Customer Reviews

Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica (33 1/3)

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4 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(1)
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Having read a few titles in the 33+1/3 series, some veering way off into overly-personal memoir-land, and others delving way too closely into recording minutia, I'd say that Courrier's take on Trout Mask Replica is a perfect middle-ground -- giving plenty of background information on Don Van Vliet, the Magic Band, and Frank Zappa, while still paying proper amount of attention to one of the densest albums of its era -- or ANY era.

I'd especially recommend this title to newcomers trying to plow their way through TMR -- Courrier does an excellent job in deciphering the myriad layers, both for musicians and non-musicians alike.

This is a great exploration of TMR. Although I have a few quibbles with Mr. Courrier on various points, his book is a mini-epic that can stand proudly alongside Beefheart and the Magic Band's tour de force.

Courrier creates a nice balance between the geek minutiae of the record and the larger picture (pop music history, Zappa's influence, etc). The writer knew he had a challenge ahead of him and he tackles it with honesty and modesty. No hipster posturing at all....very refreshing.

This is easily the best 33 1/3 book I've read so far. My second fave in the series is the one on Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane...", another cult record worth checking out.

Good commentary on TMR. With the lack of material about CB out there, anything is refreshing. Lots of interviews with MB members, some good funny insights and comments, not too much overintellectualising, a quick read. A good choice for Beefheart fans

Kevin Courrier's excellent study of one of the most unsual albums ever recorded is a must read for music lovers of all stripes. Courrier puts the record and the artist into perfect focus. A nice mix of musical analysis and music history. One of the very best in the entire series.

Putting music into words is hard enough, but crafting words to adequately express an album as complicated, multilayered and ineffable as "Trout Mask Replica" must count as the Everest of music criticism. The album itself has infuriated and ingratiated those brave enough to both acknowledge its existence and actually let their cochleas jangle to all of its angularity and often frightening unfamiliarity. Those who last for more than a few listens may find themselves personally changed by the experience. Though the indescribable album definitely has precedents in earlier avant-garde music, the music industry, and especially the rock genre, has simply never produced anything like it before or since. It stands pretty much alone in its singular and individualistic expression.

Of course such treasures often come at a price, as the extremely readable and adequately sized 33 1/3 "Trout Mask Replica" installment points out. Freedom of expression, or so it seems in this case, came at the cost of extreme tyranny over the musical process and the people involved in it. So goes the paradoxes of existence, good sometimes emerges from evil, and vice versa, and freedom sometimes emerges from tyranny and vice versa. If the cacophonous album exudes any one overarching feeling, it exudes the intangibility and slipperiness with which we hold on to reality and that nagging feeling that things are not what they seem. It's a challenging and often uncomfortable listen for newcomers. But that same and almost paranoid claustrophobic feeling can eventually emerge into a new way of seeing and experiencing the world. Long time listeners to "Trout Mask Replica" also speak of the joy emanating from the music that often sounds like the Large Hadron Collider crapping its pants. Something utterly new and affirmative happened here, regardless of the situation from which it arose.

The small, some 150-page 33 1/3 volume doesn't dwell on the negatives. It does shatter many myths, some of which were already shattered, and tries to paint a complete picture of the creative process. Stories of Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart, from the time of "Trout Mask Replica's" recording, have become horrifyingly legendary. He allegedly sought total control, which apparently included control over the minds and behavior of his supporting band. Dictatorial and emotionally manipulative techniques were sometimes applied, according to those present. Still, the band seemed fervently dedicated to the project at hand, as though they knew this was the process needed to create something astonishingly unique and willingly acquiesced. The band, of course, played a huge role in the creation of "Trout Mask Replica." Most of them, quoted at length in the book from various sources, seem very proud of their accomplishment. They should be.

