FUCKIN' MISS JOHN PEEL!!!!!!!
Me too brother 👍
Me too brother 👍
No other DJ past present and future can match him for his sevices to music enlightenment
John Lydon also used to listen to Beefheart a lot as a teen in his mum's house before The Sex Pistols.
Hence “PIL - metal box”
I was wondering if someone would reference John Lydon.
The drummer said don and zappa were both geniuses who quit speaking
I saw this docu many moons ago and enjoyed it, but, watching it tonight on You Tube - I thought, wow, we were a lucky generation, spoilt with thinking, talented people, not afraid to stretch their musical muscles. I linked my daughter into Capt. Beef’s music and that really made me proud knowing she just got it! Love to all you Beefheart peeps out there x JaneR
Me also, your comments are indeed like only the gifted can tune into this very cleaver character who had a special almost saintly presence, anyone who thought well of him are the chosen few!.
@@astragreen hey Pal,
To clarify, I was just really chuffed my daughter dug some music/musicians I thought a great deal of. I’m not looking to preen on some gilded plinth .
Okay, can we be friends now? JaneR
Indeed.
@@ronaldpetrin5823 thank you, Ronald.
JaneR
I love that you shared with your daughter and she just got it.
Makes me feel the love you two share, thanks
My daughter just turned 23 on Jan 25, hasn’t spoken a word with me since just before her 14th BD 😭
I’m afraid between my failing her and the collapse of social society that is today it’s influence has a stronger grip than my undying love I have for her.
Thanks for sharing I’m looking for love in all the off beat places, and it’s everywhere 🩷🙏
Blessings and Love
Amen
I have deep appreciation for his approach to music. The style is all his. Those talented Magic Band members certainly contributed to the sound. From Safe As Milk to Ice Cream for Crow Don was a Bright Light in a Dim World. RIP.
"All the albums that Beefheart makes are the best"
Trout Mask was Don’s magnum opus. I loved that record with all my being. When I was young, I was quickly bored. There’s no way to get bored listening to Captain Beefheart and I didn’t. The brilliance is spread out across his many records and I digested them. Not ‘listened’ but digested. There are themes of his that are as fresh in my musical brain today as at the moment I learned them 50+ years ago.
The most important influence I took away from the Captain would have to be the pleasure I take challenging an audience to like what I’m doing. I’ve always felt that was a gift to a listener and I still do. To this day, I have a sense of humor in my words, a verbal prankster as John Peel called it. To me, the words make total sense while the least imaginative get viscerally angry with me. Thankfully, there’s a lot of space between.
be sure to give Mr Bungle a listen to. Might i suggest a song named PINK CIGARETTE give the video a go mate. early album is def very hard rock/metal bits infused w jazz. then theres just avant garde whackiness of latter albums. Mike Patton the singer has some pipes as well as the band being musical geniuses. something there for everyone. i would have to say Mr bungle was heavily inspired by Zappa and Captain very much. they have been around since 80s to current. they are very good live. genuine like Beefheart and Zappa. Cheers
@@-jimmyjames Loss Of Control live is spectacular.
@@artysanmobile clap clap clap.
Trout is imo marred by Zappa's intrusions. Love Decals, Clear Spot, Shiny Beast, and Doc at the Radar Station
@@johnryan3913 Seeing as Trout is a far more individualistic, even outré record, I would state the exact opposite - that the later records betray another, possibly moderating influence, where Trout is more pure, avant gardé and irascible Don Van Vliet. That said, I like every one of the Captain’s adventures, including even Moonbeams, an exceptional piece I can’t find anyone else to admire. That stark contrast IS Captain Beefheart.
The way he rubs his hands together, his intense focus, lack of empathy for others etc are all signs of Asperger's syndrome. Was Don ever tested for it?
Don't go down that road, Don was born int he 1940's.
Its so nice to hear Yer man John Peel esq talk in those dulcet tones again.
I miss him.
Wonderful doc on the Captain btw, I am now going to catch up on all his records..
@jazz from hell: Thanks for the upload! It’s good to see this classic documentary about this great artist again!!!!
He said something else. He sang his own song. He absorbed other art: (blues, DaDa lyrics and approach in music & abstract expressionism in painting) but he told his own story.
What a legend! One of my all time heroes!
Saw Don and the Magic Band, 'ClearSpot' tour., in Glasgow. Don opened his mouth and blew the P.A. !.
I had the pleasure to meet both Don and FZ in NYC.Saw both of them several times perform.Including together on the BongoFury tour in 75.God bless and RIP.
Yes lve😢 had bongo fury LP since 79 armadillo tx concert best wishes fr om NZ
I saw this when it was first on all those years ago, It.Was great then even better now .😊
Love that bit at the end where he plays the piano. I wouldnt mind a whole record of Don at the piano
I never really got him, and I was scared when I listened to "Doc at the Radar Station" and LOVED it, it's an insane, twisted, fuck up of an album, I mean "Dirty Blue Gene" is glorious...help me!
