Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Snub Week
The Song of the Day is:
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – “Grow Fins”
From the album The Spotlight Kid (1972)
Ya better get it bach together again
I`m gonna grow fins
`N go back in the water again
If ya don`t leave me alone
I`m gonna take up with ah mermaid
`N leave you land-lubbin` women alone
Don Van Vliet
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band’s omission from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is easy to understand. They are pretty much the least accessible band that ever existed (or at least the first rock band to hold that title). I really love this band, but their most famous and most acclaimed album, Trout Mask Replica, is a very challenging listen. I’ve probably only taken on the whole album in one swipe three or four times. It’s disjointed, spiky and jagged, confusing and sprawling, bizarre and full of inside jokes. It’s the most free reign that Captain Beefheart ever had in the studio (mostly thanks to his childhood friend Frank Zappa footing the bill). Captain Beefheart didn’t create this album out of nothing though, it was a tribute to delta blues, avant garde jazz and primitive R&B. Despite the chaotic nature, it was meticulously rehearsed and orchestrated. Me, personally, I prefer the music where he does have some constraints put upon him, a tether to earth. Safe as Milk, The Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot are the Magic Band albums I turn to. He was still wildly original and unique, but he at least adhered to some conventions that made listening less exhausting and more enjoyable. The song I’ve selected today, “Grow Fins” is relatively simple swamp boogie, a stylistic nod to one of Beefheart’s biggest influences, Howlin’ Wolf, with a concept of turning to the mythological mermaid for love. Beefheart, born Don Van Vliet, was an audio, conceptual and visual artist with multi-octave vocal range and an expert skill at reed instruments. He was a demanding bandleader, and if the Hall has the foresight to include the Magic Band, super talented individuals such as guitarists Ry Cooder and Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad), bassist Rockette Morton, drummer Art Tripp and others of this motley crew could see induction. The band lasted roughly from the last 60’s to the early 80’s, and was an inspiration to Tom Waits, the Talking Heads, Phish, Devo and Sonic Youth. Van Vliet eventually retreated to be a visual artist until he was hindered by multiple sclerosis. He died in 2010, and has not really seen a massive influx of respect. However there are new generations of fans and musicians taking interest in his wife and varying body of work. Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band probably is not a slam dunk for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but they deserve to be in the conversation for their appreciation of bygone musical styles and an evolution towards punk and experimental music.
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Hear Today, Grown Tomorrow 