THE CRAMPS - LOOK MOM NO HEAD

The Cramps' "Look Mom No Head" album is getting a re-issue on red vinyl.

The album includes The Cramps' version of 'Hardworkin' Man', a song written by Jack Nitzsche and originally performed by Captain Beefheart (with Ry Cooder on the guitar) for the "Blue Collar" movie.

DOCTOR DELTA

Kicking off the day with some Doctor Delta !

• Doctor Delta: Slow Dog Blues
      (2020, 2cd, Italy, slow dog records)
      – incl. ‘The Spotlight Kid’ (D. Van Vliet)

• Doctor Delta: Stereo
      (2022, cd, Italy, slow dog records)

• Doctor Delta: Doctor Delta Play Zappa – Hydrogen And Stupidity
      (2026, cd, Italy, slow dog records)
      – Incl. ‘Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague’ ,’Mother People’, ‘Let's Make the Water Turn Black’, ‘Holiday in Berlin’, ‘Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance / What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body’, ‘Little Umbrellas’, ‘Anyway the Wind Blows’, ‘My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama’, ’Lemme Take You To the Beach’, ‘(Son of) Mr. Green Genes’, ‘(Son of) Orange County Lumber Truck / How Could I Be Such a Fool’ (F. Zappa)

Check out:

https://doctordelta.bandcamp.com/

DOCTOR DELTA

I'm quite happy with the news that Doctor Delta will be releasing their Zappa tribute album on CD.
Reason enough to give their "Slow Dog Blues" release another spin.

Out on 2 CD, but you can also check it out on Bandcamp:

THE CAPELLAS - LOVE PRAYER / ZIG ZAG WANDERER

• The Capellas: Love Prayer / Zig Zag Wanderer
      (2025, download / streaming, --, bandcamp)
      (2025, 7”, France, disques rogue)

British band The Capellas recorded Don Van Vliet / Herb Bermann's 'Zig Zag Wanderer' and released it as the B-side for the 'Love Prayer' 7".
Out on the French Disques Rogue record label.

Psychedelic 60's pop !!

BBSITTERS CLUB

• BBsitters Club: Joel’s Picks Vol. 2
      (2024, cd, USA, hausu mountain)

The BBsitters Club are a four-piece, Chicago-based jamband / rock band.
They have three albums out, available on Bandcamp. Two are also available on CD.

"Joel's Picks Vol. 2", their latest one, presented a collection of live recordings, sourced from both audio and soundboard recordings.
The album caught my interest because in includes the BBsitter Club's version of Don Van Vliet's 'Kandy Korn'.

You can check it out on Bandcamp:

PLAYIN' WITH THE BEEF, A CAPTAIN BEEFHEART TRIBUTE

• Various Artists: Playin' with Beef: A Captain Beefheart Tribute
      (2025, download / streaming, --, fuzzy cat records / bandcamp)

"Playin' with Beef: A Captain Beefheart Tribute"

on the Fuzzy Cat Records label.

A download / streaming - only release.

With contributions by Schreins, Danny Monroe, The Wizard, BattleJoy, Wahada, Smikey, Hunt Reno, Olive & The Mushrooms, & The Rosenhaun Experiment

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'.

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.

BEEFHEART POEM V.2

Byron Coley and Ted Lee released "As Seen In Your Wildest Dream" on LP, on cassette, and as a Bandcamp digital download in December 2022.

Check out track two, 'Beefheart Poem V.2'.

FRANK SIDEBOTTOM

Frank Sidebottom, as you may remember, reworked some Captain Beefheart tunes and released them on his "13:9:88" LP in 1988.

These tracks can be found on a couple of compilations, including the brand-new "Little Box Of Bobbins" 3 CD set.

EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND

 The upcoming / new Edgar Broughton Band album, "Gone Blue - The BBC Sessions", includes their version of Captain Beefheart's 'Drop Out Boogie', recorded during a Peel Session.

UNIVERS ZERO & KRÄLDJURSANSTALTEN - IN THE NAME OF VAN VLIET

Out on Bandcamp, a digital download / streaming release of:

UNIVERS ZERO & KRÄLDJURSANSTALTEN
'In The Name Of Van Vliet'

An improvisation that got recorded in concert in Stockholm in 1982.

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

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.

BLACK MIDI - CAVALCADE (WITH BONUS FLEXI)

• black midi: cavalcade
     (2021, lp + flexi), uk, rough trade)

Last year, Black Midi released "Cavalcade"
It was my first encounter with Black Midi and I was pleasantly surprised as it's an impressive album.

For some reason or another, it was decided that different editions of the album would be presented. Not just the casual black vinyl LP, but also a fine looking picture disc, and even black vinyl editions with different bonus one-sided flexi discs in different colours: green, white, blue and red (and maybe even more).
It was the red flexi that caught my interest as I had been informed that it presented Black Midi's version of Captain Beefheart's 'Moonlight On Vermont'.

It did take me quite a while to eventually locate and buy a copy of the LP with the red flexi but I won't go in too much details about that. It involved a malicious and deceitful on-line seller...

Anyway, I finally acquired both the album (stunning artwork!!) and the flexi (separately), and I'm quite happy with these, but the preceding story kept me from playing the actual album for quite a while.

You can get a taste over at Bandcamp as both are also available for streaming / download.

-

and 'Moonlight On Vermont':
https://bmblackmidi.bandcamp.com/album/cavalcovers

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.

BLACK MIDI RECORDED MOONLIGHT ON VERMONT

 Black Midi recorded Don Van Vliet / Captain Beefheart's 'Moonlight On Vermont' and released it as part of their "Cavalcovers" digital EP last March.

https://bmblackmidi.bandcamp.com/album/cavalcovers

To make things more interesting, Black Midi released their latest album, "Cavalcade", in different editions, the difference being added flexi discs to the LP.

The red flexi is the band's version of CB's 'Moonlight On Vermont';
The green flexi has a cover version of Taylor Swift's 'Love Story';
The white flexi  has a cover version of King Crimson's '21st Century Schizoid Man';
The blue flexi  has a cover version of Prince's 'Nothing Compares To You';

And these are just the ones I came across. There might be more...

-- info: Ive Hapers