[Denim]

I am continuing my musical history with this selection. I checked out "Trout Mask Replica" from the library today. I remember seeing the albums at peoples houses when I was younger. Now I know why I never heard it before. If you like Captain Beefheart, fill me in on what I'm missing. I didn't listen to a single song all the way through! All I can think is that you had to be stoned out of you mind to listen to this. There is no singing, the instruments aren't much better.

 

[gratefulshrink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denim I am continuing my musical history with this selection. I checked out "Trout Mask Replica" from the library today. I remember seeing the albums at peoples houses when I was younger. Now I know why I never heard it before. If you like Captain Beefheart, fill me in on what I'm missing. I didn't listen to a single song all the way through! All I can think is that you had to be stoned out of you mind to listen to this. There is no singing, the instruments aren't much better.

TMR is more on the experimental/psychedelic end of the Beefheart spectrum. I would start with SAfe as Milk or Mirror Man sessions first -- the songs are more approachable.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Uh, yeah. The Captain isn't exactly accessible. If you really want to get into it, look up his history, bio, etc. It's experimental, and once you figure out what he's up to (using music as an irritant is one of his goals) you can start making some sense of him. A good starting point is here:

http://www.beefheart.com/

Listening multiple times will also help unlock a few things. No, it's not easy going and it's not always fun. But there is something to learn there. Captain Beefheart will change the way you listen to music. That's a good thing. And it might just catch on with you, too. My personal favorite is still Lick My Decals Off, Baby, though TMR is pretty good, too.

If you're interested in other music that'll challenge you, pick up a disc or two by The Residents. More accessible, but still plenty weird. The Commercial Album is a good place to start.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denim I am continuing my musical history with this selection. I checked out "Trout Mask Replica" from the library today. I remember seeing the albums at peoples houses when I was younger. Now I know why I never heard it before. If you like Captain Beefheart, fill me in on what I'm missing. I didn't listen to a single song all the way through! All I can think is that you had to be stoned out of you mind to listen to this. There is no singing, the instruments aren't much better.

As someone who grew up listening to the Captain and even show the original Magic Band way back in the 1970's I think I can give you a couple of pointers.

First thing to remember is that Beefheart's music is basically blues based. On "Trout Mask" there are even two songs with "Blues" in the title: "Dachau Blues" (which is about the Nazi's killing of the Jews during WWII) and "My Human Gets Me Blues" (which is about girl born in a boy's body - and yes, most of the lyrics do make sense).

The songs that aren't blues based are usually just fairly simple pop melodies with lots of overlapping rhythmic stuff going on, usually in the form of choppy guitar riffs. There are also poems read aloud, instrumental jams and just plain craziness but most of it is not all thorny and upon repeated listening with an open mind it does start to make sense.

I've been defending Beefheart for over 30 years, so this is nothing new. I've found that either people get the Captain or they don't, and most (and I mean MOST) people don't. I've learned to live with it.

 

[gratefulshrink]

Denim, have you listened to much Zappa? He and Beefheart grew up together (both personally and musically), so there is a connection there. If you don't like Zappa, I don't se too much Beefheart in your future.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gratefulshrink Denim, have you listened to much Zappa? He and Beefheart grew up together (both personally and musically), so there is a connection there. If you don't like Zappa, I don't se too much Beefheart in your future.

i'm not sure, but i believe they had a falling out sometime around Bongo Fury. Zappa produced Trout Mask Replica, i believe.

 

[Denim]

You are right about Frank Zappa producing Trout Mask Replica. I saw that before checking out the disc, so I kind of expected something different. So much of this album seems to be poetry read to music, and than put me off. This was the only selection at the library of Captain Beefheart. I've gotten into the habit of listening first before purchasing whenever possible.

Thanks for all of the input. I'll see if I can find other albums also before calling it quits on the Captain. All in all, it's alway a fun experience whenever you pop a new CD in the deck.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denim You are right about Frank Zappa producing Trout Mask Replica. I saw that before checking out the disc, so I kind of expected something different. So much of this album seems to be poetry read to music, and than put me off. This was the only selection at the library of Captain Beefheart. I've gotten into the habit of listening first before purchasing whenever possible. Thanks for all of the input. I'll see if I can find other albums also before calling it quits on the Captain. All in all, it's alway a fun experience whenever you pop a new CD in the deck.

