Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Bluejeans And Moonbeams (1974)

This album was under the radar for the Beefheart. The next and final post for that "spring/summer vibe mix thang" I've been enjoying lately. Laid back, but very well written. Little Feet meets Sonny Terry on acid. Enjoy.


Van Vliet's music has been vastly influential. BBC disc jockey John Peel stated, "If there has ever been such a thing as a genius in the history of popular music, it's Beefheart…I heard echoes of his music in some of the records I listened to last week and I'll hear more echoes in records that I listen to this week." Many artists have cited Beefheart as an influence, notably those emerging during the early punk movement such as the Clash, Sex Pistols. Also Mark Lanegan, Noel Gallagher, Tom Waits, The White Stripes. John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and noted musician in his own right) was and still is heavily influenced by the music of Captain Beefheart. He would spend days listening to Captain Beefheart while painting and under the influence of marijuana, heroin, and cocaine.

Don Van Vliet (born Don Vliet on January 15, 1941, in Glendale, California, USA) a musician and visual artist, best known by the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. His musical work was mainly conducted with a rotating assembly of musicians called the Magic Band, which was active from the mid-1960s through to the early 1980s. Van Vliet was chiefly a singer and harmonica player, occasionally playing noisy, untrained free jazz-influenced saxophone and keyboards. His compositions are characterized by their odd mixtures of shifting time signatures and by their surreal lyrics, while Van Vliet himself is noted for his dictatorial approach to his musicians and for his enigmatic relationship with the public.

1969 saw the release of their best known album, Trout Mask Replica, which was produced by Van Vliet's childhood friend Frank Zappa and is today regarded as a groundbreaking and influential masterpiece.

Van Vliet currently lives in southern California, and is reportedly suffering from multiple sclerosis. In recent years, he has become somewhat reclusive and abandoned music, stating he can make far more money painting. His artwork, like his music, has been seen as extreme and innovative, and it commands high prices, as well as comparisons to Pablo Picasso and Franz Kline

BEEF INJECTION