1975NQ Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Just curious if there are any fellow Beefheart fans out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 I like the Captain but I am not all in like I am with Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Velvet Underground, Kraftwerk, and a few others. It is the same with his fellow freak Frank Zappa. There are some albums I like, some I don't. And even the stuff I do like, I sometimes have to be in the right mood to listen. Whereas with the Beatles or Led Zeppelin or Bach or Frank Sinatra, I can put on any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1975NQ Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 Yeah, I'm the same way with certain musicians - gotta be in the right mood. Listening to the Sammy vid you threw up earlier today btw ... very cool! Have you heard that cover he did of Big Wheel? I first heard it while watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (the movie) and was hooked after that. I like it better than the original version. Sinatra I can listen to anytime as well. Since covid hit, my listening preferences have steered towards chill and nostalgic lol. Which for me, means 80s and 70s stuff. I've always thought you could draw a direct line from Sinatra to Elvis to Plant. Those 3 guys were - and are - real singers in the sense that their voice was only a small part of the equation. Their presence, self-awareness, and understanding of the energy that's created between a crowd and a performer is pretty unique. Plant wrote up a little piece about Elvis for Rolling Stone a number of years back talking about exactly this. I forget exactly what he wrote, but he used the perfect words to describe what I'm fumbling at here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1975NQ Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 I had a feeling this thread would not get a lot of love haha. For anyone interested in looking into Captain Beefheart, here's my suggestion: start with his first album, Safe as Milk. If you don't like it, all good - his stuff isn't for you. If you DO like it, and want to try something a bit different, go ahead and take the plunge and listen to Trout Mask Replica, his 1969 masterpiece. Suggestions on listening to TMR - don't listen to it all at once. Stagger it out into 3 or 4 song installments. Have them on in the background while you exercise or do stuff around the house. Your brain may reject it at first as "noise". I promise - it's not. Just keep listening, let your brain work it out in its own time. Once the "difficult" songs click for you, you will be hooked. The approach they took is a lot of fun. There's an insane amount of passion and inspiration going on here. It may feel like work at first, but I promise it's worth the effort you put in. And it's very possible that you'll "get" it on the third or fourth listen, and it won't feel like work at all. Getting into this guy's music was the biggest favor I did for myself. It completely opened up my brain, in terms of how I listen and appreciate not only music but musical sounds in the world around me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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