WORKING WEEK - TOO MUCH TIME

In 1986, Working Week covered Don Van Vliet / Captain Beefheart's 'Too Much Time'.
They released it on 12" and on 7" and the piece could later be found on their "Compañeros' album.
"Compañeros" was made available on CD and on LP.

Old news to most of you, probably, but it's a superb version:

KRAKHOUSE - BASTARDS OF PROG

Krakhouse is Jesse Krakow, who we know from Fast 'n' Bulbous and Dr. Nerve.

The Cuneiform record label has just released Jesse's (Krakhouse's) first solo album: "Bastards Of Prog".
Download / streaming only.

The album includes Jesse's version of Captain Beefheart's 'Old Fart At Play'.

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND(S), A BOOK BY BENOIT DELAUNE

• Benoit Delaune: Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band(s)
      (2011, book, France, le mot et le reste)

A brilliant con artist, a tyrannical leader, a monstrous singer... There are many rumours and legends surrounding the artist known as Captain Beefheart. A school friend of Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart surrounded himself with the many often anonymous but brilliant musicians of his “Magic Band”, creating a complex music of polyrhythms and polytonalities, based on deconstructed blues, from 1967 to 1982, in just fifteen years and a handful of albums. Many musicians continue to claim the name of this essential artist, who died in December 2010. This book describes the constant creative paradoxes of Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band(s), between quasi-sectarian excesses, visionary integrity, commercial failures and music of total freedom.

From 2011.
150 pages. Soft-cover. In French.
I've only read a few chapters and it's quite interesting.

YOUR OLD DROOG

Your Old Droog had already used a Frank Zappa sample (from “Civilization Phaze III”) on his 2017 “Packs” album.

On the 2019 “Transportation” album, on the track ‘The Cheese’? someone yells ‘Suzy? Suzy Creamcheese? Sue?’.
Another track sampled Wild Man Fischer’s ‘Merry-Go-Round’.

“Transporation” got released on Bandcamp, on CD and on vinyl (2LP).
I only recently acquired the vinyl copy.

And talking about Your Old Droog, I  only recently found out that YOD collaborated with MF Doom, toying with / sampling Captain Beefheart's 'Dropout Boogie'.
Also to be found on the "Time" album.
The 7" got released in 2021 and was made available in black, blue and yellow vinyl.
Quite happy with the black copy that I found.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - COVERED

• Various Artists: Covered
      (2009, cd, Canada, warner brothers)

Including The Black Keys: 'Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles' (D. Van Vliet).

Taken from the Record Store Day 7", also from 2009, that The Black Keys shared with The Flaming Lips.

A SHORT CHAT WITH STEVE KETTLEY / ORANGE CLAW HAMMER

Orange Claw Hammer take the music of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band and bend it into shape for the 21st century. Founded in 2011 by musician & composer Steve Kettley (Cauld Blast Orchestra, Salsa Celtica, Odd Times), the band's sax driven, mostly instrumental, reworkings of Don Van Vliet’s back catalogue highlight the blues, jazz and experimental roots of this music. A million miles from being a tribute act, Orange Claw Hammer take classics of avant- rock from the 60s through to the 80s and use them as vehicles for improvisation and re-invention for contemporary sensibilities - and Beefheart fanatics!
Orange Claw Hammer are based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and they're coming over to Zappanale !

Steve Kettley - tenor & soprano saxes, voice
Stuart Allardyce - guitar
Dave Beards - bass
Des Travis - drums

Time for a short chat :

UniMuta : Hi Steve, I’m one of those lucky people who owns “Cooks The Beef” and “New Beef Dreams”.
I like it how you strip down some of the compositions and then use them as a vehicle for improvisation. How do you decide which Beefheart pieces you want to play? And how do you re-arrange them? Is it in your head before you start, or is it a more practical approach with the band?

Steve Kettley: I usually pick a Beefheart tune which I think we'll be able to interpret in our own way. The choice, and then the arrangement, are often dictated by necessity - our instrumentation is limited, we don't have 2 or 3 guitars and a marimba like the Magic Band. To start with, all the arrangements were by me, but recently the band have been developing the tunes in a more collaborative way.

UniMuta : Your FaceBook page told me that you recently did a couple of gigs, but that the one before that was in 2019. I assume that was caused by Covid restrictions. Is it difficult to get gigs, playing the music of Don Van Vliet? Did you still have the songs in your fingers after the mandatory break?

