Captain Beefheart & Magic Band Trout Mask Replica 2LP 1970 German 1977 re NM

 

Original German 1977 reissue pressing on Reprise.

 

Trout Mask Replica is the third album by American rock band Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released on June 16, 1969. Produced by Beefheart's friend and former schoolmate Frank Zappa, it was originally released as a double album on Zappa's Straight Records label. Combining elements of R&B, garage rock, blues, avant-garde, free jazz and other genres of American music, the album is regarded as an important work of experimental music and art rock.

 

Most of Trout Mask Replica was recorded in March 1969 at Whitney Studios in Glendale, California. The lineup of the Magic Band at this time consisted of Bill Harkleroad and Jeff Cotton on guitar, Mark Boston on bass guitar, Victor Hayden on bass clarinet, and John French on drums and percussion. Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) played several brass and woodwind instruments (including saxophone, musette, and natural horn) and contributed most of the vocal parts, while Zappa and members of the band provided occasional vocals and narration. The well-rehearsed Magic Band recorded all instrumental tracks for Trout Mask Replica in a single six-hour recording session; Van Vliet's vocal and horn tracks were laid down over the next few days. Upon release in the US, Trout Mask Replica sold poorly and failed to chart. It was more successful in the UK, where it spent a week at No. 21.

 

Today, Trout Mask Replica is widely regarded as the masterpiece of Van Vliet's musical career, as well as one of the most influential rock albums ever recorded. The album's highly unconventional musical style, which includes polyrhythm, multi-octave vocals, and polytonality, continues to polarize audiences, and has contributed to its reputation as one of the most challenging recordings in the 20th century musical canon. It ranked No. 60 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list (2012), and appears on many similar lists. AllMusic's Steve Huey wrote that "its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless future experiments in rock surrealism, especially during the punk/new wave era."

 

 

Side one

 

1.           "Frownland"   1:41

2.           "The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back"             1:53

3.           "Dachau Blues"            2:21

4.           "Ella Guru"       2:26

5.           "Hair Pie: Bake 1"       4:58

6.           "Moonlight on Vermont"        3:59

 

Side two

 

7.           "Pachuco Cadaver"     4:40

8.           "Bills Corpse"                1:48

9.           "Sweet Sweet Bulbs"                2:21

10.         "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish" 2:25

11.         "China Pig"      4:02

12.         "My Human Gets Me Blues" 2:46

13.         "Dali's Car"      1:26

 

Side three

 

14.         "Hair Pie: Bake 2"       2:23

15.         "Pena"                2:33

16.         "Well" 2:07

17.         "When Big Joan Sets Up"        5:18

18.         "Fallin' Ditch"               2:08

19.         "Sugar 'n Spikes"         2:30

20.         "Ant Man Bee"              3:57

 

Side four

 

21.         "Orange Claw Hammer"         3:34

22.         "Wild Life"       3:09

23.         "She's Too Much for My Mirror"        1:40

24.         "Hobo Chang Ba"         2:02

25.         "The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica)"      2:04

26.         "Steal Softly thru Snow"         2:18

27.         "Old Fart at Play"         1:51

28.         "Veteran's Day Poppy"            4:31

Total length:   78:51

 

 

Personnel

 

Musicians

 

        Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) – lead and backing vocals, spoken word, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, musette, simran horn, hunting horn, jingle bells, producer (uncredited), engineer (uncredited)

 

    The Magic Band

 

        Drumbo (John French) – drums, percussion, engineer (uncredited on the original release)

        Antennae Jimmy Semens (Jeff Cotton) – guitar, "steel appendage guitar" (slide guitar using a metal slide), lead vocals on "Pena" and "The Blimp", "flesh horn" (vocal with hand cupped over mouth) on "Ella Guru", speaking voice on "Old Fart at Play"

        Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad) – guitar, "glass finger guitar" (slide guitar using a glass slide), flute on "Hobo Chang Ba"

        Rockette Morton (Mark Boston) – bass guitar, narration on "Dachau Blues" and "Fallin' Ditch"

        The Mascara Snake (Victor Hayden) – bass clarinet, backing vocals on "Ella Guru", speaking voice on "Pena"

 

Additional personnel

 

        Doug Moon – acoustic guitar on "China Pig"

        Gary "Magic" Marker – bass guitar on "Moonlight on Vermont" and "Veteran's Day Poppy" (uncredited)

        Roy Estrada – bass guitar on "The Blimp" (uncredited)

        Arthur Tripp III – drums and percussion on "The Blimp" (uncredited)

        Don Preston – piano on "The Blimp" (uncredited)

        Ian Underwood and Bunk Gardner – alto and tenor saxophones on "The Blimp" (uncredited/inaudible)

        Buzz Gardner – trumpet on "The Blimp" (uncredited/inaudible)

        Frank Zappa – speaking voice on "Pena" and "The Blimp" (uncredited); engineer (uncredited); producer

        Richard "Dick" Kunc – speaking voice on "She's Too Much for My Mirror" (uncredited); engineer

        Cal Schenkel – album design

        Ed Caraeff and Cal Schenkel – photography

 

 

CONDITION:

 

SLEEVE: EX++ to NM—   minor corner bump, mini creases at edge (very slight)

 

RECORDS: NM

 

 

I NO LONGER MAIL TO ITALY! ALSO NOT TO BRAZIL, UKRAINE OR RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

 

                  Any bids or purchases from these countries will be cancelled immediately.