Re: Captain Beefheart

From: Carly Bates (hehboo@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Dec 15 2000 - 22:10:15 CET

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    Now, I've only heard the album with '25th Century Quaker' on it. Where
    would those of you in the know say that falls in the Captain's repertoire?
    I agree it's good to hear that's the kind of music we can discuss here.

    -Carly

    >From: "Leslie N. Shill" <icehouse@redshift.com>
    >To: "Stimp" <stimp@sympatico.ca>
    >CC: "acid" <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
    >Subject: Re: Captain Beefheart
    >Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 22:19:40 -0800
    >
    >I sure am glad to see another Beefheart fan around, i usually feel like a
    >dinosaur when i talk about him and people look at me with that "yeah,
    >right!" look. I know that he has been a very difficult man to work with for
    >his bandmembers but he apparently has, as you point out, some very exacting
    >standards which is not all bad. As Don Van Vliet he has also done some
    >interesting paintings, hot rats, hot cats, gimme tha Captain!
    >
    >leslie/The Power of Sound
    >
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: Stimp
    > To: Leslie N. Shill ; robert@vaneglory.com
    > Cc: acid
    > Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 4:32 PM
    > Subject: Re: Captain Beefheart
    >
    >
    > Cool, another Beefheart fan!! I got to know Beefheart thru Zappa, and
    >loved what I heard. My buddy then lent me "Trout Mask Replica", and I was
    >hooked! This is one of the most challenging, unorthodox, heavy records
    >I've ever heard, and it kept me wanting more. I eventually picked up his
    >latest 2 cd comp "The Dust Blows Forward", and it features a pretty good
    >cross section of his material with The Magic Band. However, it should be
    >noted that not all of Beefheart's music is as free and unstructured as
    >"Trout Mask Replica". Actually, I would categorize most of his work as
    >being alternative blues, acid blues, or free blues. Basically, blues with
    >an interesting twist.
    >
    > For those who prefer the weird stuff found on "Trout Mask Replica",
    >Rhino records released a 4 cd boxset of the Trout Mask outtakes, and
    >although I haven't heard it myself, a few knowledgable Beefheart fans that
    >I know have said that it's nothing short of brilliant, essential listening.
    >
    > Lastly, for those who are still interested to keep reading,
    >Beefhearts drummer circa the Trout Mask years, Drumbo, recently wrote a
    >book on the time that he spent in the Magic Band, and let me tell you, it
    >was interesting to say the least. According to him, Beefheart used to
    >force his musicians to stay indoors for days at a time, rehearsing until
    >they got the material right. Also, Drumbo claims that Beefheart used
    >pretty extreme psychological cruelty to get his band to do his bidding. In
    >any case, even those who are casual fans will have a blast reading this
    >book. Check it out.
    >
    > Stimp
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: Leslie N. Shill
    > To: robert@vaneglory.com
    > Cc: acid
    > Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 1:40 PM
    > Subject: Re: Re:Buena Vista
    >
    >
    > Robert,
    >
    > i played one of your tracks last night, did you see the playlist i
    >posted?
    >
    > as far as Ry is concerned, if you think about Captain Beefheart and
    >Cooder's contribution to his music, say on "Safe As Milk", and you
    >extrapolate that out through Ry's film scores, it is a really huge body of
    >work but for the first time on Buena Vista, he was more obvious to me as
    >the tourist, even as amazing a tourist as Ry is, he is definitely not
    >Cuban! i comment on this in all respect for Ry Cooder, who i first met with
    >the Captain.
    >
    > Does anyone else on the list know the work of Captain Beefheart? some
    >of his work with Zappa is astonishing and i daresay that some of those
    >songs, perhaps "Hot Rats" could be the basis for pretty sick remix tricks.
    >
    > leslie/The Power of Sound
    >
    >
    > leslie
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: robert@vaneglory.com
    > To: Leslie N. Shill
    > Cc: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
    > Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 10:17 AM
    > Subject: Re:Buena Vista
    >
    >
    > Leslie,
    > And I've been watching Ry since 'Into the Purple Valley' and
    >respected his contributions
    > to the commercial music biz over the years.
    > It was just comforting to have my guilty criticism validated aloud
    >by others.
    >
    > Cheers!
    > Robert
    >
    >
    > "Leslie N. Shill" wrote:
    >
    > Robert, I have to agree with you about Ry Cooder on Buena Vista.
    >Although I hold him very high regard as a musician, a writer and as a
    >producer. the Cuban musicians are so connected to each other and intuitive
    >about the playing of their fellow band members that Ry is pretty much
    >superfluous. i understand why he went for the slide guitar but the result
    >is a bit of a mish-mash for me. With Ali Farka Toure the production and
    >seamless playing gave Ry a textural fit that was not at all obtrusive. To
    >me the Cubans are just so damn goooood and they seem steeped in the
    >foundation and layers of Cuban music! leslie/The Power of Sound

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