Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Captain Beefheart, Dr. Demento, an artificial lawn, mimes, violins and an accordian/The Captain's Wilshire Blvd. billboard November 5, 1972

Ah, the halcyon days of real record promotion the early 1970's! Money flowing through the Reprise/Warners coffers courtesy of Alice Cooper, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young and god knows who else to pay for a promotion like the one described below (which I came across in the December 7, 1972 RS found in the barn). I have scanned the record ad below as well from the same issue. Other photos from the excellent Electricity page which has a meeting of the minds of the good Captain and Wolfman Jack!
I can almost safely say - or is it wishful thinking - that I drove by this billboard (with an actual painting by Don), as a young passenger as may have many of you Los Angeles readers during November 1972 as you cruised Wilshire Blvd. between Genesee and Spaulding.

I have written before of Barry Hansen's friendship with John Fahey and here he appears below Zelig-like for the Captain promoting one of the the Captain's most perfect and fully-formed creations from start to finish. If you have not heard the 5 disc set of "Clear Spot"/"Spotlight Kid" rehearsals/outtakes I pity you. I really do. Some serious levitation took place in a rehearsal studio in the San Fernando Valley in 1971-72. Derided by many as the Captain's "mersh" period before the truly awful actual mersh period that soon followed, those sessions have some pure gold. Is not the Magic Band's rhythm section as much the beat of the 70's as Tony Allen or Klaus Dinger?




A colour reproduction of the actual artwork contained in a 1990's greatest hits collection:





Sunday, February 5, 2012

Friday, February 3, 2012

Mike and Mike

Countless hours of enjoyment came from this particular film, arguably the beginning and end of all films on the early LA punk/Masque era, either fictional or documentary. Great performances all around and both Watt and Kelley's comedic performances overlooked in the scheme of things. This film and the DAM Ecstatic Peace box set currently and always on heavy rotation at hq. Very sad news.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

1976 ESL Proto-Punk/I Just Don't Have "the Touch"/Movie Instead - Repost from March 2010

Buried under with comparative legal studies for the time being, a golden oldie from March 2010:

A rustic Jonathan Richman lp cover photo. Check. Clanking Scotty Thurston piano playing. Good. Warped misanthropic lyrics to rival JW Farquhar on that sub-basement psych lp "The Formal Female." That too. There was point last decade where I was compiling an lp of non-native English speaking proto-punk and this track ("Movie Instead") was in the running. So maybe not the crusher you were hoping but I can safely say that this is the best proto-punk track from the Middle East from 1976 CE. The rest of Ariel Zilber's lp "Rutzi Shmulik" you can pass on like the b-side to Freestone's "Bummer Bitch." Trust me on that one.








In the meantime, it turns out that "Movie Instead" had a single issue in France of all places. See it here.