dostros
Member
I've been reading a lot of music-related biographies lately, with a bent towards A&M-related artists, and I have to tell you, no matter what you think of the music, John "Drumbo" French's story of the Magic Band's wild ride with Captain Beefheart is one of the most compelling and satisfying tales I've ever read. It's called "Through the Eyes of Magic", and I bought the electronic version for 17$ CDN
https://www.amazon.com/Beefheart-Through-Magic-John-French/dp/0956121217
It takes me a long time to read anything, and this was long, so I lived for about a month in this Southern California nightmare, that became so real because of all the detail that the author puts into it, to the point where that world followed me around for a few days even after I'd finished the book!
"Drumbo" French was the drummer in Captain Beefheart's "Magic Band", who, along with a revolving list of musicians found themselves literally trapped in Don Vlient's domination, in situation that at times ressembled a "Lord of the Flies" scenario.
So here you have everything: for the musician, detailed descriptions of how the music of Captain Beefheart was put together (and the evolution of that throughout the 15-year history of the band); for the amateur of psychological thrillers, a study of the hold of the leader exploiting a group of kids in awe of their hometown hero, and even the occult is touched on in places in descriptions of the paranoia that was such a part of their existence.
The book is perhaps most fascinating as an example of how weird life can be: this is a conservative, pragmatic young man, John French, who never swayed far from his born-again Christian beliefs, and yet who was pivotal in the creation of some of the most *place adjective here* music on the planet - the farthest you could get from conservative and traditional. Beefheart never had the musical culture to communicate his ideas to the players: it took Drumbo to put it all together, and while he is careful to be humble and not toot his own horn too much, the day-to-day account makes that obvious.
Even thought the A&M connection was only a short period at the beginning of their career, the detail French puts into it makes it interesting for those looking for insights into the record company. The first Captain Beefheart single is considered by the earlier members at least to be the best-sounding record they made, and most bucked at the direction they were taking after that, that Jerry Moss rejected as "too negative". Vliet's answer was to bring in ever younger and more "malleable" musicians.
The book leaves you reflecting on how such an accident as Captain Beefheart's music could have happened, and I personally think it had a lot to do with Frank Zappa, but it would be too long to go into that.
https://www.amazon.com/Beefheart-Through-Magic-John-French/dp/0956121217
It takes me a long time to read anything, and this was long, so I lived for about a month in this Southern California nightmare, that became so real because of all the detail that the author puts into it, to the point where that world followed me around for a few days even after I'd finished the book!
"Drumbo" French was the drummer in Captain Beefheart's "Magic Band", who, along with a revolving list of musicians found themselves literally trapped in Don Vlient's domination, in situation that at times ressembled a "Lord of the Flies" scenario.
So here you have everything: for the musician, detailed descriptions of how the music of Captain Beefheart was put together (and the evolution of that throughout the 15-year history of the band); for the amateur of psychological thrillers, a study of the hold of the leader exploiting a group of kids in awe of their hometown hero, and even the occult is touched on in places in descriptions of the paranoia that was such a part of their existence.
The book is perhaps most fascinating as an example of how weird life can be: this is a conservative, pragmatic young man, John French, who never swayed far from his born-again Christian beliefs, and yet who was pivotal in the creation of some of the most *place adjective here* music on the planet - the farthest you could get from conservative and traditional. Beefheart never had the musical culture to communicate his ideas to the players: it took Drumbo to put it all together, and while he is careful to be humble and not toot his own horn too much, the day-to-day account makes that obvious.
Even thought the A&M connection was only a short period at the beginning of their career, the detail French puts into it makes it interesting for those looking for insights into the record company. The first Captain Beefheart single is considered by the earlier members at least to be the best-sounding record they made, and most bucked at the direction they were taking after that, that Jerry Moss rejected as "too negative". Vliet's answer was to bring in ever younger and more "malleable" musicians.
The book leaves you reflecting on how such an accident as Captain Beefheart's music could have happened, and I personally think it had a lot to do with Frank Zappa, but it would be too long to go into that.
