That one commandment of his for guitar players that says that you should play like a drowning man struggling to reach shore is just about the best advice you could give anyone for how to play their instrument.

Let that shit ride.

RIP

I have now listened almost all of his official albums (only Spoltlight Kid and Trout mask left, I leave Trout mask to be last). In my shame I have to admit that I have very much underrated "Mirror Man". When I listened it a few days ago, it was just great!!! Of course it´s no trout mask, lick my, Doc or Icecream, but it is at least as good as Spotlight Kid, Clear Spot and Shiny Beast. Maybe the reason why I had underrated it is that in this album there isn´t that great dicipline that is all the other Beefhaert albums. It sounds to me, that that band has had a will to do anything they want inside the songs. I like many improvisation albums, so why can´t I like also Beefheart improvisation album? I understand now also, how great band Beefheart had!

When I listened Safe as Milk a few hours ago, it came to my mind a funny memory. Before I hadn´t hear this album, one friend told me that it is just a ordinary blues album! And sure it isn´t!!! Also when I listened Unconditionally and Bluejeams nonstop, I felt now that Bluejeans is better although I have always thought backwards. Well, how the music sounds it depends also your feelings at the moment.

before don passing i had safe as milk and clear spot on vinyl. the very next day i bought trout mask replica and lick my decalls off, baby.
yesterday my friends bought me spotlight kid, mirror man and shiny beast for my birthday.

i am digging my collection now...

Great!

I recommend that you try to catch Doc at the radar station, Ice cream for crow and Strictly personal somewhere. They are very very great albums!

DOC is so good. What an astounding album to come out so late in his career. It's really the absolute best of everything hed ever done, but mean as hell, and sounds great. I think it's his best album, really.

Some sort of something or other on WNYC's soundcheck--only caught the end.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck...ain-beefheart/

I think Trout mask and Lick my decals is little better, but Doc and Ice Cream come right after them. I think everybody who loves Captain should have those four albums at least. I agree that both albums were great end for his music career, I think there is anybody else whose last albums are so great!

oh yeah, i forgot Doc at the radar station.

hm still 3 to go...

Eh I thought he was already dead !! I read up on him and everything a couple years back. Fucks gan on here like?

just bought BEEFHEART: THROUGH THE EYES OF MAGIC. 880 pages!!

How is it? I've read some mixed reviews about it and it's pretty expensive for a book. I bid $25 on it on Ebay a while back, but didn't win. Either way, 800+ pages of Beefheart can't be bad, right?

Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing





1. Listen to the birds
That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar. Your guitar is a divining rod
Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush
Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush doesn't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. Walk with the devil
Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. If you're guilty of thinking, you're out
If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. Never point your guitar at anyone
Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. Always carry a church key
That's your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He's one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song "I Need a Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty-making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he's doing it.

8. Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument
You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. Keep your guitar in a dark place
When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it.

10. You gotta have a hood for your engine
Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow.














Taken from:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/0...r-playing.html

I would say that was the day when music REALLY died.

R.I.P.

well the idiots from amazon.com never sent it to me. i paid $25 for it, outright. ridiculous.

no one will ever replace beefheart.

I have been thinking today that many artists appreciate captain Beefheart but it is quite rare that his influences are heard in other artists music. In Finland there are/were some bands (Kauko Röyhkä & Narttu, Sweetheart, Radiopuhelimet, Keuhkot) that have said they admire Beefheart and it is also heard in their music at least some albums. Outside Finland only Tom Waits and Birthday party come into my mind. And in first decade of 21st century in addition with Tom Waits only John Parish has made some songs there are clear Beefheart influences (the Chair, a Woman a Man walked by/the Crow knows where all the little children go, Pig Will Not, Bernadette). I hope there will come more artist who made Beefheart influental music. I just like his wicked style!

the Minutemen/Mike Watt

Pitchfork got this article right: http://pitchfork.com/features/articl...ain-beefheart/

Ever listened to a math rock band?

No, I haven´t ever heard even the name. I have heard Minuteman, but also not their music (only Mike Watt -song that I´ve heard is Madonna-cover Burnin´up in Whitey Album. That´s great!) I have to check these out from youtube someday.

Very interesting article!!! I have to say that Beefheart has never come into my mind when I have heard White Stripes.