An exquisite essential substantive archival journey so well done leaving waves to "swim"in its wake for creative minds to ride with and on for an eternity. "Enjoy the environment...absence of space between the opposite minute" in the "wet of the ocean...dry of the desert."
Never saw this video before so just Wow, thank you for the upload. Just amazing. Saw his first Royal Albert Hall show when as prequel a ballerina came on stage and danced a while before Rockette Morton appeared, went up to her and asked for a light for his cigar. She obliged and he started playing... Just amazing. Trout Mask is my all time favourite too. Only took 20 or 30 times to get into it! Cheers
Yeah Captain Beefheart was ahead of its time, and now a sound that could never be realized. It's a dimension that can't be realized in this digital age. It's too real.
They absolutely loved Lamps and especially Green Shag Carpets and He was known to collect toenail clippings and hide them on the top shelf of his bedroom closet. How Cool Man! Rock on Dude!!! So Groovy!!!
Lucky to have met him at his show at The Venue in London in 1980. What a man!
without Beefheart, we wouldn't have Tom Waits.
Don't forget Howlin' Wolf influcence on the two.
So if we deleted beef heart we would not have to deal with Waits? Great deal all the way around.
@@jamesarnette1394 What about Howlin ' Wolf ?
@@jamesarnette1394 dem's fightin' words
@@jamesarnette1394Philistine
It’s hysterical 😂 listening to Ry Cooder
Recall his time spent with Don & the Magic Band.
I love Beefheart! First time I heard him I was tripping on acid and the album was Trout Mask Replica. It terrified me and I loved it.
His Letterman interviews kill me!
When I played Beefheart for the wife she naturally hated it and said " it sounds like random noise". I said true,but they can play it the same way twice.
Great point
"It's such a fine line between clever and stupid."
- David St. Hubbins
amazing they skipped right by clear spot. best thing he ever did.
TMR and Clear Spot are my favorites.
Lick my decals off is the best !
This is a great documentary. Really helps me see into the life of Mr Beefheart. Thank you!
Been a fan since I first heard him, a real artist
Howlin' Wolf meets Tristan Tzara.
Man, i love this Guy. Pure genius. I hope him story remains and keep growing in every music/art fan.
All of my love to all of you watching this pearl
listening to the great man now....i saw this when it was broadcast...big thanks.
Watching Ry Cooder speak and realizing he's a genius of music was really great.
As much as I love Ry, he wasnt fit to play with Don. He wasnt and isnt a genius.. just an eclectic, tasty guitar player. Don was the real stuff.
HE DESERVES MORE RESPECT THAN THAT@@tomasvanecek8626
Tbf a lot of his albums were ‘challenging’ - it took a strong stomach to sit through an entire album in one go. But he was also a lot more interesting than contempories like The Stones, Eric Clapton, The Band . . . . .
you got that right
Really good retrospect. Have listened to him since the late 60s. I am also one of the few radio DJs who actively played his stuff because I was the midnight-6 am DJ at a big progressive station that let me play anything. Maybe that’s why I was the #1 guy in the city in the overnights…I played Beefheart and Zappa?
''Frank's good but Don is the real thing''
One of the few times being a spoiled only child had a positive effect.......
Playing the heretic for a while ; apart from a track or three I never was able to appreciate "Trout" for the revelation it's considered to be. It'snot for lack of trying though ; even had it for a year , because I was *considered* to have it . Being one of those simpletons who mainly went for Don's "rock" phase.
If it hadn't been for Don's more accessible material he most likely would've remained an unknown .
Most likely his paintings got attention because of the popularity he gained from his years as a controversial "rock" performer.
CLASSIC Doc. Have this on a DVD somewhere.
If you understood the r&b/blues basis of his music and have an ear for the avant garde, meaning music that strays from standard song structures, you can “get it”. I love his poetry too. Beautiful, ingenious, often hilarious stream of conscious lyrics and wordplay. Everyone talks about Trout Mask as the pinnacle but I’ve always loved “Lick my Decals off..” and even the much-maligned “Strictly Personal”. He wasn’t necessarily musically illiterate because he obviously could play blues harp and his vocal’s definitely were a combination of Howlin’ Wolf with a dollop of beat poetry.
"the much-maligned “Strictly Personal” ?.......by a few maybe , because of the added phasing ?
by some considered to be opportunistic "psychedelic brownie points" .
It was around "68 still seldom done anyway , only by the 'Iron Butterfly" or 'Small Faces' .
'Strictly Personal' is still considered a classic despite the "much-maligned" phasing.
