TheCellarTapes

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Safe As Milk
(1967)



Tracks



Don Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, is the Californian who has earned a name for himself as one of the shining beacons with the avant-garde crowd for over forty years, with his range of vocal styles and his sprawling attitude to musical creating. He began his artistic rise at the same time as his friend Frank Zappa whilst at College, Beefheart founded The Magic Band back in 1964, but they were not producing the weird and whacky sounds you might have expected from old Beefy; it was actually closer to the likes of fellow Californians, The Rising Sons, with the Blues running through the veins.

Soon signed to A&M Records, the band had an instant hit with a remarkable version of Diddy Wah Diddy, an album was soon sanctioned but oddly, the record bosses felt that what was produced was not up to scratch. This setback effected Beefheart, with the band being left in limbo for some time. But a determined Beefheart re-emerged in 1967 and a fresh line-up of The Magic Band was formed, crucially with a new guitarist, one Ry Cooder. The band then went back into the studio for another charge at that debut LP, and what was produced was nothing short of exceptional, entitled Safe As Milk, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band had finally arrived.

The album begins with Sure Nuff ‘N’ Yes I Do, which is fine introduction to the power of Beefheart and Cooder, as a song it is nothing short of tremendous, classically structured and rather thrilling. The next song is Zig Zag Wanderer, which is different in both style and feel than the opener, it’s a lot more Garage and ’66 but in its own way it adds to the whole feel of the record as something rather fresh and special.

Another change of direction occurs on track 4, Dropout Boogie is very dark and sinister, a fuzz filled hate fest. It Sounds like Satan himself had a hand in the production, except for some sweet innocent piano moments to break it up a bit, but saying that even these moments make me feel slightly uneasy, truth be known this song is glorious. All these elements aired on this album seem to come together for the song Electricity, which is like a patchwork of all the influences that must have been swooshing round the studio at the time this album was recorded, its off the wall but maintains a humble and primal core to it, closing off Side One nicely.



Opening Side 2 is probably the most accessible song on the album, Yellow Brick Road is probably the easiest way to get the uninitiated introduced to Beefheart, it demonstrates there is a lot more going on with this man than just a grouchy voice singing rather random lyrics, the man knows what he’s doing. Everything else on this album is fine and well worth celebrating but I particularly want to mention Plastic Factory, a belting song if ever there was one.

Although not a commercial success at time of release, Safe As Milk is still a classic Blues album first and foremost, maybe a Blues album injected with something horrendously bad for your health, but a Blues album none the less. But its triumph is that it contains just the right amount of Psychedelia and the right amount of the avant-garde. Since 1967, the album has been subject to a couple of extended reissues, most noticeably on Buddha, but in any guise the fact remains that the combination of Beefheart and Cooder was obviously a match made in heaven, certainly too much of thing for you to miss out on.