Album
Bluejeans & Moonbeams
Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band
1974 · Rock, Blues
5 collectors on Gatefold own this
Bluejeans & Moonbeams is a Rock album by Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band, originally released in 1974. On Gatefold: 37 pressings tracked, owned by 5 collectors.
About
Bluejeans & Moonbeams is the ninth LP by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, originally released in 1974. Despite its uncharacteristically mainstream sound the album failed to chart. Production and legacy : Having no musical training or instrumental experience, throughout his career Van Vliet had relied on a musical director within the band who could translate his often unorthodox ideas into a form that was musically playable. This role had been successively filled by Alex St. Clair, John French, and Bill Harkleroad on his previous albums. With the entire Magic Band having quit after the recording of his previous album he no longer had such an intermediary. As a result, the album is generally considered the nadir of Van Vliet's musical career. One of the musicians, Micheal Smotherman, said "Don was just as confused as he could be throughout the whole process... I would push his face up to the microphone and he would start singing. And when it was time to stop I would pull him back gently." The album does, however, have its influence: an early White Stripes EP entitled Party of Special Things to Do (2001) contains three Beefheart covers, including this album's opening track. Kate Bush in a Smash Hits interview considered this one of her top ten albums. Mercury Rev covered "Observatory Crest" for a BBC session in 1999, which was released as B-side on their "Little Rhymes" single in 2002. John French listened to the album again in 2017, his apparent first listen since the album's release, and exclaimed that Van Vliet sounded almost lost in places, as if he didn't "really know exactly where to sing" – and that "it must have been difficult for him to function in that environment". According to French, Van Vliet said himself that the only good part about the album was the cover art by his cousin, Victor Hayden. Cover art : The album cover is a painting by Van Vliet's friend and cousin Victor Hayden, who featured on Trout Mask Replica with the nickname Beefheart bestowed upon him, The Mascara Snake.
via Last.fm
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The Clerk knows this whole record — the pressing quirks, the credits, the take.
Tracklist
- 1Party of Special Things to Do2:48
- 2Same Old Blues4:00
- 3Observatory Crest3:32
- 4Pompadour Swamp3:32
- 5Captain’s Holiday5:43
- 6Rock ’n’ Roll’s Evil Doll3:20
- 7Further Than We’ve Gone5:31
- 8Twist Ah Luck3:22
- 9Bluejeans and Moonbeams5:02
Sound DNA
- Rock
- Blues Rock
- clean
- pastoral
- whimsical
UK 1st issues [V 2023 - 2xVirgins label] have matt-print sleeves by Shorewood, the reissues [V 2023 & OVED 19 - Green/Red label] have varnish-print sleeves by Robor Ltd. ("Party Of Special Things To Do" was covered by The White Stripes (opens in a new tab) in Dec 2000, along with other Beefheart tracks)
The output on this album became a rather shambolic affair. It resulted in Vliet being caught up in contractual obligations to Mercury & Virgin, until the emergence of his next release "Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)" some 4 years later in '78. In the meantime, there was a helping hand from Zappa on "Bongo Fury", "One Size Fits All" & "Zoot Allures" - although fate again then befell the original "Bat Chain Puller" project during the interim.
After "Unconditionally Guaranteed" had been recorded the Magic Band acrimoniously departed, leaving Vliet to tour in the summer of '74 with a pick-up band. This band then disintegrated on return to the USA before Vliet entered the Stronghold Studio for the making of "Bluejeans & Moonbeams". Only Smotherman & Smith remained. Some of Elliot Ingber's writing was used, but his brother Ira stood in on bass. According to Greg Ladanyi, the scheduled engineer Al Thomas allegedly fell out with producers the Di Martino brothers, handing novice Ladanyi his debut as an album engineer. He completed the task on a half-consumed budget. The last track on Side 1 "Captain's Holiday" is clearly an instrumental 'filler', on which Vliet did not perform - hence the ironic title. There is one cover too, of J.J. Cale's "Same Old Blues". Rather mysteriously, Mercury's A&R Manager, Denny Rosencrantz, gets a credit on the sleeve, where both Ladanyi & Smotherman's names are incorrectly spelled. Vliet's cousin Hayden did the cover painting. Perhaps it could be interpreted as his artistic notion of the Goat, the Capricorn Vliet, jumping a fence of cosmic impossibilities. This is an album that Vliet clearly distanced himself from in interviews.
Credits
The people behind it.
Performers
- Dean SmithGUITAR GUITAR, GUITAR GUITAR, SLIDE GUITAR
- Don Van VlietVOCALS, HARMONICA VOCALS, HARMONICA, MUSIC BY, ARRANGED BY, WORDS BY VOCALS, HARMONICA, WRITTEN-BY
- Gene PelloDRUMS PERFORMER , DRUMS
- Ira IngberBASS BASS GUITAR PERFORMER , BASS
- Jimmy CaravanKEYBOARDS KEYBOARDS, INSTRUMENTS KEYBOARDS, OTHER
- Mark GibbonsKEYBOARDS PERFORMER , KEYBOARDS KEYBOARDS, WRITTEN-BY
- Micheal SmothermanKEYBOARDS, BACKING VOCALS PERFORMER , KEYBOARDS, BACKING VOCALS
- Ty GrimesPERCUSSION PERFORMER , PERCUSSION
- Bob WestBASS BASS GUITAR PERFORMER , BASS
5 collectors on Gatefold own this · 37 pressings tracked on Gatefold
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