The rabbit was sad to read of the death of Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart. Apparently his real name was Don Glen Vliet but he changed the Glen to Van which seems to work in some odd way. Beefheart's Mirror Man was the first album the young rabbit bought. Strange I know but there ya go...The young rabbit also saw Beefheart live at the Rainbow, Finsbury Park way back in the late middle ages but the abiding memory has to be his vocal on the Willie the Pimp track on Zappa's Hot Rats album - way up there in the top demented vocal performances list. Oddly, the album took its title not from a title track but from a phrase - from the lyrics of Willie the Pimp. All together now...
I'm a little pimp with my hair gassed back
Pair a khaki pants with my shoe shined black
Got a little lady . . . walk the street
Tellin' all the boys that she cain't be beat
Twenny dollah bill (I can set you straight)
Meet me onna corner boy 'n don't be late
Man in a suit with a bow-tie neck
Wanna buy a grunt with a third party check
Standin' onna porch of the Lido Hotel
Floozies in the lobby love the way I sell:
HOT MEAT
HOT RATS
HOT CATS
HOT RITZ
HOT ROOTS
HOT SOOTS
Beefheart always dabbled in art and in later life gave up music to concentrate on being an artist. We will not see his like again.
Meanwhile in another part of the world of popular music, the now (as in as from last year) traditional attempt to knock the latest piece of Simon Cowell X-Factor dreck [German, dirt, trash and Yiddish drek, excrement, both from Middle High German drec, from Old High German; see sker-3 in Indo-European roots - definition brought to you by rabbit copy and paste services] from the top of the UK Christmas charts has failed due to a failure to agree on one candidate for the alternative. Last year all people of goodwill rallied around Rage Against The Machine but this year dissent has spread itself too widely and thinly. The above demented video is for The Trashmen's Surfin' Bird which came nearest to knocking the Cowell dreck off its Christmas perch, reaching number three while the other alternative candidate - John Cage's silent song '4:33' spilt the troops while only reaching number 21. Beefheart would have approved of all of this no doubt!
Meanwhile as a cutting edge law blog - albeit somewhat belatedly, the rabbit would like to draw the attention of a wider world to the activities of Judge Beatrice Bolton on finding herself on the receiving end of the criminal law. Woof! Woof!
8 comments:
I always loved Surfin' Bird. It was a fun song for a young girl's silly dancing. Loved the video!
Beefheart was a real inspiration to me, he re-designed my ears to be open to so much music, a genius.
I've heard the name Captain Beefheart, but confess to not having heard ANYTHING he ever did. But then again, I don't 'get' Zappa AT ALL, so maybe Beefheart's music wouldn't be to my liking.
Aaahhh... Beefheart and Zappa - two very fine things, indeed.
That judge sounds like a serious bitch!!
Sad news about Beefheart. I remember "Trout Mask Replica" as a wonderfully weird album. We need people to push the boundaries.
Was saddened to hear about the passing of the Captain... the true originals are leaving us. :(
I'll stick with the BBC Asian Service Christmas Special, Cheers!
I heard about this on NPR... I'm sorry for your loss.
I'm going back to check out the vid. He looks like a delightfully whacky guy.
Peace,
pf
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