I rank them:1-Decals2-Doc3-TMR4-Clear Spot5-Safe as Milk6-Ice Cream7-Spotlight Kid8-Shiny Beast9-Strictly Personal10-Mirror Man11-Bluejeans & Moonbeams12-Unconditionally
I've listened to him a lot and I couldn't tell you what it is or what it isn't. There is something incomplete about a lot of it, which isn't a bad thing; the production is almost always bad, except on the last 3 and "Clear Spot." "Decals" really suffers from the shitty bass and drum sound, since the bass and drum playing on that one is amazing. I regard "Decals" as the best because it's the most concise and focused. "Doc" sounds flat (esp. on the Caroline CD I have) but "Dirty Blue Gene" pretty sums up what I like about Beefheart, and overall I think the words on that one are his best by far. Only thing that makes it less than perfect is his voice--he's still funny but the old power and range just ain't there any more.Zappa once said that CB had a bad sense of rhythm. FZ generally makes me urp but he's right in this case. The weird thing about Beef is the way the music works against itself; there's something horribly thwarted in a lot of it and you sense he's just impatient. The thing that saves it, usually, is the sense as well that he's aware of it but can do nothing about it except to mock his own impulses, constantly, and only occasionally does something really unifed and fairly un-neurotic emerge, like "Click Clack" or the "Clear Spot" album or the great "Best Batch Yet." But Beef's bad rhythm is not really bad in the sense that ordinary folks have bad rhythm--it's more like Howlin' Wolf's slightly off sense of what's happening, metrically, and I've always thought that Beef internalized some of this, and actually did a very strange and cool thing by internalizing all the wrong and oblique aspects of "blues" and came out with what he came out with.
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 16:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
― J (Jay), Wednesday, 23 April 2003 16:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
-- J
No--I like it a lot too and it's cool as a response to various things happening at the same time (Beatles, blues revival shit, etc.). In many ways it's his most rockin' album before "Clear Spot."
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Thursday, 24 April 2003 13:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
sounds OK to me.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 24 April 2003 13:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
-- Dadaismus (kcoyne3...), April 23rd, 2003. (later)
anyone care to discuss this?
― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Thursday, 24 April 2003 13:40 (twenty-one years ago) link
-- Julio Desouza
Sounds OK but not good. Barely acceptable. Sorta works to reinforce the weird vaudeville vibe of the record, I guess. The pitter-pat of little tap-dancing feet or something.
― Jess Hill (jesshill), Thursday, 24 April 2003 13:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― rexJr., Thursday, 24 April 2003 14:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dadaismus, Thursday, 24 April 2003 14:27 (twenty-one years ago) link
Beefheart uses undistorted guitar sound. I can def hear the bass on this. It may not be as 'full on' but it doesn't need to be here.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 24 April 2003 14:36 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 02:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― Scourage (Haberdager), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 02:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 02:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 01:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― sleeve version 2.0 (sleeve testing), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 02:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Am I Re-elected Yet? (Dada), Tuesday, 26 September 2006 07:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― Zeno, Sunday, 22 April 2007 04:37 (seventeen years ago) link
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 22 April 2007 04:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― Zeno, Sunday, 22 April 2007 04:39 (seventeen years ago) link
― filthy dylan, Sunday, 22 April 2007 04:47 (seventeen years ago) link
― baaderonixx, Sunday, 22 April 2007 09:13 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jack Burton, Sunday, 22 April 2007 11:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― sonderangerbot, Sunday, 22 April 2007 18:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jack Burton, Sunday, 22 April 2007 19:06 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.scarygoround.com/strips/20070730.png
― Telephone thing, Monday, 30 July 2007 04:24 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.scarygoround.com/strips/20070731.png
― Telephone thing, Tuesday, 31 July 2007 04:09 (seventeen years ago) link
I've listened to the The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot two-on one disc more than anything else by Beefheart. It is all good, but this one is the one I listen to the most. The song by Beefheart that seems to pop up in my head the most is "Gimme Dat Harp Boy".
