Captain Beefheart:

Lick My Decals Off, Baby: (1970)

Oh, yes, the good Captain... A polarizing figure to say the least. There are lots of musicians that proclaim their music to be art, and it is, but there are few willing to allow their art to be ragged, grating, and abstract the way Captain Beefheart did. Trout Mask Replica is a modern masterpiece..."A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fas and bulbous"... However, Lick My Decals Off, Baby, may be my favorite. This album is less red, and more blue, and blue is my favorite color. The tunes stir a dirtier groove based stew than Trout Mask, making for a rare moment when a group of white boys has been able to push the boundaries of the blues. Check out I Love You, You Big Dummy, or The Clouds Are Full Of Wine (Not Whiskey or Rye).

Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller):(1978)

So Captain Beefheart recorded an album called Bat Chain Puller, and the record lable (owned by Zappa) didn't want to release it...So Beefheart made a different album, Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller). He stood by that the original album he turned in was better that this, the released version. So it goes in business. I love this album, so I guess that makes it my second favorite. Anyway, artwork on the cover (by Beefheart) and the song Bat Chain Puller are worth the price of admission. Actually both versions of Bat Chain Puller, the one here and on the first recording of this album, are killer. Another track to check out, When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy, sounds like an influence on Primus to me.

It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper: (2008)

So, in 1967 Beefheart planed for his second album to be a double album called It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper Marked Personal, but his label said, NO. What ended up coming out on Strictly Personal was a bastardized version, and the Good Captain felt was inferior to his initial idea. Flash forward to 2008, and we get It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper, a collection of tracks that didn't make the cut for the Strictly Personal album release, and outtakes from other albums. I dig the two different takes of Safe As Milk, and Flower Pot. Overall, I think this is an interesting collection, that allows a small glance into the evolution of some of the Captain's working process.