Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Old Waldorf - early show San Francisco, CA 1978-10-31 (Tuesday) CHTP Release 5 Recording: Panasonic mono portable cassette recorder > Memorex MRX2 Oxide 120-minute cassette Archival Process: Vintage JVC cassette deck (Memorex MRX2 120-minute cassette) > 13" MacBook Air (Retina) > Audio Hijack to capture the audio in uncompressed mono aiff (768 Kbps, 16 bits) and 48000 Hz PCM. Dime release processing: AIFF Master Files > Audacity (minor level tweaks and cleanup; splits, export 16 bit FLAC 8) > tagging, cover artwork, checksums. Recorded, preserved, and master AIFF files provided by: Clay Holden This is the first time this Master tape recording has ever been shared or released. -------------------------------------------------------- Setlist: 01. audience 02. Tropical Hotdog Night 03. audience 04. Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man" 05. audience 06. Owed t'Alex" 07. audience 08. Drop Out Boogie 09. audience 10. Harry Irene 11. audience 12. Abba Zabba 13. audience 14. Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles 15. audience 16. Old Fart At Play 17. audience 18. Well 19. talking 20. Ice Rose 21. audience 22. The Floppy Boot Stomp 23. band intros 24. Moonlight On Vermont 25. audience 26. Bat Chain Puller 27. Apes-Ma 28. outro// Length: 1:00:55 Band: Captain Beefheart aka Don Van Vliet (Don Glen Vliet) - vocals, various instruments Richard Redus - slide guitar, guitar, bass Jeff Moris Tepper - slide guitar, guitar Eric Drew Feldman - mandolin, bass, synthesizer, keyboard bass Bruce Fowler - trombone Robert Williams - drums, percussion Mary Jane Eisenberg - percussion (Tropical Hotdog Night) -------------------------------------------------------- Comments (Clay Holden): * Yeah, he had a pretty solid lineup at that time, including Bruce Fowler on trombone and Robert Wiliams on drums. * Don responds at one point when the calls for songs repeated over and over again starts to get annoying: "We never were a push-button". * [Between song audience chatter tracks] allows jumping to the beginning of the next song without listening to the constant ... repeated calls for specific songs by loudmouth assholes who unfortunately happened to be Beefheart fans. * [Show is] complete except (again) for the encore, which I accidentally ... recorded over... * I shot a roll of photos at this show, but they pretty much sucked. I did some silk-screens from one of the photos [included, and also as cover.jpg image]. I did include my cover of the 1970 Rolling Stone cover-story issue that Don signed for me at the Keystone Korner SFO show a couple of years earlier, it doesn't really go with this, but it's a really sweet souvenir. We were only able to stay for the early show at this one (Halloween, y'know), and somehow I either missed the encore here or recorded over it... -------------------------------------------------------- Notes: * Missing the Encore. * RIP Don Van Vliet 2010-12-17 * Beefheart fan site: http://www.beefheart.com/ * About Captain Beefheart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Beefheart#The_Magic_Band "Don Van Vliet (/væn ˈvliːt/, born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. He conducted a rotating ensemble called the Magic Band, with whom he recorded 13 studio albums between 1964 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and the avant-garde with idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist wordplay, and his wide vocal range. Known for his enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians. Although he achieved little commercial success, he sustained a cult following as a "highly significant" and "incalculable" influence on an array of new wave, punk, and experimental rock artists. ... Beefheart eventually formed a new Magic Band with a group of younger musicians and regained critical approval through three final albums: Shiny Beast (1978), Doc at the Radar Station (1980) and Ice Cream for Crow (1982). Van Vliet made few public appearances after his retirement from music in 1982." * Captain Beefheart in response to audience requests: "We were never push-buttons" * About Bruce Fowler (aka Fossil): http://www.beefheart.com/bruce-fowler/ "Bruce comes from a musical background. He’s the son of Dr William Fowler, a successful music educationalist, and his three brothers are also great musicians. His mastery of the trombone enables him to play any type of music. As a member of the Magic Band he played ‘air bass’; that is, he substituted for a conventional string bass player by playing his trombone through an octave splitter. This was first heard as part of the short-lived Knebworth band. After he’d left the band there was an occasion when he went to see them perform live and Don tried to get him to join them onstage, asking the audience if anyone had a trombone with them! The nickname came from his interest in paleontology. Even on tour he would make the vehicle stop so he could jump out and chip away at an interesting piece of rock." * About Richard Redus: http://www.beefheart.com/richard-redus/ "Richard Redus, known as Rick, was friends with Eric Drew Feldman and Jeff Moris Tepper in Portola Junior High in Tarzana, CA and Taft High School in Woodland Hills, CA). So, it was somehow inevitable that when the Magic Band needed a new guitarist it was him that the other members of the band thought of. He joined the Magic Band in 1978 replacing Denny Walley on guitar. He also played accordion (as Denny had also done). He was from a ‘hippy’ background, his parents ran The Third Eye head shop on Ventura Boulevard, Encino. According to a former high school friend Rick was a bright and intense person, and quite mercurial." * About Moris Tepper: