the scan above of the front
of this book about captain beefheart and the magic band already
indicates it: this is a peculiar one. not only because a
hard-cover construction is pretty unique, but i also had to
include the extra title strip which is wrapped around it to keep
it recognizable from farther away. for, speaking in technical
terms, it is a 'cloth cover with blind emboss' - if you have a
sharp eyesight you can spot the twó words 'cuca' and 'monga' -
and 'sewn and case bound'.
when there has been taken so much
care of 'just the outside' you may expect that ínside
everything is as precisely edited. and it is. although the
typefaces may look a bit unusual and the lay-out indifferent
(like the main photo captions in red), this issue is the
opposite of a hastily made mass product - which is a fear at
first when it appears that the book has been 'printed in hong
kong'(!). the paper is of a superior glossy quality and the
binding work has been done perfectly.
however, there are not so many words
in this luxurious book about captain beefheart - it actually
is the fastest read of all of them, despite the presence of
nearly a hundred pages. no real wonder, because it almost is
completely filled with two-pages photographs of...: landscapes
and other 'dead stuff'. those shots are full colour, super
detailed 'personal impressions' of places where don van vliet
spent his first thirty years (1941-70).
for this (some quotes) 'tribute to
don van vliet' is part of a series of 'impressionistic
portraits' meant to 'show the suburban southern california
landscape as it is today', inspired by - in this case -
captain beefheart and the magic band. the project is an idea
of rudy vanderlans, a long-time admirer of the different sides
of the artist van vliet, who has had an artistic urge himself
his whole life through: he's a driving force behind the
innovative emigre
concept.
last year he grabbed his camera,
climbed into his car and visited such notorious places as:
LOS ANGELES
big city near
don's home-town(s) all the time - the natural la brea tar pits, and the
human made drive-in world
LANCASTER where don (and every one
else) grew up 1948 etc. - the parental garage, and roads running to
and from the mojave desert
LAUREL
CANYON (hollywood) where they were 'safe as milk' 1966/67 - the spot is still
there, but the rest has evaporated
TARZANA where they were 'strictly
personal'
1968 - the
converted chicken coop searched for is lost in the past...
WOODLAND
HILLS where
'trout mask replica' was born 1968/70 - the decaying, spooky house don lived and
the band suffered in, and remnants of the small bridge in the
garden (see bottom of this page)
GLENDALE where don was born, and
started 1941/48
- so dull, he
just took some random pics without even leaving the car
CUCAMONGA where don sang in frank
zappa's studio ±1963 - now neatly reorganized into industrial parks
and commuter camps
he looked around and just registered
the atmosphere. an example of his relaxed approach is the fact
that the book includes a totally off-topic picture of an old
'field guide to rocks and minerals' he found on the way back
to the car when he - and his unnamed lancastrian host with a
twisted shoulder muscle (who must have been john french) - had
visited the location where the 'ice cream for crow' video had
been shot.
the photos have been taken from an
artistic point of view: dark-light fights or triumphant colour
balances, deliberately out of focus or out-centered, beautiful
'coincidental' lines in the landscapes or icy architectural
structures and over-civilized neighbourhoods - anything gets a
chance. that is, with the exception of human beings and
animals (two ravens aside). and there is no rubbish on the
streets, nor a severe cloud in the air - which also lacks any
trace of night (don's favourite residence).
with such a project it's no surprise that there even are two
photographs you can lísten to. which means that rudy recorded
the sounds going on there, and when you have wrestled the
accompanying ceedee out of the awkward holder, you can hear
the traffic on an intersection close to the mojave desert, and
the sphere of an afternoon in woodland hills. amazingly
enough, at the latter spot nothing has changed: just like in
1969, a lone dog barks while an airplane flies over....
*
those two field recordings on the
five track ceedee - length: 1:17, and 2:04 for the logical
'trout mask replica' closer - are combined with musical
contributes to captain beefheart by three former members of
the magic band(s). coming first on the ceedee is GARY LUCAS with hurly burly comin' down (2:52), a solo guitar piece in the
unique style which has become his personal trade mark. it's a
live recording - because playing gigs still belongs to his
daily work, in contrast to both of the other participants.
for to JOHN
FRENCH aka DRUMBO making
music necessarily has became a side activity: his wonderful
own style of drumming isn't asked for much. but since 'then'
he further developed his skills and on his studio composition
vienna sausage waltz (4:53) he also played guitar,
marimba and piano and added midi bass. it's a well
thought-out, jazzy work but without clear connection to
beefheart (as if that was an obligation). for instance: only
sometimes the drumming sounds like the 'old time' crashing,
the last 'memory' - again an
instrumental - comes from BILL
HARKLEROAD, who isn't a full time musician too
any more. operating under the famous alias
ZOOT HORN ROLLO he added a bass program to his
baritone guitar, and invited a violin player and drums to play
along. recorded at his home studio, don's
secret (5:43) is
a varied rock and roll body with a jazzy jacket - but without
clear connection to beefheart (as if that was an obligation).
*
it's nice to see
what happened to (some of) the surroundings don van vliet and
his contemporaries lived in, and hear what (some of) those
'men in the captain's immense shadow' do now, but like don's
voice is missing on the ceedee, the captain himself is absent
in the book, hence
my CONCLUSION: very well done
project, however not exactly a béefheart item
and my ADVICE: but never mind, think about it
