Captain Beefheart
What's All This Booga Booga Music?
Live at the Troubadour 5 January 1973
Los Angeles, CA
mint vinyl bootleg lp (first play) > HD > Cooleditpro > CDR > EAC > shn
I got this at another site a couple of years ago, but I suspect it originally came from here and is now going full circle...
1. Suction Prints
2. Golden Birdies
3. Black Snake Blues
4. I'm A King Bee
5. Jimmy Bill's In Town
6. Band Introduction
7. Alice In Blunderland
8. Abba Zabba
9. Big Eyed Beans From Venus
10. I'm Gonna Booglarise You Baby
Rockette Morton - bass & guitar
Alex St. Clair - guitar
Ed Marimba (Art Trip) - drums
Orejon (Roy Estrada) - bass
Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkelroad) - guitar
Some artwork included.
A review
"Midway through the Clear Spot tour, Alex St. Claire rejoined the Magic ranks after a five year hiatus, and this was the second show following his return. Bill Harkleroad, Roy Estrada, Mark Boston, and Art Tripp round out the Magic line-up.
"My particular copy sounds ok, however, the drums and bass are pretty muddy, and the dual bass attack is sadly sonically indistinguishable. St. Claire and Harkleroad, though lacking the usual Magic Band syncopation, provide really straight forward, down-home, butt kickin’ blues (listen to I’m A King Bee and Jimmy Bill’s Back In Town). Art Tripp, who was extremely well received during the introductions, was an adequate alternative to Drumbo (check out Suction Prints and Golden Birdies). The Captain was in top form, exercising his four and a half octave range and does a superb a cappella rendition of Old Black Snake. Although this line-up did nothing special on the standards (Big Eyed Beans, Abba Zaba, I’m Gonna Booglarize You), the appeal here is the sludgy blues tunes. In fact, if one didn’t know their Beefheart, this easily sounds somewhere between A&M and Mirror Man.
"One last point of interest: for some reason, Golden Birdies is listed from the 1-3 Troubador set although its sound is consistent with the rest of the show. Methinks the Suction Prints may have been from another show because the drums and cymbals are more audible." - Jim Morse (www.beefheart.com/datharp/reviews/boogajim.htm)
more info: http://www.shiningsilence.com/hpr/albums/booga.php
Some Comments:
Jim Ryan: Early January 74 (73!), Troubadour L.A. w/Martin Mull as opener for the first three nights of I think a five or six night run. Would have gone to all but had to fly home w/ Mom & Dad. What a happy accident to be in L.A. on vacation to find the Captain playing. Thanks to mom and dad for letting me stay in Hollywood, while they went south to San Diego.
Talked with Don at third Troubador show. It seemed like he knew about me as he had chatted with a friend of mine on "Triad Radio Show" in Chicago some time between the Aragon show & the Troubador shows. Introduced to Jan and got autograph "To Jim Love Over Gold".
(Fireparty People)
Alan Saul: I met Jerry (Handley) while waiting in line at the Troubador in early 1973. I had a pleasant little conversation with him and don't remember any hint of a British accent. He was living in Lancaster, had a business that had to do with cars (leasing?, maybe a body shop?, I forget now). I told him how much I admired his work on "Mirror Man" and he was pleased but modest. He wasn't playing music at that point, because he needed to make a living. I would tend to doubt that people wouldn't have left the band if they had been able to make a living at it! Remember that Don didn't pay people anything - even after a little money started coming in. But Jerry greeted Don quite warmly when he arrived, and Don seemed happy to see him, though he was staggering around with a blonde to whom he referred as Captain Bottles.
Jerry had told the person at the ticket window that Don Vliet should have put him on the list, and at that time it surprised me to not hear the Van? That enabled me to discover who Jerry was, otherwise he was completely nondescript, just hanging out with everybody else in the line. I'm fairly sure that he was from Lancaster/Palmdale originally. Was he really playing with Don in 1965 though?
(Fireparty)
Alan Saul: I just wanted to relate that I met Jerry once. We were standing next to each other in line at the Troubador in 1972 or 73 until he got the tickets Mr. Vliet had left for him. Gerry Pratt had the impression that he was British, but as far as I could tell he was quite American, I presumed from the high desert. He was extremely nice, although I didn't ask him much, mostly just complimented him on his tremendous playing on "Mirror Man" and asked what he was doing (I forget now, I think some automotive business) ....
That night at the Troubador, when Don arrived, he was staggering, supported by a tall blonde who he introduced as Captain Bottles. I didn't catch whether her first name was Long Necked. Don proceeded to heckle Martin Mull (the opening act) mercilessly, then gave one of a series of fantastic concerts under the influence of Art Tripp, Roy Estrada, Mark Boston, and Bill Harkleroad.
(alt.fan.capt-beefheart)
Jeff Moris Tepper: I was up in the California redwoods to check out housing and schools, and I saw Don drive by in this orange pumpkin-coloured stingray and park at a Corvette dealership. I had met him in Los Angeles in '72 during the Clear Spot tour, when we had talked and he had drawn me a picture, but I was kind of scared. I walked up to his car and went, very softly: "Don", and he fucking jumped - hit his head on his car roof! He said: "Man, you scared the shit out of me! Hey, I know you!". I go: "Yeah, we talked once at the Troubadour". And he goes: "I gave you a piece of art, I don't ever do that". This was all within the first 10 seconds, it was really weird. Within two hours he was showing me a house next door to his that he wanted me to rent.
And so I got my housing.
(Mike Barnes: Hello Goodbye. Moris Tepper & Beefheart's Magic Band. Mojo #51. February 1998)