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Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band |
Excellent history Discogs member swagski has written a great history of this ground-breaking band. Read it at this link. |
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Diddy Wah Diddy¹ / Who Do You Think You're Fooling?¹ Dixon-McDaniel (2:22) / Van Vliet (2:10) A&M 794, 4/66 |
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Moonchild¹ / Frying Pan¹ Van Vliet (2:26) / Van Vliet (2:04) A&M 818, 10/66 |
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Magic Mountain Music Festival(6/11/67) |
Ry Cooder quits after disaterous appearance at Magic Moutain (Beefheart walked off stage)
Sought after for session work (Taj, Stones, Arlo, others) and a solo career
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Safe As Milk |
Buddah BDS-5001 | |
8/67 [UK: 2/68] | |
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Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do | Bermann-Van Vliet | 2:15 |
Zig Zag Wanderer | Bermann-Van Vliet | 2:40 |
Call On Me | Van Vliet | 2:37 |
Dropout Boogie | Bermann-Van Vliet | 2:32 |
I'm Glad | Van Vliet | 3:31 |
Electricity | Bermann-Van Vliet | 3:07 |
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Yellow Brick Road | Bermann-Van Vliet | 2:28 |
Abba Zaba | Van Vliet | 2:44 |
Plastic Factory | Bermann-Handley-Van Vliet | 3:08 |
Where There's Woman | Bermann-Van Vliet | 2:09 |
Grown So Ugly | Williams | 2:27 |
Autumn's Child | Bermann-Van Vliet | 4:02 |
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Yellow Brick Road / Abba Zaba Bermann-Van Vliet (2:40) / Van Vliet (3:25) Buddah BDA-9, 9/67 |
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1/20/68: Middle Earth, London see update note about an earlier "festival" |
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Strictly Personal |
Blue Thumb BTS-1 | |
10/68 [UK: 12/68] | |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Originally, Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band's second album was intended to be a double-album set called It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper. See note to Mirror Man for further details. |
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Ah Feel Like Ahcid | Van Vliet | 3:05 |
Safe As Milk | Van Vliet | 5:27 |
Trust Us | Van Vliet | 8:09 |
Son of Mirror Man—Mere Man | Van Vliet | 5:20 |
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On Tomorrow | Van Vliet | 3:26 |
Beatle Bones 'N' Smokin' Stones | Van Vliet | 3:17 |
Gimme Dat Harp Boy | Van Vliet | 5:04 |
Kandy Korn | Van Vliet | 5:06 |
Alex St Clair and Jerry Handley quit
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Plastic Factory / Where There's Woman Bermann-Handley-Van Vliet (3:00) / Bermann-Van Vliet (2:05) Buddah BDA-108, 3/69 |
Working In Seclusion
Bill Harkleroad and Mark Boston join the magic Meanwhile, Drumbo helps translate the Capt's weird piano stylings into cohesive songs (and got no credit for his efforts). The band rehearses in Laurel Canyon for months before recording the album. Watch this Vox Video for a quick history. |
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Trout Mask Replica |
Straight STS-1053 | |
6/16/69 RS500 [UK: 11/69] UK | |
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Frownland | Van Vliet | 1:39 |
The Dust Blows Forward 'N the Dust Blows Back | Van Vliet | 2:04 |
Dachau Blues | Van Vliet | 2:21 |
Ella Guru | Van Vliet | 2:23 |
Hair Pie: Bake 1 | Van Vliet | 4:57 |
Moonlight On Vermont | Van Vliet | 3:55 |
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Pachuco Cadaver | Van Vliet | 4:37 |
Bills Corpse | Van Vliet | 1:47 |
Sweet Sweet Bulbs | Van Vliet | 2:17 |
Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish | Van Vliet | 2:25 |
China Pig | Van Vliet | 3:56 |
My Human Gets Me Blues | Van Vliet | 2:42 |
Dali's Car | Van Vliet | 1:25 |
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Hair Pie: Bake 2 | Van Vliet | 2:23 |
Pena | Van Vliet | 2:31 |
Well | Van Vliet | 2:05 |
When Big Joan Sets Up | Van Vliet | 5:19 |
Fallin' Ditch | Van Vliet | 2:03 |
Sugar 'N' Spikes | Van Vliet | 2:29 |
Ant Man Bee | Van Vliet | 3:55 |
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Orange Claw Hammer | Van Vliet | 3:35 |
Wild Life | Van Vliet | 3:07 |
She's Too Much For My Mirror | Van Vliet | 1:42 |
Hobo Chang Ba | Van Vliet | 2:01 |
The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica) | Van Vliet | 2:04 |
Steal Softly Through Snow | Van Vliet | 2:13 |
Old Fart At Play | Van Vliet | 1:54 |
Veteran's Day Poppy | Van Vliet | 4:30 |
Note: Came with tri-fold lyric sheet, complete with Cap't's drawings
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Atlanta International Pop Festival(7/3/70) |
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Lick My Decals Off, Baby |
Straight RS-6420 | |
12/70 [UK: 1/71] T20 | |
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Lick My Decals Off, Baby | Van Vliet | 2:38 |
Doctor Dark | Van Vliet | 2:46 |
I Love You, You Big Dummy | Van Vliet | 2:54 |
Peon | Van Vliet | 2:24 |
Bellerin' Plain | Van Vliet | 3:35 |
Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop | Van Vliet | 2:06 |
Japan In A Dishpan | Van Vliet | 3:00 |
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I Wanna Find A Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go |
Van Vliet | 1:53 |
Petrified Forest | Van Vliet | 1:40 |
One Red Rose That I Mean | Van Vliet | 1:53 |
The Buggy Boogie Woogie | Van Vliet | 2:19 |
The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or The Big Dig) | Van Vliet | 2:11 |
Space-Age Couple | Van Vliet | 2:32 |
The Clouds Are Full Of Wine (Not Whiskey Or Rye) | Van Vliet | 2:50 |
Flash Gordon's Ape | Van Vliet | 4:57 |
Note: as Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band; came with lyric sheet (one side blank) with bonus lyrics
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Mirror Man |
Buddah BDS-5077 | |
4/71 [UK: 5/71] UK | |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Originally, Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band's second album was intended to be a double-album set called It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper. Although 1968's Strictly Personal has the same artwork that was created for the double album, it's a single disc. As part of the same post-Trout Mask Replica closet-cleaning that led to Buddah (the parent company of Blue Thumb Records, which released Strictly Personal), the label released Mirror Man, the second disc that was intended for the Plain Brown Wrapper release. Recorded in November 1967 (an odd misprint on the sleeve claims it was recorded in 1965, when the band barely existed), the four lengthy tracks on Mirror Man are even more simplistic and primal than those on Strictly Personal. |
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Tarotplane | Van Vliet | 19:00 |
Kandy Korn | Van Vliet | 8:00 |
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25th Century Quaker | Van Vliet | 9:50 |
Mirror Man | Van Vliet | 15:38 |
Note: This is actually the second part of Strictly Personal. See the blue note for details
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The Satsop River Fair And Tin Cup Races(9/3-6/71) |
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The Captain, along with varying Magic Bands, released albums until 1982. Retired to paint. |