Thanks for the thanks! And thanks for being so adventurous as far as finding out about new music. If you don't take changes you'll never grow, especially with the current sad state of radio in America.

As for Zappa "producing" Trout Mask Replica, it's really more like Zappa gave Beefheart the money to make the record and some assistance in the studio.

I know it hasn't been mentioned yet but don't believe the stories that Trout Mask was written and recorded in something like 24 hours. That nonsense was started by a story in Rolling Stone magazine way back when Trout Mask first came out by some writer who was completely bamboozled by Beefheart and believed whatever the Captain told him.

Beefheart and The Magic Band worked on Trout Mask for over a month and even recorded another version of almost the entire album (without the vocals) at their group house which also served as a recording studio and rehearsal space. This alternate version was scraped at the last minute, at which point the band went into a "real" recording studio and proceeded to rerecord the entire double album in something like 8 hours. Considering the complexity of the music, on the surface this appeared to be quite a feat, but the band had been rehearsing this music for over a month and they had it down cold.

All this information and more can be found on the liner notes to "Grow Fins: Rarities (1965-1982)" a 5 CD box on the Revenant label which came out in 1999. This set contains the entire alternate "Trout Mask Replica" along with many other tasty treats for Beefheart fans.

 

[varro]

You need some time for it to open to you. When I first listened it, it just sounded wierd and cacophonic. But after listening to it again by a coincidence after maybe a year it sounded fantastic.

 

[Denim]

The link provided by Uncle Erik (thanks, by the way) has some info that should make the Captain Beefheart fans happy ---

Virgin/EMI are to rerelease their entire Captain Beefheart back catalogue on CD on Monday 7th August. The albums have all been remastered and Captain Beefheart biographer Mike Barnes has written informative liner notes which set out the context and circumstances of the creation of each album.


I'm not a fan yet, still need to hear other works.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Beefheart and The Magic Band worked on Trout Mask ... at their group house which also served as a recording studio and rehearsal space.

Did anyone else catch the story that this house is for sale? Take a look here:

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/08/01...fhearts_h.html

If I lived in the area, I'd seriously consider it. I worry it might get scraped for a McMansion.

 

[zumaro]

A story of interest in the Guardian about one person's quest to come to terms with Captain Beefheart and the sheer unlistenability of his music. An entertaining read...

Quote:

In the 1980s, American researchers found that the average album was played 1.6 times. Given the new practice of impatiently scouring a CD for one or two highlights and then discarding it, the iPod age has presumably seen that figure tumble, but the basic point remains: most of the music we buy lies pretty much unplayed - either because it is rubbish, or because it says a lot more about our vanity than what we actually like. On the latter score, history's most shining example may be Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, an allegedly classic album that must surely sit undisturbed in thousands of households. Playing it - or rather, attempting to - is a bit like being in one of those cartoons in which the principal characters cagily open a door, only to find all hell - elephants, possibly, or a speeding train - breaking loose behind it, whereupon they slam it shut again.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zumaro A story of interest in the Guardian about one person's quest to come to terms with Captain Beefheart and the sheer unlistenability of his music. An entertaining read...

Indeed a very fine and entertaining link and read, although the writer did drop one too many names for my taste. He may rub elbows with all these rock stars but he doesn't "get" Beefheart - what good is he?

 

[aiiee]

I think the best advice on 'getting' TMR was given by, no suprise, Don himself when he said ( approximately) "Just put the album on and go do something, like housework, dust, etc . Let it play in the background"

This is how it worked for me, cacophany time after time until *one* time, I heard the main riff in Ant Man Bee, and I was hooked so hard I'm still on the line

 

[Denim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zumaro A story of interest in the Guardian about one person's quest to come to terms with Captain Beefheart and the sheer unlistenability of his music. An entertaining read...

Thanks for the link, zumaro. A very interesting read.