Short breezy chapters cover varying aspects of this incalculable masterpiece. The preface relays the author's own personal experience with the album. And then the memoir, though interesting, stops. It would have become uninteresting quickly had it continued and permeated the entire book. Then the backstory begins, and the book covers loads of it, including numerous influences from blues, jazz and the visual arts. Clashing, at first harmoniously, biographies of Van Vliet and producer Frank Zappa fill the next few chapters. They were intimately connected by a Webcor recording device. A quick tour through the making of "Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band's" first few recordings, from "Diddy Wah Diddy" to "Strictly Personal," ensues. Then the band moves into the famous house on Ensenada Drive and the seeds of "Trout Mask Replica" are sown. Then the drama begins which ultimately ends in the now infamous 1969 album. Chapter Six provides a song-by-song analysis of the entire album. A final epilogue places the album in the context of its time. Essentially, it doesn't sound like it exists in any context and it more or less ignored the world and cultural happenings outside of itself. In fact, someone with no knowledge of the album would probably have a hard time dating it upon first listen. It sounds both modern and classic. Nonetheless, it seems almost impossible to imagine "Trout Mask Replica" happening at any other time and receiving the attention it received, though sparse in comparison to most popular music. So though it doesn't sound like a product of the late 1960s, it is definitely a product of the late 1960s.

Though actually listening to "Trout Mask Replica" isn't a prerequisite for reading the 33 1/3 installment, it's difficult to imagine deriving a lot from the book without first experiencing the unimaginable music. Fans who have read other sources may not find much new here, but they will find the story presented in a very compact and easily digestible form. Those who have just arrived at the album will find the book a near perfect introduction. Lastly, this book appeared before Don Van Vliet's death in 2010. It instead ends with his musical exile to a trailer somewhere in California, where he dedicated himself to painting. But a final quote from critic Roberto Ohrt aptly sums up Van Vliet's artistic output: "The voice of Don Van Vliet, alias Captain Beefheart, was a signal and a proof that something else was possible - that nothing has to stay the way it is." In 1969, Van Vliet and his band demonstrated that beyond question. And things haven't quite stayed the same since.

I thought that this book had exactly the right mix of background both on the history of the band, and the influences, and analysis of the songs. There might have been just a few too many words on just how unusual the record was for it's time, but I can handle that. And yes, there may be some errors as mentioned in the other post, and another one about Jackson Pollock and Ornette Coleman, but not enough to mar the overall excellence of the book. Well worth reading if you have loved the record for years or if you've just discovered it.

A great, great read for fans of Beefheart and TROUT MASK. Just a few errors that bothered me:

1) Continues the misinformation that CHINA PIG was recorded on cassette. As is clear from the GROW FINS set, CHINA PIG was recorded on the same quarter-inch tape that Dick Kunk was using to record the original backing tracks that came to be known as the "rehearsal tape." This tape was either copied to cassette and recorded open-mic for the Trout album (very likely, as you can hear laughter WAY in the background as the song plays) or was played from the Nagra speaker and recorded open-mic for the album. I suspect the former, as you can also hear a track on GROW FINS where Don and Frank play CHINA PIG from a cassette for the nosy neighbor.

2) States incorrectly that CHINA PIG and ORANGE CLAW HAMMER (radio station version) were played on acoustic guitars. CLEARLY electric.

3) States that Don was in a separate room for the vocal of CHINA PIG. I doubt it, as he is coaching Doug Moon when the song starts. They both seem to be on separate amps, however.

4) States that the song Frank offered Don and Gary Lucas was THE TORTURE NEVER STOPS. It was actually SOMEBODY GET HIM A PEPSI, about Don and Frank's early years in Don's house.

5) States, as has been said elsewhere, that the audio theater sections of TROUT MASK (like Fast n Bulbous) were recorded on cassette. Some were, but Fast n Bulbous is obviously done in a pro studio, as you can hear Frank talking through the playback speaker, and the sound quality is too good to be cassette.

6) I hear Don during Hair Pie Bake One saying: "We're all recording a bush," not "we're OUT recording a bush." But maybe not.

7) PENA vocal - isn't that Jeff Cotton? Not Rockette Morton!

I'm surprised that with everything else so perfect, Courrier would mess up some of these pretty obvious details. But overall the book is one of the best about Beefheart I've read, with the fewest annoying errors, and it has served to revive my interst in Jazz and the blues.

Book reveals the Cap'n to be a petty, crabby man. I wish I never read it, as I love the Capn's music.