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'Lick My Decals Off, Baby'

Captain Beefheart, 'Dadaist Of Rock'

By Jeffrey Ruggles
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

"Lick My Decals Off, Baby"

Captain Beefheart
& The Magic Band

Incredible hoopla almost always
comes with the release of a new
album, such as the recent Jesse
Winchester/Ampex splurge and any
number of previous hatched-up
gimmicks. Yet "Lick My Decals
Off, Baby," the newest album of
one of the most creative and
original artists today, has hardly
been noticed.

Captain Beefheart (his given
name is Don Van Clief) made his
first recording "Safe As Milk" in
1964. Considering the kind of
music which was popular in 1964,
Safe As Milk was an extremely
advanced album: while most lyrics
were "Yeah, yeah, yeah", etc.,
Captain Beefheart was singing
"Electricity", "Zig Zag Wanderer",
and "Dropout Boogie". Today the
album is still eminently playable
and replayable-how often is Beatles
'65 played today?

Hassles

After Safe As Milk, Beefheart
became involved in a long series of
hassles, on contracts, lawsuits,
losing musicians, and as a result his
next album didn't come out until
1968: "Strictly Personal."
Although it was an excellent
album-such songs as "Ah Feel Like
Acid", "Son Of Mirror Man-Mere
Man," and "On Tomorrow" -
Beefheart went off on a tour of
Europe, and his producer released it
after recording it through some sort
of phasing process, which made it a
difficult album for many to listen
to and a poor seller.

Captain Beefheart's next album
was "Trout Mask Replica," a
double album which came out in
1969. No self-respecting music
lover/record collector should be
without it. On the basis of Trout
Mask Replica, a Rolling Stone
reviewer called Beefheart "the
Dadaist of rock"; I would say he
might loosely be called a Godard of
music.

Amazing Range

The range of the two records is
amazing; it goes from a full band of
glass-finger guitar, steel appendage
guitar, bass clarinet, bass, drums,
and Beefheart's vocal ("When Big
Joan Sets Up", "Pachuco
Cadaver"); to a bass clarinet and
saxophone duet ("Hair Pie: Bake
1"); to Beefheart vocal solos ("The
Dust Blows Forward 'n' The Dust
Blows Back", "Well"); to guitar
solos by Zoot Horn Rollo, The
Magic Band's guitarist ("Dall's
Car"); to a song Beefheart appears
to have made up as he sang
("Orange Claw Hammer"); to a
vocal by Antennae Jimmy Semens,
who I believe is Beefheart's wife
though my friends scorn ("Pena");
to an unclassifiable Top-Forty
number ("The Blimp").

Perhaps the best song on the
whole album-can there be
one?-and one of Beefheart's nicest
images is "Neon Meate Dream Of
An Octofish".

Captain Beefheart's newest
album is entitled "Lick My Decals
Off, Baby", and it is a further
developing and refining of what he
began in Trout Mask Replica. The
personnel has altered slightly for
Decals, and the final result is a
smoother, more toned-down sound
than Trout Mask; similar to the way
Santana toned its sound down from
its first-to its second album.

Zoot Horn Rollo on guitar and
Rockette Morton on
bassius-o-phellius, musicians
Beefheart has trained from scratch,
remain the nucleus of the group.
Zoot Horn Rollo's guitar is notable
in that it never acts as a lead, but
builds around and fills in. Rockette
Morton's bass is very soft and does
not oppress the group's sound, as
often happens in rock groups. One
cut from Decals, "One Red Rose
That I Mean", is a beautiful, almost
classically formed duet between
Zoot Horn Rollo and Rockette
Morton.

The other members of the group
for Lick My Decals Off, Baby are
Art Tripp (formerly with the
Mothers Of Invention) on drums
and Drumbo on percussion.
accompanying the two guitars and
the vocal.

The Magic Band rarely produces
Although it is not exactly clear who
plays it (probably Drumbo).
Captain Beefheart has added a
xylophone for much of Decals.
Also, on "The Buggy Boogie
Woogie", Beefheart has both his
percussion men sweeping brooms,
a strong tuneful melody; instead,
guitar, bass, xylophone, and
whatever else is being played will
each have their own them, based on
and revolving around Beefheart's
vocal. Characteristically, Beefheart
will sing for a number of bars, then
either drop out or take up one of
his many "breather apparatus", and
the band will play from the
"melody" (if it can be called such)
established by the vocal.

At the end of the song,
Beefheart may come in again, but
the form varies with every song;
although most the songs are short,
two to three minutes. Not every
number has a vocal; Beefheart plays
soprano sax, tenor sax, bass
clarinet, and chromatic harmonica
on Decals, and his leads on
instrumentals are at once bluesy,
unpredictable, and humorous.
There are few bands which can
change their tone and temper as
quickly and as drastically as The
Magic Band from song to song, and
within one piece.

Earlier Beefheart Album: "Trout Mask Replica"

Multi-Talented

Although Captain Beefheart is a
musician, his skills do not end with
music. A painting of his appears on
the back of the cover of Lick My
Decals Off, Baby, and on the inside
liner which contains the lyrics there
also are several poems, including
"(untitled)" which is in the form of
a film script.

He has written five novels; "Old
Fart At Play" on Trout Mask
Replica is from one of them.
Beefheart also has the ability to
know that a phone is going to ring
before it actually does.

Influence

Captain Beefheart's influence,
while it has long been felt in the
underground music scene, is only
beginning to penetrate the rest of
the music world.

Frank Zappa, a former high
school friend of Beefheart's has
long recognized his ability; Zappa
calls Beefheart one of the great
geniuses of our day, and he had
Beefheart do the only vocal on his
album "Hot Rats". Also, on the
Flock's new album "Dinosaur
Swamps" the careful listener can
distinguish a version of Hair Pie on
side two; but besides these and
other scattered points the effect of
Beefheart's musical innovation is
yet to be generally recognized.