Quote:
Originally Posted by gunnels
Trying to explain why I love Trout Mask Replica is like trying to explain why I love maple syrup and horseradish on pastrami. I can't do it.
It's the ultimate weird album for weird people.
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I took a couple of months one summer and listened to every Beefheart album in order of release. There weren't many bits that I didn't like, but there are also only a few bits that I come back to again and again.
Something that I love but don't have a copy of is the alternate takes of Trout Mask Replica that were recorded, sans vocal, at the Magic Band house. The tones and just the general vibe are wonderful. And, honestly, it sounds really good without Vliet singing.
That said, I'm a fan of his voice, and my favorite moments of his singing mainly happen on Ice Cream For Crow: "The Past Sure Is Tense" and "The 1010th Day Of The Human Totem Pole" ... I also greatly enjoy "There Ain't No Santa Claus On The Evening Stage" and "Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles" from earlier records. And the way the band plays on Mirror Man, Safe As Milk, and Strictly Personal is wonderful wonderful wonderful.
Lotta good stuff in that man's catalog...
Bottom line for me is that he has genuine soul and feeling in his absolutely undeniable weirdness. He means it, whatever it is.
Interviews where he talks about preferring a goose to Eric Dolphy, or that he tries not to distinguish between singing and talking but to make both equally musically expressive in or out of a performance context, those things start to point to what he's about. So does the idea that he's a sculptor working in sound through the medium of musicians (difficult to say the least, as anyone who's ever tried to lead a band will understand...) ...
I don't mean to say that most, or other, musicians are basically insincere, or that Beefheart doesn't have certain obvious influences (Howlin Wolf), nor is he for every taste, and there are times when he is very hard for even a fan to listen to. I mainly reserve Trout Mask for alarming visitors.