― earlnash, Tuesday, 31 July 2007 04:23 (seventeen years ago) link
I will stop posting these when they stop being so awesome.
http://www.scarygoround.com/strips/20070801.png
― Telephone thing, Wednesday, 1 August 2007 05:38 (seventeen years ago) link
hang on. "Ryan Adams" is "writing" this?
― Mark G, Wednesday, 1 August 2007 06:47 (seventeen years ago) link
Nah, not Ryan Adams, just a character who happens to be named Ryan. The author of the comic is John Allison, the rest of it is on http://www.scarygoround.com/.
― Telephone thing, Wednesday, 1 August 2007 18:19 (seventeen years ago) link
Also responsible for this classic Achewood guest spot.
― Telephone thing, Wednesday, 1 August 2007 18:23 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.scarygoround.com/strips/20070802.png
― Telephone thing, Thursday, 2 August 2007 04:01 (seventeen years ago) link
Are you John Allison?
― Drooone, Thursday, 2 August 2007 04:03 (seventeen years ago) link
Nah, just someone who finds these amusing and has nothing better to do with himself at 11 PM on a weeknight.
― Telephone thing, Thursday, 2 August 2007 04:09 (seventeen years ago) link
Keep 'em coming, yeah!
― Mark G, Thursday, 2 August 2007 06:58 (seventeen years ago) link
I've listened to the The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot two-on one disc more than anything else by Beefheart
I still haven't really gotten into this one. I never seem to be in the mood for it. If I want to hear an album like this, I'd be more likely to put on Little Feat.
― o. nate, Thursday, 2 August 2007 15:39 (seventeen years ago) link
Nice comparison, that, considering they shared a label and producer and Roy Estrada.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 2 August 2007 16:35 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.scarygoround.com/strips/20070803.png
fin
― Telephone thing, Friday, 3 August 2007 05:01 (seventeen years ago) link
heart.gif
― Mark G, Friday, 3 August 2007 08:28 (seventeen years ago) link
As a five-year ILX lurker I am very proud to have my comics linked on I Love Music!!
― John Allison, Friday, 3 August 2007 22:30 (seventeen years ago) link
Oh wow! Sorry to steal your bandwidth, just figured that the folks 'round here would be appreciative :)
― Telephone thing, Saturday, 4 August 2007 02:03 (seventeen years ago) link
This is an unbelievable performance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghg13ZObXJk
Never heard the song before, I'm guessing it's from one of the less well regarded Beefheart albums.
― A brownish area with points (chap), Wednesday, 20 October 2010 02:17 (thirteen years ago) link
You should see the concert footage from around that time in which he's wearing a sweater with a picture of himself on it.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 20 October 2010 02:56 (thirteen years ago) link
Wait. "Gimmee Dat Harp Boy" is about Bob "The Bear" Hite??
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 14 November 2011 04:50 (twelve years ago) link
Apparently, yes, the story behind it's pretty amusing
― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Monday, 14 November 2011 10:45 (twelve years ago) link
Do tell
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 14 November 2011 15:34 (twelve years ago) link
He was at a club in LA with, I think it was Gary Marker, and Canned Heat were playing and Beefheart was getting increasingly annoyed because, according to Marker, he hated anyone working in vaguely similar areas to himself - you know, white guy singing blues based material and running to fat. He was saying stuff like, "What's that fat guy doing up there singing all those songs by dead black men?" (the rage of Caliban!) and eventually "Hey, gimme that harp, boy, ain't no fat man's toy". Story goes gomething like that anyway.
― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Monday, 14 November 2011 15:44 (twelve years ago) link
That's awesome. I love me some Bear Hite though.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 14 November 2011 18:24 (twelve years ago) link
mandatoryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fST51cC9PzQ
― tylerw, Friday, 24 August 2012 17:05 (twelve years ago) link
sweeeeeet
― The Radioheads are massive in the Man community (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 24 August 2012 17:09 (twelve years ago) link