Captain Beefheart/Trout Mask Replica

He had a voice that sounded like a glass of asphalt with a gravel twist. He was Captain Beefheart aka Dan Van Vliet. He sang with a group called the Magic Band and together they made some of the most experimental, surreal music of any of the groups in the 1960's. If you need to compare them with someone, think Frank Zappa, but even less commercial.

Captain Beefheart was very prolific... but Trout Mask Replica is the album everyone remembers. It was cosmic. It was absurd. It was, his masterpiece.

Fast and Bulbous!

To listen to it makes one feel that they have stepped into the Land of Oz-- but it's an Oz where the Munchkins have discovered magic mushrooms.

 It's also an album that influenced alot of punk bands and other great artists. The most notable singer was Tom Waits. For those of you who are Waits fans I would say that Trout Mask Replica had alot to do with his titles such as Sword Fish Trombones and Rain Dogs. Another artist that borrowed heavily from the Captain was Beck. The artwork on his first album was very similiar to Trout Mask Replica.

Even though I do like Clear Spot Light Kid and Doc at the Radar Station, those works do not come close to this album. It's unfortunate that Beefheart is no longer with us. Who knows if he could have given birth to another great masterpiece