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Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band's Safe As Milk
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This is a favourite album of mine, part of the definite desert island
discs list which seems to constantly change.
Safe As Milk is the first album from Captain Beefheart and the Magic
Band from 1967. Released principally as the record label thought they
were a hard blues band, we see an interesting mix of blues, poetry and
the beginnings of avant guarde musical delights. Captain Beefheart,
the nom de plume for Don Van Vliet, was a high school friend of Frank
Zappa. They crossed paths repeatedly over the years but produced
rather different offerings to the record buying public. Frank Zappa
seemed to go along being too clever by half or too infantile in his
lyrics for most people. Captain Beefheart on the other hand seemed to
enjoy flow of concious lyrics along with complex music which scares
before comforting. There is an interesting duality between the pair.
This album is possibly the easiest of the 'good' albums from the
Captain's catalogue. It is bluesy, bold and bizarre. Old blues numbers
are used as the basis for many of the songs but with twists which make
them unfamiliar during the first listen through. The sound has lots of
bass and layers playing around. It certainly makes me want to get the
bass guitar out and bom bom booom away. The core instruments are the
typical drums, bass and a pair of guitars. Some songs, such as Plastic
Factory, have harmonica parts playing along. The lyrics range from the
obvious ("Boss man leave me free, Plastic Factory 's no place for me")
to the surreal ("Mother say son, she say son, you can't loose, with
the stuff you use, Abba Zabb go-zoom Babbette baboon, Run, run,
monsoon, Indian dream, tiger moon"). This compliments the deceptively
simple riffs which are layered into delightfully complex arrangements.
There are some instrumentals too.
My favourite tracks have to be:
Electricity
Abba Zabba
Where There's Woman
Although there is not a dud track on this album at all. Electricity is
a force of nature as a song. It starts slow with theremin used to show
a sort of current flowing. Then the bass line starts plomp plomp
plomp and we get the full force released. The Captain groans and moans
the lyrics while a theremin wavers in and out over a full beating
sound. It charges on until it sort of enters the 'go jam' section
where layers are removed. Then it finishes with the theremin going a
bit wild.
Abba Zabba. Well.. Drums lead us in to Don Van Vliet's voice. This is
the main focus of song, rightfully ensuring we focus on the surreal
lyrics about baboons, mothers, yellow birds flying high and the moon.
The band play a rhythmic drumming affair with a bit of twangy guitar
line. The tempo tends to be played with more than anything else and
drives the listener to a frenzy.
Where There's Woman is a more conventional song. It is a touch slower
than the rest of the album but speeds up through the verse until
everyone is playing frantically for the chorus, shouting "Where
There's Woman" before returning to the slow dwelling verse.
This a great album to listen to when you want to phase in and out. It
plays nicely as background music while doing house work but equally
rewards the focused listener. It is playful, weird and wonderful. Go
give it a listen!
Unfortunately, Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band never really
returned to this style again. Sure, they were still blues influenced
but they seemed to either go very avant guarde, such as Trout Mask
Replica and Lick My Decals, or a strange interpretation of commercial
like in Unconditionally Guaranteed. John French, the main arranger and
drummer over the years, interestingly believes the change in direction
was a mistake and believes the band would have been far more
successful keeping on doing the bluesy stuff. There are live albums
from this era which offer snippets of delight though and the Mirror
Man sessions are similar in style. I certainly recommend the majority
of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's output. There is often
something worthwhile amongst the noise, weird or saccerine. If you get
a chance, do catch the Magic Band live. They seem to be on hiatus but
who knows... John French might get the bug to tour again. I saw them
twice and loved it.