Captain Beefheart – On Tomorrow/Beatle Bones ‘N’ Smokin’ Stones
Captain Beefheart – Gimme Dat Harp Boy
Seems fitting that the final record I buy in 2010 (and next to last post of this year) is one from the dearly departed Captain. Back before my bigtime sell-off, I used to own most every record that Beefheart had recorded, but for some reason I’d never tracked this one down. I think part of the reason was that I used to own “Mirror Man” which contained outtakes from this same session. Also, I’d always heard that Beefheart was never very pleased with the studio effects that producer Bob Krasnow inserted possibly against the Captain’s wishes (including some “psychedelic” phasing and a heartbeat at the end of “Ah Feel Like Ahcid”). 
Now that I’ve gotten a copy, I actually rather like this album, though, because of the reasons above, many Beefheart fans might rank it just below Unconditionally Guaranteed as the worst record in the Captain’s catalog (then again, I always liked that record too). The sound is stripped down, quite different from the mostly conventional psych of Safe As Milk, and not nearly as chaotic as what was coming next on Trout Mask Replica. It’s still a very eccentric sound, especially lyrically, but it’s also very
elemental. As wild as some of the time signatures are, a lot of this music just seems like it could have been performed on a back porch somewhere, albeit, perhaps after the consumption of massive quantities of hallucinogenic mushrooms or the like. In some ways I guess that’s the shame of the studio trickery from Krasnow. The music should just stand on it’s own, it was psychedelic enough just by itself. But at the same time, like a lot of records from this period, the phasing and odd sound effects mark the record in a particular time and place, and I actually appreciate that.
What I most appreciate is of course the music. I’ve chosen a couple of tracks from the 2nd side of the record. “On Tomorrow” & “Beatle Bones ‘n’ Smokin’ Stones” flow so nicely together, I figured I’d keep them that way. “Gimme Dat Harp Boy” has a slightly bluesier feel and a nicely locked in groove (sounding just a little bit like Howlin’ Wolf’s “Spoonful”) that the Captain is more than happy to vamp over on harmonica and vocals. You get the sense that someone might have said the song’s opening line (“Gimme Dat Harp Boy, it ain’t no fatman’s toy” to a young Captain Beefheart when he tried to play his own brand of blues, as evidenced on this record and several that follow (especially 1972’s The Spotlight Kid). Thank goodness he never gave that harp up. Beefheart was always a favorite of mine, it’s nice to end a very good year of diggin’ with a sentimental choice like this. It will be extra nice to play this on the Captain Beefheart tribute I’m planning for January.
Cheers,
Michael