Personally I found it gave the tracks an otherworldly underground ambience . Without the phasing it might've been a regular reasonably interesting rhythm and blues rock album, what the later released "Mirror Man" somewhat proved.
I prefer Decals to Trout Mask, Strictly Personal is great, Kandy Korn from Mirror Man blows my socks off 🙂
@@ronaldchives2486 Yes!! 👍
The mistake might to be to think these kinds of people are accidental.
I don’t know why his mid 70s record get such a bad rating. I think Moon beams & Unconditionally Guaranteed are brilliant albums. PLAY LOUD
I recommend Safe as Milk for who is not familiar with Beefheart's work. And also his collaboration with Zappa in Willie the Pimp and Bongo Fury.
First time I heard Willie, I was on mescaline. It was New Years Eve in friend's apt in Astoria, Queens. Friend took 1000 mikes of yellow sunshine and the evening was a bit paranoid. When Beefheart began singing, there were flames on the walls and a swastika in the shadows. Friend's roommate went autistic for the evening and was sort of goose stepping across the living room through Nazi decor & Beefheart doing Willie. There was more, but I won't bore you. Never did mescaline again.
Thanks for the quality upload.
Really r. Oh RCff cccf r
He and Syd Barrett were real mad genius!!
"Rock's only genius" was a childhood friend of Rock's other genius.
Funny to see Doug Moon show how his attitude that he couldn’t defeated any chance he had to adapt.
I have an aunt who is the same about any modern technology
Such a shame he got that degenerative bone disease can’t put my finger on it however it effected his brain also, that is obvious from the 70s his appearance changed totally after all he wasn’t that old, he eventually couldn’t talk near the end of his life, I’d say he had huge talent and loved his music was a strange character indeed, they say all very cleaver people are mentally unstable and I’d guess don was indeed touched that way, all the same he was a tragic individual, I loved him and thought he was a real cool guy!..
I've been teaching this guy since 1990. Given patience, high schoolers eventually learn to love the Magic. They never really like the ornette/trane vibe, but love his lyrics.
God bless him
I met him once in the desert. He had thick fur and a devilish look of old.
58:54 for those of you wondering, this location is at or just above the middle of Old Home Beach in Trinidad, California.
Like most geniuses in the arts, he was sometimes hard to like. But when he was good, he was very very good.
It's odd that they skipped over *Cleat Spot* ; a phenomenal, powerful Beefheart album engineered by Ted Templeman in 1972 . .
Or the utterly brilliant "Spotlight Kid" even ......Don's "rock" phase should be ignored by the "Trout" snobs......That's well known......
Clear spot was a favorite of mine. “Her eyes are a blue million miles” and “my head is my only house” may not have the advant garde that he was so known for but are two amazingly beautiful songs.
As a teen, a co musical writing friend of mine turned me onto Don’s music and we both ended up emulating his ethos if you will. We sounded nothing like his music but were musically eccentric. Unfortunately our music was quite out of place for the times. Don did get a resurgence when punk arrived but by then he was too old and less inspired though I did love “doc at the radar station” .
My favorite rock album of all time. Years later Down Beat rated it 5 stars.
@@TheGreatConstantini
I love "Her Eyes...", happy to have heard it in The Big Lebowski!
Love "Observatory Crest" too.
Soft and beautiful songs.
Awesome! I've seen that Under Review Beefheart doc but haven't seen this one yet. i'm excited. Great upload! The captain is the genius!
America's van gogh...you can hear the landscape... genius is a term that is thrown around in this case i believe it to be true
I don't like all of his work but grosso modo I think he was a genius. My interest in producer Ted Templeman led me to the Captain and my first acquaintance was Unconditionally Guaranteed. Although not music critics favourite (being too conventional), that album, together with Safe as Milk, are probably the best entrance for the ignorant listener. From there get your yoyo stuff.
Don vs Frank is not a contest as such. Different geniuses for different reasons.
The black & white monologue weirdness really works. Fast and Fishy - thx
I don't like a lot of these people putting him down, trying to ruin what I've seen and heard in him... LOVE THE MAN... or....
Pure genius it's too advanced for most ppl even for this day and age. I think it mostly goes over there head
31:48 That sounds like Tom Snyder on the Tomorrow show. Great answer from th' Captain. Shame John Lydon and Keith Levene didn't just say something self-deprecating and throw the smug old man off his high horse when he interviewed PiL in 1982.
Me and my gal bimbo limbo spam something like that. The captain is a F ing Genius
I want to encourage, anybody reading this.
Saying he's rock's only true genius is kind of silly 😂 but he was interesting for sure.
Lol, I was at the Whisky during this concert too! I was the short Black kid sitting at a table with the owners.
Great docs, THANKS!
