John French and Gary Lucas both seemed to think he had MS, though both haven't seen him in a long while.

this is an interview with John French (Drumbo) from a couple of years back. it's pretty interesting:

http://vpinterviews.blogspot.com/2005/0 ... -band.html

mostly it's about working with Beefheart and about the Magic Band performances that he and other former members have done over the last few years.

as a side note he talks a little about being a born-again Christian. my impression of the born-agains I've known personally is that they were frightened into it by the complexity of the world, but I wish more of them had this guy's attitude.

"Here she comes, walkin', lookin' like a zoo......" Not Crap.

When I lived in Athens there was a fanfuckingtastic Beefheart cover band called the "Big Eyed Beans From Venus." They were so good at the trout mask stuff that Rockette Morton himself would sit in and do shows with them from time to time.

I got to hang out with Rockette after one of these shows and he told me stories of the trout mask house. My favorite is when he said that Beefheart broke his easel and Rockette was asked to hold the canvas. As he raised it up Beefheart crossed the room, picked up a handful of brushes, loaded them with paint, and then ran full speed at rockette in a flurry of paint, bowling him over.

Any good books on this fella yet?

NOT CRAP, btw.

pdc_heavy wrote:Any good books on this fella yet?

NOT CRAP, btw.

There's a decent biography. I think it was published in England. I loaned it to somebody, so I can't check the author for you. I think it might just be called Captain Beefheart.

pdc_heavy wrote:Any good books on this fella yet?

NOT CRAP, btw.

Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh- this book isn't that great but it has some personal/biographical details that I haven't found in other places.

It focuses quite a bit on his visual art, which also makes it unique. This would be fine, except that there are no reprints of the art work at all in the book. If you were wondering how interesting it would be to have somebody describe, at length, works of visual art that you couldn't see, I can tell you that the answer is "not very."

Ishmael wrote:

pdc_heavy wrote:Any good books on this fella yet?

NOT CRAP, btw.

Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh- this book isn't that great but it has some personal/biographical details that I haven't found in other places.

It focuses quite a bit on his visual art, which also makes it unique. This would be fine, except that there are no reprints of the art work at all in the book. If you were wondering how interesting it would be to have somebody describe, at length, works of visual art that you couldn't see, I can tell you that the answer is "not very."

On this subject, Bill Harkleroad (Mr. Zoot Horn Rollo) did write a book about being in Beefheart's band called something like Lunar Notes (that's not the title, but something Beefheart-related). I want to read it someday. (correction/edit: Lunar Notes is indeed the title of the book.)

Also, Drumbo: greatest drummer ever?

ant man bee wrote:When I lived in Athens there was a fanfuckingtastic Beefheart cover band called the "Big Eyed Beans From Venus." They were so good at the trout mask stuff that Rockette Morton himself would sit in and do shows with them from time to time.

I got to hang out with Rockette after one of these shows and he told me stories of the trout mask house. My favorite is when he said that Beefheart broke his easel and Rockette was asked to hold the canvas. As he raised it up Beefheart crossed the room, picked up a handful of brushes, loaded them with paint, and then ran full speed at rockette in a flurry of paint, bowling him over.

That is so fucking awesome.

I would do a Beefheart cover band if I found likeminded musicians in a fucking half-a-heartbeat.

SecondEdition wrote:On this subject, Bill Harkleroad (Mr. Zoot Horn Rollo) did write a book about being in Beefheart's band called something like Lunar Notes (that's not the title, but something Beefheart-related). I want to read it someday. (correction/edit: Lunar Notes is indeed the title of the book.)

This book is not a Captain Beefheart biography, but it's a good read. It's really about Zoot's experiences from Zoot's perspective. Beefheart is of course prominent, but technically speaking it's not about him.