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In late October/early November 1969, a few days after playing at the Amougies Festival in Belgium, Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) and Frank Zappa plus Magic Band member Mark Boston (aka Rockette Morton) made an appearance at the famous London club The Speakeasy, joining the band Juicy Lucy on stage. They were also joined by Cream drummer Ginger Baker and played a set that included Willie The Pimp. Juicy Lucy later covered Willie The Pimp on their second album Lie Back and Enjoy It, released in 1970 (the back cover of that album is featured at the bottom of this post). This live performanceRead More →

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Song List My Human Gets Me Blues Interstellar Overdrive A very rare bootleg single released in Japan. It’s a 10 inch metal acetate and it’s believed there may only be 20 copies of it in circulation! Side One runs at 45 rpm and included Frank Zappa introducing Don and the Magic Band to the festival crowd at Amougies, Belgium in October 1969 before they storm into ‘My Human Gets Me Blues’. Side Two, running at 33 rpm, features Pink Floyd playing ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ at the same festival with Frank joining them on guitar. Releases 201? acetate on Magic Market MM-10-A/BRead More →

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In: 1969.03 Aquarius Theater, Photos
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A few photographs have surfaced taken at the Trout Mask Replica band’s only live gig. This was at the Aquarius Theater in Los Angeles on 31st March 1969. Find out more about the Aquarius show. Thanks to R. Michael DeChellis for permission to post his photographs here on the Radar Station. You can get good quality copies at his website and while you’re there check the other bands’ photos too – https://www.dechellisphotography.com/ (Note: website address updated July 2022) Here are two of Don with his sax: And here in all his sartorial splendour is Jeff Cotton (aka Antennae Jimmy Semens):    Read More →

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The Magic Band rehearsed for months to perfect their parts for the Trout Mask Replica album but they only once performed any of the album live together as a band. And that was on 31st March 1969 at the Aquarius Theater as part of a fund-raiser for the L.A. Free Clinic. The Mothers were also on the bill. The band had recorded the Trout Mask album at Whitney Studios earlier in the month so were well rehearsed and ready to go. The Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles became the Hullabaloo Club in 1965 and was given a psychedelic makeover in 1968Read More →

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Track list Peaches En Regalia Willie The Pimp Son Of Mr. Green Genes Little Umbrellas The Gumbo Variations It Must Be A Camel Recording details Date – July – August 1969 One of the first albums to be recorded on 16 track. Recorded at T.T.G., Los Angeles (probably where Mirror Man was recorded), Sunset Sound, Los Angeles and Whitney Studios, Glendale. Album overview from Graham Johnston When I first bought this album I danced around my bedroom with glee while listening to it and then took it out with me that evening to force everyone else I knew to marvel at it too (a surprisingly mixed response ifRead More →

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In: Trout Mask Replica
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Recording details Date – late 1968 and March/April 1969 Studio – Sunset Sound, Hollywood; Whitney Studios, Glendale Producer – Frank Zappa Engineer – Dick Kunc Musicians Don Van Vliet Bill Harkleroad Jeff Cotton John French Mark Boston Victor Hayden Gary Marker Doug Moon Many of the musicians on this album had a poem written for / about them by Don Van Vliet. View Leach’s Listing for a thorough guide to who did what on Trout Mask Replica. Track list Frownland The Dust Blows Forward ‘N The Dust Blows Back Dachau Blues Ella Guru Hair Pie: Bake 1 Moonlight on Vermont Pachuco Cadaver Bills Corpse SweetRead More →

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In: Audio interviews, Multimedia
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Here you will find streaming audio files which make up a full interview which took place in California, July 1969, between Don Van Vliet and Meatball Fulton. Divided into 5 parts, each part is just over 20 minutes long for your convenience. You may occasionally hear sentences abruptly clipped due to the original tape running out in the machine recording the conversation. I doubt there is a more complete audio version of this interview available anywhere. This is a fascinating interview, with Don making a startling succession of inspired observations about music, art, drugs, literature, human society, nature etc etc. I tip my hat toRead More →

Still of the Trout House from The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart

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In: 1941-2010, Life
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The Woodland Hills house on Ensenada Drive was the venue for the Magic Band’s endless rehearsals of Trout Mask Replica, and also where the Trout Mask Sessions on Grow Fins were recorded. Its inclusion at the Radar Station is a must! So many legendary stories surround this magical-looking building, which appeared to have been left to decay. Then in 2006 it was put up for sale, and in 2010 as well. Angel’s photographs of her & Chris’ trip to the Trout House John French’s response to these photographs … Stills of the Trout House from The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart See also: ConfluenceRead More →

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In: 1941-2010
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My first meeting with Don Van Vliet–whom I’ll just refer to as Beefheart–came on a rainy night about 12 hours before his wedding. It was November 1969; I was 19 years old. I was at my parent’s home in Northridge, California when the phone rang about 9:30 p.m. I thought it was my girlfriend whose house I had left an hour before. But it was my friend, Jan Jenkins. Jan had just been in a traffic accident while driving alone in Beefheart’s Volvo. She was not injured, but the Volvo had been towed. She needed a lift back to Beefheart’s house where she’d been livingRead More →