Genre: bizarre/weird
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title:  The Spotlight Kid
Company: Blue Thumb
Catalog: BTS 1
Country/State: Glendale, California
Year: 1968
Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+
Comments: gatefold sleeve
Available: 1
Catalog ID: 282
Price: $40.0

Best time to play: Saturday night beer bash (I'd suggest a Belgian beer for this one).

I had a high school friend who was a big Beefheart fan and in spite of his efforts to convert me to the cause, I just couldn't get it. I guess all those Foghat and Humble Pie albums didn't leave any room for The Captain's brand of aural chaos. Forty years later this one's still an enigma to my ears, but I can admire and occasionally even enjoy some of the man's quirkiness.

So I'm no Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band expert but by 1967 the bands was in a state of disarray. On the personnel front lead guitarist Ry Cooder had been replaced by Gerry McGee, who was quickly replaced by Jeff Cotton. On the business front A&M had dropped the group, but they'd been signed by Buddah and recorded a bunch of material for a projected double album (to be called "It Comes In a Plain Brown Wrapper"). Probably not a big surprise, Buddah management balked at the project at which point Liberty Records briefly latched on to the band, before producer Bob Krasnow stepped in and signed them to his newly formed Blue Thumb label. And here's where it gets truly odd. Having finished the recording sessions, including re-recording some of the Buddah-era tracks, Beefheart and company headed off on a European tour leaving Krasnow to finish mixing the album which was finally released in 1968 under the title "Strictly Personnel". Beefheart was apparently furious with the finished product which included some strange psych touches and a high, somewhat tinny sound. To my ears Krasnow's efforts weren't a major crime since in large part because it was a Beefheart album so you kind of knew you were going to hear something different anyhow. And in this case lots of it was probably aptly described as blues-from-mars. If you were looking for traditional delta blues, you might what to run like hell 'cause tracks like 'Ah Feel Like Achid', ' Son of Mirror Man - Mere Man', and 'Gimme Dat Harp Boy' were going to major shocks to the unprepared.


album inner sleeve

- Geez, Beefheart's always hard to describe to the uninitiated, but in this case hardcore delta blues with a blazing lunatic edge seems to cover the leadoff track 'Ah Feel Like Achid'. It's actually hard to image a song with a more appropriate title. The first thirty seconds was little more than Beefheart's raw voice with a touch of percussion. Beefheart's equally raw harmonica then kicked in with Cotton's acoustic slide guitar and the rest of the band following. Don't even ask me about the lyrics and the end of song heartbeat simply gave the song the perfect weird ending rating: *** stars
- 'Safe As Milk' was written and intended for the 1967 debut album (entitled "Safe As Milk"), but didn't make it on to the collection. With a full band arrangement, the song appeared as a life threatening slice of punk aggression. It got truly strange around the three minute mark where it turned totally discordant and experimental with John French turning in a weird percussion solo and Cotton seemingly playing his acoustic guitar with an iron. A seriously scary piece of music, you probably didn't want to play this at a sweet 16 party. Music for the psychopath in all of us ... For anyone who hasn't seen the man live, YouTube has an early '80s clip of Van Vliet performing the song on French television: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbzmKPXgtZI rating: **** stars
- Opening up with an effects treated spoken word segment, thanks to Cotton's insidious guitar riff, 'Trust Us' then shifted into a surprisingly catchy tune. Beefheart had an amazing grizzled voice that always fascinating to hear (imagine an old guy who's just slammed in his thumb with a hammer), but he sounded totally bonkers throughout this performance; particularly about two thirds of the way through when he started to freelance. The song ended with what sounded like a brief reprise of 'Ah Feel Like Achid'. rating: **** stars
- With a distinctly psychedelic feel (lots of phasing and effects on Beefheart's vocals), I'm guessing 'Son of Mirror Man - Mere Man' was one of the tracks producer Krasnow played around with. Slinky, dark, and scary blues, this one left you with the impression you didn't want to meet Van Vliet in a dark alley. rating: **** stars
- Powered by Cotton's guitar, the opening chords of 'On Tomorrow' found the band dipping their toes into a jazzy environment before the song turned into a bluesy, Beefheart-led chant. And as it turned out, this was one of the album highlights with the chanted refrain climbing into your head and refusing to leave. rating: **** stars
- Complete with opening backward guitar, 'Beatles Bones n' Smokin' Stones' found Van Vliet taking on the Fab Four ... Hard to tell given the typically enigmatic lyrics, but I'm guessing he wasn't a big fan ... Strawberry Fields forever !!! A perfect example of a song that's sooo weird that it's fascinating. You've got to hear it through a good stereo, or a good set of headphones. Wonder what a hardcore Beatles fan would thing ? rating: **** stars
- Yeap, propelled by Beefheart's harmonica, 'Gimme Dat Harp Boy' found the band trotting out their mutant styled of blue-eyed blues. rating: *** stars
- Hum, 'Kandy Korn' rises pretty high on the weirdness scale, seemingly bouncing between advertising jingle and complete band meltdown - about two minutes in you're left to wonder if they're even playing the same tune. Krasnow's odd production certainly showed on this one with the song having a thin, high, and very irritating ring. rating: *** stars

No, I wouldn't want to hear this everyday, but then I can't think of any album I'd want to hear every day. About all can say is that even if you don't end up loving it, you owe yourself the opportunity to hear the late Captain and this is a pretty good place to start.

"The Spotlight Kid" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Ah Feel Like Achid (Don Van Vliet) - 3:05
2.) Safe As Milk (Don Van Vliet) - 5:27
3.) Trust Us (Don Van Vliet) - 8:09
4.) Son of Mirror Man - Mere Man (Don Van Vliet) - 5:20

(side 2)
1.) On Tomorrow (Don Van Vliet) - 3:27
2.) Beatles Bones n' Smokin' Stones (Don Van Vliet) - 3:18
3.) Gimme Dat Harp Boy (Don Van Vliet) - 5:05
4.) Kandy Korn (Don Van Vliet) - 5:06