The Wily Filipino

Thanks for your link to my posting about Van Vliet. I've never heard "Hobo Chang Ba." Thing is, I didn't immediately like Beefheart's stuff. (I guess I saying this for those who listen to the MP3 and hate it). I started out by getting Trout Mask Replica because I wanted to hear this band that had been characterized as a (or maybe THE) major influence on American alternative rock & nu-blues. (Even "Hobo Chang Ba" kinda makes me cringe). But I actually returned the CD; the clerk, an old hippie, gave me a funny look, and then started to complain that the 20-something clerks in the store were constantly playing Trout Mask & it was driving him crazy.

Later, I thought I'd give it another go, so I bought Safe as Milk, which was supposed to be the record that launched Beefheart. It was easier to take, but still really edgy. It seemed to be blues & jazz-based, but it was, yeah, "skronky" is a good word for it. And the members of the band were obviously excellent musicians (Ry Cooder was one of the early members). And I'd never heard a theremin before; on "Electricity" the theremin was wonderfully creepy in a way that I liked.

I bought Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), and it made me laugh, which is a good sign. But I also started to "get it." It was like the aural version of a de Kooning or a Franz Kline, although Manuel Osorio, the Filipino "raw" assemblage artist might be even more pertinent), with a little bit of Grant Wood thrown in just for laughs.

By the time I bought the new release of the Magic Band's CD, Back to the Front,(sans Van Vliet, but with a vocalist taking his place who is definitely up to the growly gravely thing) I was SO hooked. I don't know of any other band that can combine blues, rock, Albert Ayler-like jazz, and surrealism (or something like that)
like this and get away with it. Maybe Zappa. But compared to Beefheart, Zappa seemed to be trying too hard, whereas with Beefheart et al, it just seemed to come naturally.

jean

Like (I'm guessing) everyone under the age of 50, I checked out Trout Mask Replica for the same reason you did -- critical acclaim, major influence, et cetera et cetera, though I sincerely doubt anyone except the Captain actually thought that at the time -- and was totally befuddled. I was already used to "noise" at that point (I was heavily into post-'65 Coltrane and post-'60 Coleman at the time), but was completely unprepared for Beefheart because it just didn't fit.

Since then, I've always really liked Beefheart, although not in large doses. Shiny Beast is indeed great -- isn't "When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy" on it? -- as is (somewhat surprisingly) later, less chaotic efforts like Doc at the Radar Station.

I gotta check out that new CD. Alas, the Captain will probably never perform anymore.

(I never did like Zappa -- an excellent guitarist, sure, but I saw little point to his juvenile satire.)

Thanks for your original posts; it's great to rediscover the music on one's own shelf. =) (Which I did a few days ago after hearing My Bloody Valentine used in Lost in Translation, so at the peak of my cold last week I listened to Loveless over and over. Perfect Sudafed music.)