http://www.beefheart.com/moris-tepper/ "Moris met Don sometime in 1974 when he was still an art student. He was asked to join the Magic Band on guitar in 1976 and went straight into recording ‘Bat Chain Puller’ (which has yet to be legitimately released). He then stayed in the band until 1982 (working with four different second guitarist) which makes him one of the longest serving (without a break) Magic Band members. Since the demise of the Magic Band Moris Tepper has divided his time between music and painting. Apart from working in the studio and on stage with Tom Waits and Frank Black he has found time to release some albums and play live under his own name." * About Eric Drew Feldman aka Black Jew Kitabu: http://www.beefheart.com/eric-drew-feldman/ "As a young teenager Feldman had visited the Magic Band at the ‘Trout’ house in Woodlands Hills. In 1976 he was to join the band to play keyboards, accordion and bass after Don had sacked John Thomas for playing on the second Mallard album. After the demise of the Magic Band Feldman has been in demand as a sideman and as a producer, playing with Pere Ubu, Snakefinger, Polly Harvey to name only a few." * About Robert Wlliams: http://www.beefheart.com/robert-williams-needs-your-help/ "Robert Williams, the Beefheart drummer from 1977 to 1981" * More about Robert Williams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Williams_(drummer) "Robert Williams (born 1955 in Boston) is a drummer and solo artist who has worked with Captain Beefheart, Hugh Cornwell, John Lydon, the Spo-it's, Tex and the Horseheads, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Zoogz Rift and performed on recordings for the Peewee Herman Show original cast recording. " * About Mary Jane Eisenberg: http://www.beefheart.com/answers-to-opaque-questions-that-would-bug-most-people/ "Mary Jane Eisenberg famously shook bouquet and danced at Beefheart’s My Father’s Place concert on 18 th November 1978. At the Rhino website there is a photograph of her on stage with Don, curlers in her hair and a red telephone in her hand. Don was a big fan of hers and there is a photograph online showing Don at one of her other performances. Mary Jane Eisenberg went on to perform with Bette Midler and later formed her own dance company." -------------------------------------------------------- About Clay Holden: Clay was an avid photographer of the scene during this era. Some of his photos were published in RE/Search publications and ZigZag magazine. Bands he photographed range from Throbbing Gristle (who included one of his photos as a band poster in '20 Jazz-Funk Greats'), to Cabaret Voltaire to Nico to The Sleepers. He also took many photos of the Ramones, including one Dee Dee kept on his wall the rest of his life, and which Dee Dee's wife Vera King used as the back-cover to her bio "Poisoned Heart". Joey Ramone said about Clay's photos: "These are like the best pictures of us I've ever seen. It totally looks like World War II!" Additionally, he took many photos of Tex & The Horseheads, Mark Pauline & SRL shows, Factrix jamming with Cabaret Voltaire on Halloween, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Lou Reed, Lita Ford, Twisted Sister (good lord!), Half Church, The Start (nee The Roommates) and even a post-Sleepers/pre-Sleepers Sleepers line-up with Roz from Negative Trend on vocals (while Ricky was singing with Flipper). Wherever possible his photos, with his permission, are also used in these releases. He recorded a variety of shows from this era using a remarkably effective Panasonic $65 portable mono cassette recorder. -------------------------------------------------------- No distribution in lossy formats!! No selling!! No bootlegging!! Yes sharing. Definitely share. All photos: © 1978 Clay Holden, with permission granted for NON-COMMERCIAL sharing here. All photos are distributed under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (share, noncommercial use, no-derivative works) license: Plain text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 Legal: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Please correct any errors or oversights in this information in the comments section so the information can be as accurate as possible. If you can find related materials like flyers, posters, ticket stubs, etc, please add them in a comment and I will add them to the main release folder, so that can be included on the next re-seeding. Every bit is welcome. Please make an effort to pick at least one of these CHTP releases and keep it seeded for as long as you can. That will really help out long term. -------------------------------------------------------- * About Old Waldorf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Waldorf "Old Waldorf was a music venue located in San Francisco, California. The famous club was located at 444 Battery St, and was originally opened by Jeffrey Pollack in 1976 before selling it to Bill Graham who closed it in 1983. During its time Old Waldorf hosted some of the biggest names in the music industry, such as AC/DC, Dire Straits, Blue Öyster Cult, Iggy Pop, Blondie, Rory Gallagher, Metallica, Pat Benatar, R.E.M., Spirit, Poco, U2 and Dead Kennedys. The Punch Line comedy club now occupies part of Old Waldorf's location.". Note: 444 Battery Street (at Washington St.) is about 6 blocks from the location of the Mabuhay Gardens (at Broadway & Montgomery/Kearny), which was in a much seedier part of town (The Famous Carol Doda Condor Strip bar was right by the Fab Mab, on the corner of Broadway and Columbus). But the Old Waldorf was situated right in the heart of the downtown business district, which tended to be completely empty at night after the business crowd had left, so these two venues were very different in feel.