{"product_id":"now-playing","title":"Now Playing","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn Don Vliet, Captain Beefheart was one of modern music's true innovators. The owner of a remarkable four-and-a-half-octave vocal range, he employed idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist lyrics, and an unholy alliance of free jazz, Delta blues, latter-day classical music, and rock \u0026amp; roll to create a singular body of work virtually unrivaled in its daring and fluid creativity. While he never came even remotely close to mainstream success, Beefheart's impact was incalculable, and his fingerprints were all over punk, new wave, and post-rock. Don Vliet was born January 15, 1941 in Glendale, CA (he changed his name to Van Vliet in the early '60s). At the age of four, his artwork brought him to the attention of Portuguese sculptor Augustinio Rodriguez, and Vliet was declared a child prodigy. In 1954, he was offered a scholarship to study in Europe; his parents declined the proposal, however, and the family instead moved to the Mojave Desert, where the teen was befriended by a young Frank Zappa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn time Vliet taught himself saxophone and harmonica, and joined a pair of local R\u0026amp;B groups, the Omens and the Blackouts. After a semester at college, he and Zappa moved to Cucamonga, CA, where they planned to shoot a film, \u003cem\u003eCaptain Beefheart Meets the Grunt People\u003c\/em\u003e. As the project remained in limbo, Zappa finally moved to Los Angeles, where he founded the Mothers of Invention; Van Vliet later returned to the Mojave area, adopted the Beefheart name and formed the first lineup of his backing group the Magic Band with guitarists Alex St. Clair and Doug Moon, bassist Jerry Handley, and drummer Paul Blakely in 1964. In their original incarnation, the Magic Band were a blues-rock outfit who became staples of the teen dance circuit; they quickly signed to A\u0026amp;M Records, where the success of the single \"Diddy Wah Diddy\" earned them the opportunity to record a full-length album. Comprised of Van Vliet compositions like \"Frying Pan,\" \"Electricity,\" and \"Zig Zag Wanderer,\" label president Jerry Moss rejected the completed record as \"too negative,\" and a crushed Beefheart went into seclusion. After replacing Moon and Blakely with guitarist Antennae Jimmy Semens (born Jeff Cotton) and drummer John \"Drumbo\" French, the group (fleshed out by guitarist Ry Cooder) recut the songs in 1967 as \u003cem\u003eSafe as Milk\u003c\/em\u003e. After producer Bob Krasnow radically remixed 1968's hallucinatory \u003cem\u003eStrictly Personal\u003c\/em\u003e without Beefheart's approval, he again retired. At the same time, however, Zappa formed his own label, Straight Records, and he soon approached Van Vliet with the promise of complete creative control.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA deal was struck, and after writing 28 songs in a nine-hour frenzy, Beefheart formed the definitive lineup of the Magic Band - made up of Semens, Drumbo, guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo (born Bill Harkleroad), bassist Rockette Morton (Mark Boston), and bass clarinetist the Mascara Snake (Victor Fleming) - to record the seminal 1969 double album \u003cem\u003eTrout Mask Replica\u003c\/em\u003e. Following 1970's similarly outré \u003cem\u003eLick My Decals Off, Baby\u003c\/em\u003e, Beefheart adopted an almost commercial sound for the 1972 releases \u003cem\u003eThe Spotlight Kid\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eClear Spot\u003c\/em\u003e. Shortly thereafter, the Magic Band broke off to form Mallard, and Beefheart was dropped by his label, Reprise. After a two-year layoff, he released a pair of pop-blues albums, \u003cem\u003eUnconditionally Guaranteed\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBluejeans and Moonbeams\u003c\/em\u003e, with a new, short-lived Magic Band; following another fallow period, 1978's \u003cem\u003eShiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)\u003c\/em\u003e marked a return to the eccentricities of his finest work. After 1982's \u003cem\u003eIce Cream for Crow\u003c\/em\u003e, Van Vliet again retired from music, this time for good; he returned to the desert, took up residence in a trailer, and focused on painting. In 1985, he mounted the first major exhibit of his work, done in an abstract, primitive style reminiscent of Francis Bacon. Like his music, his art won wide acclaim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eTRACKLIST\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col class=\"ol1\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eI'm Gonna Booglerize You Baby\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eHer Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eThe Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or The Big Dig)\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eMy Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eClick Clack\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eLow Yo Yo Stuff\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eToo Much Time\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eClear Spot\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eLick My Decals Off, Baby\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"li2\"\u003eBig Eyed Beans From Venus\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eOTHER INFO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eReleased -\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e 2 August 2024\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eLabel -\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e Rhino Records, Warner Records\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eGenre -\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e Rock, Avant-garde\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"features\"\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Captain Beefheart","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58229848867199,"sku":null,"price":12.6,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0976\/0525\/5551\/files\/204321-captain-beefheart-now-playing.jpg?v=1787215871","url":"https:\/\/thevinyltable.com\/products\/now-playing","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}