Steve Kettley: Yes, the break was mainly because of the pandemic. Generally, it is very difficult to get gigs playing Beefheart material. He is still very leftfield, even compared to Zappa. Very frustrating, as we always go down a storm when we play! It doesn't usually take too long to work the set back up again.

UniMuta : At Zappanale, you will be performing at the Exhibition Space on Friday morning, in the centre of town, and on the Mystery Stage, at the festival grounds, on Saturday. Will there be a different approach for these two concerts?

Steve Kettley: I suppose the morning gig will be slightly lighter, but not much. We are saving a few of our bigger numbers for the Mystery Stage. But both sets will be, like the man himself, pretty full on.

UniMuta : Have you seen the line-up for the festival? Is there a band that you want to catch?
Looking forward to seeing and hearing you guys. It’s been too long since we’ve had the music of Captain Beefheart performed at the Zappanale festival !!

Steve Kettley: Lots of great stuff on at Zappanale. The two bands on after OCH's sets, Kuhn Fu and Bobby Rausch, look great. Crazy guitarist/banjoist Eugene Chadbourne has been a favorite for many years. And of course, Banned from Utopia, featuring many Zappa greats, is a must!

UniMuta : That sounds like you'll have a busy schedule ! Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and see you soon !

Orange Claw Hammer will be performing on :

• Friday, July 14, at the exhibition hall in the center of town (11h00)
• Saterday, July 15, at the Mystery Stage at the festival (20h00)

This will be fun !!

ORANGE CLAW HAMMER

For those who live in the Glasgow region,
Orange Claw Hammer will be doing a concert tonight !!

ORANGE CLAW HAMMER CONCERT DATES

Orange Claw Hammer will be performing at the Zappanale festival in Bad Doberan, Germany, next July, but that will not be their only gig.

Performing the music of Captain Beefheart at:

• Sat 13th May - Braco Village Hall (Benefit for Ukraine)
• Fri 7th July - The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow
• Fri 14th July - Zappanale, Germany (Exhibition Hall)
• Sat 15th July - Zappanale, Germany (Mystery Stage)
• Sat 19th August - Bannerman's, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• Fri 25th August - Bannerman's, Edinburgh Fringe Festival

BLORP ESETTE

Originally released in 1977 in a limited edition of 500 copies, the "Blorp Essette" compilation album featured artwork by none other than Don Van Vliet / Captain Beefheart.
(and it included The Residents).
Los Angeles Free Music Society release.
A second volume got released in 1980. Again with artwork by Don Van Vliet.

Both albums got re-issued as part of a 4CD set in 1980.

Volume 1 recently got re-released.
As a limited edition LP on the Etats-Unis record label.

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART TRIBUTE ON COLEY AND LEE'S "AS SEEN IN YOUR WILDEST DREAM" ALBUM

Byron Coley / Ted Lee: "As Seen In Your Wildest Dream"

Includes 'Beefheart Poem V.2'

Also out on LP.

THE BRAINIAC 5 - EXPLODING UNIVERSE

• the brainiac 5: exploding universe
      (2015, cd, uk, reckless records)

The Brainiac 5's "Exploding Universe" is from 2015 and includes 'Ordinary Man', a piece that quotes Don Van Vliet / Captain Beefheart. Reason enough to investigate.

The Brainiac 5 kick around in their usual punk attitude.
Nice.

BLOSSOM TOES - THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUND OF "BLOSSOM TOES"

• blossom toes: the psychedlic sound of "blossom toes"
      (1986, lp, uk, toes records)

According to discogs, "The Psychedelic Sound Of "Blossom Toes"" was a vinyl bootleg album that got released around 1986.
There's very limited info to be found on the album, except that the music was recorded live in 1967, but even that might be doubtful.
The album does include the band's performance of the Don Van Vliet / Herb Bermann-penned 'Electricity'. Not the same version that recently got released on the 3 CD package by Cherry Red as this version is almost 11 minutes long.

Comparing to the info on Discogs: My copy isn't numbered so it might be different issues / re-issues of this bootleg album.
Not to be confused with "The Psychedelic Sound Of "Blossom Toes Vol.1" which has a similar album cover (a full-colour version) but a completely different track list.

