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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Bat Chain Puller |
| 2. Seam Crooked Sam |
| 3. Harry Irene |
| 4. 81 Poop Hatch |
| 5. Flavor Bud Living |
| 6. Brick Bat |
| 7. Floppy Boot Stomp |
| 8. A Carrot Is As Close To A Diamond As A Rabbit Ever Gets |
| 9. Owed T'Alex |
| 10. Odd Jobs |
| 11. 1010th Of The Human Totem Pole |
| 12. Apes Ma |
| 13. Bat Chain Puller |
| 14. Harry Irene |
| 15. Flavor Bud Living |
| 16. Owed T'Alex |
| 17. Well, Well, Well |
| 18. My Human Gets Me Blues |
Product Description
Review
The facts are still obscure (even Ozit Records who, last year released the excellent live document Mersey Trout, have not got all the facts). Yes, the album was recorded with Zappa's help but only in terms of him providing studio time (and a couple of part-time Mothers of Invention, Denny Walley and Bruce Fowler) in order that the Captain could secure a new record deal. The studio was in California (not as the press release says, Virgin's Manor studio in England). When Zappa's business affairs fell into disarray, the original tapes were locked away, supposedly until hell froze over. Two years later, with a new deal with Virgin and having veered perilously close to commercialism, Mr Van Vliet returned to these songs and Shiny Beast was born: a comforting return to ornery form. But what of the original?
The tapes (from Don's very own collection) present us with the rough mixes of the album along with contemporary live material and the differences (or lack thereof) are, at once, startling and strangely comforting. When listening to Beefheart it's always tempting to imagine that such noise can only be born of extemporising and that all the tales of a hard taskmaster drilling musicians to extremes of precision are simply nonsense invented by those wishing to confer musicianly credibility on Ol' Dustsucker himself. This album disproves that notion completely. Tracks replicated on Shiny Beast and later albums are both rawer and punchier (due, in no small part to the elephantine 'air bass' of trombonist Fowler) but in terms of arrangement are note for note duplicates. The man certainly had the vision and these songs represent the widest range of his dadaist genius since Trout Mask Replica.
"Bat Chain Puller" is a squalling blast of ecological agit-prop, "Floppy Boot Stomp"; a growling beast of a song ripping at the throat of the bloated corpse of swamp-blues and "Harry Irene" is the most touching song about lesbian restaurant owners ever recorded. The sound is a little rough in places, yet sonic quality is a small consideration in the face of such a masterwork. What this album contains is a spontaneity and wisdom that was largely lost by 1977, the world having turned away from Beefheart's increasingly relevant warnings concerning our place in the natural order of things. It's our loss, but Dust Sucker (remember, Don used to be a vacuum cleaner salesman!) still has the power to set us right. Buy this album, it's safe as milk. --Chris Jones
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Customer Reviews
The truth is that the original recordings were never properly mixed and only rough mixes were ever circulated. The bona fide ownership of these recordings is with the Zappa estate. There were rumours going round that Zappa's widow had approached Denny Walley to finish off the mixing for a possible release, but that has never happened.
Shoddy bootlegs like this just make the official release even less likely. The fact that this CD claims that they have the release rights under an agreement between a deceased DJ and Beefheart (a legendary recluse) are a smoke screen of epic proportions.
The biggest mystery of all is why they bothered to tack on some non-contemporary live recordings as a "bonus" - it makes no sense!
So - to sum up - poor quality sound & terrible packaging - avoid at all costs.
Avoid.
However, the addition of the live works detract from the album as a complete listening experience. The recording quality is not perfect - with a hiss that sounds like the music originated from a mid quality bootleg cassette tape without Dolby. Nevertheless this album is essential for any Beefheart and his Magic Band fan.
it has obviously been re-released to fool folks. Read more
Bat Chain Puller, Harry Irene, Odd Jobs and 1010th Of The Human Totem Pole, which are simply... Read more
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