Love will keep them together

Movie of the Week: Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Full Beat Club Sessions, Bremen (4/12/72)

Photo by Philippe Gras

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Radio Bremen, Funkhaus, Bremen, Germany
TV Program 'Beat Club'
April 12, 1972
1. Hair Pie Bass Solo (The Mascara Snake) (0:00)
2. Click Clack Take 1 (3:08)
3. Click Clack Take 2 (6:51)
4. Golden Birdies and Band Intro (8:18)
5. I'm Gonna Booglaraize You Baby Take 1 (11:12)
6. I'm Gonna Booglaraize You Baby Take 2 (15:41)
7. Steal Softly Through Snow (Band Instrumental) (20:49)
8. I'm Gonna Booglaraize You Baby Take 3 (24:18)

Before and After: My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains

Before - Captain Beefheart:


During - the Tubes:


After - Everything But the Girl:

Beefheart radio & TV commercials 1970-1973

Lick My Decals Off Baby spot C:


Lick My Decals Off Baby spot B:


Lick My Decals Off Baby spot A:


Beefheart-Cooder tour spot B:


Beefheart-Cooder tour spot A:


Clear Spot spots A & B with Wolfman Jack:


Warner Reprise combo spot:


Thanks to T. Tex for sharing this little zipfile of goodness. Grab everything here, and get:

• Clear Spot spots A & B (Wolfman Jack)
• Warner-Reprise combo spot
• Beefheart-Cooder tour spots A & B
• Lick My Decals Off Baby spots A, B & C
• Lick My Decals Off Baby TV spot

Some YoYo Stuff

A short film on Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart, from 1994, Some Yo Yo Stuff was made by Anton Corbijn, and features Beefheart, Beefheart's mother, and David Lynch. Only about 10 minutes in length, here it is in two parts:


Some Yo Yo Stuff on Amazon

Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing

Originally posted at WFMU last year:

1. Listen to the birds. That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar. Your guitar is a divining rod. Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush. Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush dosen't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. Walk with the devil. Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. If you're guilty of thinking, you're out. If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. Never point your guitar at anyone. Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. Always carry a church key. That's your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He's one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song "I Need a Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty-making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he's doing it.

8. Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument. You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. Keep your guitar in a dark place. When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it.

10. You gotta have a hood for your engine. Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow. 

Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart RIP

Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart RIP

Before and After: Diddy Wah Diddy

Before - Bo Diddley:


During - Captain Beefheart:


After - 8 Eyed Spy:

In Whittier its Zoot Horn Rollo

Very similar to the ad I posted last month for "Lick My Decals Off Baby," here's another Captain Beefheart commercial. This time its for Spotlight Kid.

Captain Beefheart advertisement

"New on Reprise, it's "Lick My Decals Off, Baby"

The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart

Here's a nice little flick for the weekend - The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart - a great BBC documentary from 1997, narrated by John Peel, featuring the good Captain, Frank Zappa, Ry Cooder and others. Playlisted in 6 parts. Dig it.

NY Rocker 1980