Tuesday 20 August 2019

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - "The Brown Star Sessions" (Bootleg) 1972


The cult continued,during the 1972 sessions that produced the Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot LPs but ,unlike other 'cult leaders',this marked a new era  with the Captain appearing to have loosened the structural death grip he imposed on his musicians since the Trout Mask Replica LP,allowing them to improvise and express themselves a tad.
These were sessions intended for an album called "Brown Star", but ended up mainly as the style from which 'The Spotlight Kid was culled. A few of the songs were spruced up for "Clear Spot" and even later albums.
There are indeed a few lost classics that should have seen the light of day,but were never revisted, like "Kiss Me My Love"and  "Funeral Hill",which was at least mixed for inclusion on "Spotlight Kid, but never made the cut, as didn't 'Harry Irene'.
There are many versions of songs that hung around for decades before appearing on the later albums, like "Dirty Blue Gene" which was around since near the inception of the group,at least since '67 anyway;then waited 15 years before inclusion on "Doc at the Radar Station".This feels like a lost album,all fleshed out with an obligatory handful of marimba and guitar instrumentals and why not?....I guess the phrase 'Brown Star' is street slang for an asshole is it not? He always had a sense of humour inbetween the pretentiousness and bullying.
Here's Don's painting called,funnily enough, "Brown Star"
I may unleash a tumult of astonishment here, but Don Van Vliet's paintings aren't actually very good are they?
I quite enjoy looking at them, but they're pretty unoriginal,and a tad pointless.I said the same when i saw an exhibition of paintings done by Chimpanzees. They were 'as good', but not, 'better than'.
Donny should have stuck with music;he had potential.
Having said that,as rock star painters go he's far better than Ronnie Wood, whose paintings really are shit.

Tracklist:

1 Boogler Risin'
2 Dirty Blue Gene I
3 Dirty Blue Gene II
4 Clear Spot (instrumental)
5 Harry Irene
6 Happy Blue Pumpkin
7 Kiss me my love
8 Little Scratch
9 Your Love Brought Me To Life
10 Pompadour Swamp
11 Funeral Hill I
12 Frying Pan
13 Dual And Abdul
14 Best Batch Yet (instrumental)
15 Suzy Murder Wrist
16 I Can't Do This Unless I Can Do This
17 Obenso Cinquo
18 Funeral Hill II
19 Flaming Autograph
20 Scratch My Back

2 comments:

Pisŧöff said...

This is great.
Why is the world so stupid?

Certifiablockhead said...

good to have all the Beefheart...fell in love at first listening TMR in 71...thanks for all the additional material...