Every math rock band, no wave band, avant-progressive band, etc owe a huge debt to Beefheart. Most punk bands -- many record labels. Even Sonic Youth were obviously inspired by Beefheart. Everyone from the Beatles to Henry cow, from The Residents to Sun City girls, from TFUL # 282 to the White Stripes. There was rock before Beefheart and rock after Beefheart, basically. He changed music the same way Godard changed cinema.

I've only heard a handful of his songs which I enjoyed, but I've never had a chance to buy any of his work.

RIP.

I tried to say in my earlier message that I know also there is lots of artists who appreciate Beefheart but you don´t hear his original style ( I mean that at first his music sounds quite chaotic but then it turns out very diciplined) much in other bands productions. If someone makes Beefheart based music, it is easy to hear because Beefheart self was quite original and in his music is hard to hear any influences (of course he took influence to his vocal style from Howling Wolf). I don´t hear much Beefheart influences in Sonic Youth (if you want to hear of course you can hear them for example Confusion is sex-album), Beatles or White Stripes although I truly believe that they appreciate Beefheart. Of course there is one important reason (that was also in that article) why it isn´t heard: it is not the easiest style of music.

The Fall comes to mind....

musically, not vocally.


Actually, even vocally sometimes.

I'm with Mortte on this one. Very little is like Beefheart, musically. Certainly not the Fall! Sort your ears out, sunshine.

Beefheart is quite odd, in that he usually sticks to standard-ish rhythms and regular pulse but fractures punctuation of the bars something ridiculous. I think the math rock thing is pretty close, except... well, math rock is fucking awful, and tends to make really jarring time signature changes; Beefheart, when he does change time signature (which is rare) tends to do so within the logic of the song, rather than to draw attention to his amazing penis (which, in the case of math rock, is not an amazing penis but a sad little mushroom).

Lyrically, there's probably a bit more. I can't think of much off the top of my head, but the Dadaist/ concrete poetry thing with heavy desert/ animal/ 'surreal' influences isn't entirely unheard of (Enablers?).

Actually, The Fall sounds more like Beefheart vocally than musically! The Fall's music is repetetive as hell, usually one or two riffs, Beefheart usually had at least a hundred riffs per song. The vocals, though, are similiar... ranting, arhythmic, etc. That's really the only thing they have in common, besides Mark mentioning Beefheart in at least 3 songs.

Fair point on the vocals, I can see what you're saying... Beefheart's got a better range (though nothing like the 8 octaves he claimed), but yeah... I can hear that.

I take if you've heard the Fall covering Beefheart, Herr Park?

Right right, obviously not the type of music the band is playing, but I meant the weird switches. I was thinking more Safe as Milk as an influence to time signature switches, within the context of the song. The Fall has done that quite a bit. Usually only once in a song though.

But definitley vocally, the screaching weird shit.

I have heard only very early Fall, from some 77´punk document (that didn´t remind me Beefheart at all) so I must listen some newer production.

Now I have listened Minutemen, Mike Watt, Math Rock Bands and the Fall. I hope Mike Watt fans will not have anger about my next comment, but to me Mike Watt sounds a little bit of "poor man´s Beefheart". There are elements from Beefheart, but I think the wholeness is much more mediocre that Beefheart. But I don´t mean Watt´s music is mediocre, it´s only if you compare it with Beefheart. In many songs the drums play typical 4/4. Also Watt is not very great vocalist. I think he´s quite ok, but he doesn´t get me excited.

I agree about Math bands with Glice. They sound very near of Beefheart music, but I think Beefheart music lives, Math rock doesn´t.

The Fall has also elements from Beefheart at least some songs but to me there´s same things missing as in Watt´s music.

I still think John Parish and Tom Waits has made the best newest Beefheart based songs.

I think I will grow much more critical about the music older I get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5tmg...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs3z1qu1SsE

Just listen these. I think most of the beefheart fans have never heard that great artist.

^Uhh, great.

I would say some beefheart music is very repetitive too, except he's repeating weird, complicated things, rather than weird, simple things.

Veterans day poppy, second half, comes to mind.

Lately ive been diggin "Click Clack" & "Glider"

Yeah, I know. Haha. You know what's weird? Despite being in the band longer and more often than anybody, there's next to no videos of john french/drummo playing with the band. So it's nice to finally see what it's like to watch that dude play.

Here´s few links from the great artist that Beefheart owed a lot (by the way there´s lot of same in the Beefheart "Sure ´Nuff `N yes and the third one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux6N00CwudA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxY26WM17Lo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPKdkXBMnmE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU_wUcwooc8