Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band:The Legendary A&M Sessions

Captain Beefheart:The Legendary A&M Sessions

1984

A&M Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Diddy Wah Diddy  2. Who Do You Think You're Fooling?  3. Moonchild  4. Frying Pan   5. Here I Am I Always Am



This is a1984  EP containing Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band's first two singles (both originally released in 1966) and an outtake. This is squarely mid 60's garage blues rock...Even more straightforward than "Safe As Milk." Here's what you get:

The "Diddy Wah Diddy/Who Do You Think You're Fooling?" single..."Diddy Wah Diddy" is a Bo Diddley cover...The kind of song you'd hear on a Nuggets compilation...Stomping, over-driven blues rock...Very stomping actually...The B-Side, "Who Do You Think You're Fooling?" is lighter R&B. Would sound okay on an early Stones album...

Next up is the "Moonchild/Frying Pan" single...With its ominous gong, echo-y vocals and out of sync harmonicas, "Moonchild" is the only song that hints at the weirdness of the Captain's subsequent albums. Maybe not "Trout Mask Replica" weird, but as about as far-out as "Safe As Milk"'s more avant-garde moments...It's almost impossible to fathom how young Beefheart was here...He sounds exactly the same as he did in his 40's...Like a crusty old man who smoked too many cigarettes... "Frying Pan" is teenage garage-band R&B, that sounds kinda ordinary coming directly after the other-worldly "Moonchild"...A groovy song nonetheless...

The fifth track, "Here I Am I Always Am"was an outtake that didn't appear on any release prior to this EP...Again, garage R&B, but the time signatures are starting to get a little erratic and jerky, which is always a hallmark of prime Beefheart...

 Ultimately, I think this might be a record that would appeal more to oldies fans than the wonkies who are normally follow Beefheart...Very little weirdness outside of "Moonchild," this is just shakin' 60's rock that's sure to liven up any Friday Night Record Party...Before you spend too much money on it, be aware that the whole thing clocks in under 12 minutes... I might have paid 7-10 bucks for my copy...

Hey, I read somewhere that today's Friday...If that's true we better grab a beer and toss some Beefheart on the turntable...Here's "Diddy Wah Diddy"...Enjoy....