Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The big dig (Captain Beefheart) (LP 94)

Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band Lick My Decals Off, Baby (CD - Reprise, 1970) ***

Genre: Alternative

Places I remember:  Sister Ray in London


Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles:  The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or The Big Dig). There's a hint of The Torture Never Stops in the instrumental vibe.





Gear costume:  I Love You, You Big Dummy

Active compensatory factors:  My search for this record goes back many years - to a record auction I attended back when I was a teenage malt shop. 


This record came up in the auction and it seemed so impossibly exotic and so impossibly out of reach. I have had a hankering for it ever since.

Over the years it has been impossible to find in NZ. I could never seem to find a vinyl copy nor was it available on CD. It was only a recent trip to the UK that proved fruitful.

It's not disappointing by any means, but, for me, it ranks below my favourite Beefheart albums (Bongo Fury, Mirror Man, Ice Cream for Crow, Trout Mask Replica).

And there is still no denying that his genius is an acquired taste, but if you have an open mind, give him and the aptly named Magic Band, a try.

Where do they all belong? Mirror Man is coming!   

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