If you have heard the 1969 album “Trout Mask Replica” by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, chances are that you can’t stand it and think it’s a huge mess in which everybody involved play whatever they want in an improvised and chaotic manner. The sonic equivalent of barbed wire (quoting another video). But while it’s perfectly OK not to like this music since it’s an acquired taste without a doubt, it’s definitely not OK to think it’s a mindless mess. Unlike The Shaggs, who THOUGHT they knew what they were doing, the Magic Band were a group of highly skillful musicians that ACTUALLY knew what they were doing. There’s nothing improvised in this music. Everything was carefully crafted and rehearsed, and proof of this is the two takes of the track without vocals that you can hear here after the officially released take. Both alternate takes have essentially the same material, and the band could play that “mess” almost exactly the same way every time they were required to. It is not necessary to be a technically ultra-proficient instrumentalist to play this, but your ears and mind must be exceptionally open and trained to get the understanding needed to perform this music in a consistent manner.

The “Frownland” album track in this video is taken from the 2019 reissue of the “Trout Mask Replica” album released for the Record Store Day thanks to the interest of musician and producer Jack White in keeping this album alive and kicking. Mr. White made it possible to get a great copy of this album at a reasonable price. Thank you!

The alternate takes were made available to the public in 1999 on the “Grow Fins: Rarities (1965-1982)” set. A must for any Beefheart fan.

Numark TTXUSB turntable – Nagaoka MP-500 phono cartridge – ART DJPRE II phono stage preamp – Vinyl record vinilo LP