A unique and most original individual that influenced so many people on so many different levels...but also a complex and troubled soul who in my opinion was highly romantic in the true sense of the world. His angular, challenging music throws a lot of people off but when it sticks it never leaves you. I never agreed on the comparison with Zappa. They were friends as youngsters bonding over r 'n b records but they were definitely two different worlds. The whole 'who's the bigger genius' discussion is silly. Frank was a true musical genius without any doubt. Don carved his own particular niche and explored it to the fullest. There's no comparing those two. Don could sing really beautifully when he wanted: "Autumn's Child", "This is the day", "Observatory Crest" or he could bite and belt like the best of the old bluesmen: "Big Eyed Beans from Venus", "Electricity",...and then he did stuff so off the wall it defies definiton: all of 'Trout Mask Replica'. Great guy. Great artist.
THE ARTIST FORMELY KNOWN AS PRINCE !
One great adventure in music by some of the top of the creative minds of early experimental rock and their influences and realities of its life. Cool beans...
He was an avant garde Bluesman! His music was based on Blues but with a twist lyrically. Sometimes it sounded like a fragmented piece of Blues.
He had no hits and retired to painting. I wish I could see his paintings. I bet they are interesting.
Beef heart and Zappa were two originals! Both incredibly intelligent and innovative.
RIP
There's an article in The Guardian about his shift to painting, it shows some examples. Interesting stuff.
@@mozlikelyii6932
His music was interesting, too. The live in Paris show is excellent!
I wish someone would scan his Art 🖼 and put it on the Internet. It would increase the interest and the value, I think.
People like to see samples and then they buy.
Thanks.
Captain Beefheart is not something u listen to... it's something u endure.
Mark E Smith🍺🚬🥴🍻of The Fall loved and was influenced by
🎶Captain Beefheart❤
Their uncompromising attitudes in pursuit of their visions. That was one thing they definitely had in common. Nice comment there.
God its jarring seeing and hearing John Peel again. Much missed.
The Safe As Milk band were SO fucking tight. I freely admit I don't like much of his music, and I'd be a lying pretender just attempting to look cool, saying Trout Mask Replica is a favourite. But you cant deny how extraordinary he was. Anyone that uncompromising AND popular, deserves respect, at the very, very least.
I grow tired of seeing people comparing or pitting Beefheart and Zappa against each other. Yes they were cut from a similar cloth. But they were separate artists. With different goals.
He has more in common with the Bonzo Dog Band than Frank Zappa.
My favorite quote of all time. " One bad vibe can't kill this here boogie" ( or close to that) shout out Ry
*And the hotlick kicked, and the fire leaped an' licked
And the hotlick kicked and the fire just leaped an' licked
And the hotlick kickin' an' the fire jus' leapin' an' lickin'
And the fire leaped and licked*
A carrot is the closest thing a rabbit will come to a diamond ❤️ Don
So many stories re: CB’s dysfunctionality, and I have no doubt most are true. But then look and see how many of his records are gems!
Ry Cooder's contributions are so entertaining.
And you just know they’re only the tip of a much larger, crazier iceberg. That machine crossbow story is hilarious but I guarantee that was just one of many such occurrences that culminated in Ry’s decision to bolt for saner pastures.
I got to see the Captain with Grateful Dead in Phx. back in the 70s. Very entertaining, creative, unique.
The very great and might Mr Captain Beefheart, I have a liked and fully understood the Captain and his music and I never took any drugs in my long life
From what I understand, neither Beefheart or Zappa tolerated drugs or acohol use from any band members. The focus was completely upon the music.
@@richardk6659 Both were highly intelligent men, they were serious about their art, it was their lives
@@richardk6659 beefheart would say this in interviews, but other members of the magic band have stated that it is untrue. Gary Lucas speaks of smoking weed with Don on a European tour, and I believe the band was high on acid during the mirror man sessions.
I think it is true of Zappa though.
OH, please, enough self-righteous idiocy from undereducated monoglots.
Time for a cup of jo? 😮
A trip to the church?
The only things more hideous than dead children happily watching us while flying around on little white chicken wings are the people that believe in them, and USA is #1 in that addictive delusion. 😢
35:40 Such a great performance. Great filming too.
do you know the name of that song?
@@amaro9085 It says it on screen. "Upon The My-O-My". It's the first track on the "Unconditionally Guaranteed" album.
Captain Beefheart and Yoko Ono should have collaborated.
amazing testaments from people who were there.
it was through peeli got into beefheart.
i'm a proud owner of trout mask replica this is why i write songs on you tube😮😮
Captain Beefheart was a weird genius, but definitely a genius.
This is Fast and Bulbous ❤
That’s right, The Mascara Snake
I mean, is this guy serious? He’s calling that “vocal vomit,” music? I keep waiting for him to say, “Alright, alright, just kidding! Okay then, a one, a two, a one, two, three………”