BLOSSOM TOES - WE ARE EVER SO CLEAN

• blossom toes: we are ever so clean
      (2022, 3cd, uk, cherry red)

I guess there's a focus on Blossom Toes over at the Esoteric Recordings department at Cherry Red Records. We recently saw the release of an expanded edition of "If Only For A Moment" as a 3 CD set, but "We Are Ever So Clean" got the same treatment earlier this year.

A 3 CD set that includes the original 1967 album, a live set from 1967, plus some demos and a BBC session.

Of interest for fans of British psychedelic music but also noteworthy because of the live set on disc two as it includes the band's perfomance of Captain Beefheart's 'Electricity' !! Not the best recording, but a nice extra.

LOS ANGELES FREE MUSIC SOCIETY

https://www.soundohm.com/product/los-angeles-free-music-so

Since their founding in the early 2000s, Vinyl on Demand has continuously led the pack when it comes to reissues and archival releases. Producing extensive surveys of an astounding array of underground and neglected artists - issued in startlingly beautiful deluxe limited editions - the historical importance of their efforts is nothing short of overwhelming.

Their latest, Los Angeles FreeMusic Society's -1974~1983+, stands as yet another triumph from the imprint, gathering 13 LPs worth of material from early solo and compilation cassette releases, as well as singles, that were produced by the collective’s member’s during its early years of activity and issued by LAFMS in tiny editions.

Don Van Vliet did the artwork for two LAFMS compilation albums. The first one in 1977, the second one in 1980.
As far as I can tell, these are not included in this box set.

Both albums got re-released in a 4 CD set in 1999. On the Transparency label.

CHRIS HASKETT RECORDED A PIECE CALLED 'VAN VLIET'

How about a guitar instrumental called "Van Vliet"...

From Chris Haskett's "Gravity: Left/Righ" album.
Bandcamp + CD release

 

FRENCH COMIC BOOK ON UNDERGROUND MUSIC

French publishing house Glénat released a comic book entitled:

"Undergound : Rockers Maudits & Grandes Prêtresses du Son"
The album cover does show some familiar faces (and eyeballs).
I need to check this out.

STACK WADDY

I recently got hold of a fine reissue of Stack Waddy's first album.
From 2008. Sounds great. And not just the Captain Beefheart tune.

And last year (although I only recently picked it up), Stack Waddy's second album got a vinyl re-release on the Trading Places record label. With a bonus track ('Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut' from BBC John Peel Session 1972/02/18).
With a fine performance of FZ's 'Willie The Pimp'.

ORCHESTRAL CUSTARD - FRANK & DON'S VACATION @ THE BURNT TROUT SANDWICH MOTEL

Orchestral Custard has released another beautiful piece of music on YouTube.

'Frank & Don's Vacation @ The Burnt Trout Sandwich Motel' is, again, an amazing tribute to the music of Frank Zappa and Don Van Vliet.

 

THE CHADBOURNE / GONZALEZ COLLUSION - IRRESPONSIBLE ROCKNROLL SHENANIGANS

• the chadbourne / gonzalez collusion: irresponsible rocknroll shenanigans
      (2021, cd, usa, cia records) 

April 2019, Eugene Chadbourne joined Aaron and Stefan Gonzalez for two concerts. The first one on April 9 at Shoeshine Charley's Big Top Lounge in Houston, TX, and the second one on April 10 at Backyard On Bell in Denton, TX.
A compilation of these two concerts got released on CD.

The album, "Irresponsible RocknRoll Shenanigans", has the trio performing a fine set of tunes including FZ's 'Who Are The Brain Police?' and Don Van Vliet's 'Click Clack' and 'Lick My Decals Off, Baby'.

1. click clack (don van vliet)
2. lick my decals off, baby (don van vliet)
3. saga of the creeks (eugene chadbourne)
4. nonaah (roscoe mitchell)
5. lucifer sam (syd barrett)
6. who are the brain police? (frank zappa)
7. summertime blues (eddie cochran, jerry capeheart)

Excellent album !!

CD (limited edition of 300 copies) and digital download are available through Bandcamp.
Mind you, the new postage rates may surprise you.

BEEFHEART REFERENCE BY BRAD LANER

On his latest release, Brad Laner included a composition entitled 'A Computer Is As Close As A Human Gets To A Carrot'.