Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - "Safe As Milk" @ Amazon - £2.99
"The stars are matter, we're matter, but it doesn't matter."
Beefheart's first proper studio album is a much more accessible, pop-inflected brand of blues-rock than the efforts that followed in the late '60s -- which isn't to say that it's exactly normal and straightforward. Featuring Ry Cooder on guitar, this is blues-rock gone slightly askew, with jagged, fractured rhythms, soulful, twisting vocals from Van Vliet, and more doo wop, soul, straight blues, and folk-rock influences than he would employ on his more avant-garde outings. "Zig Zag Wanderer," "Call on Me," and "Yellow Brick Road" are some of his most enduring and riff-driven songs, although there's plenty of weirdness on tracks like "Electricity" and "Abba Zaba." [Buddha's 1999 reissue of Safe as Milk contained restored artwork and seven bonus tracks.] - Richie Unterberger (Allmusic)
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Jump to unread Post a CommentDon Van Vliet was a true maverick eccentric weirdo nut-job (delete as applicable).
Listening to The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot right now. Mummy I’m scared. oO