CAPTAIN BEEFHEART / MAGIC BAND – The Lost Broadcasts (DVD)

In 1972 Captain Beefheart released two albums; ‘The Spotlight Kid’ and ‘Clear Spot’. He also toured the UK and Europe with the Magic Band, even performing two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall as part of an extensive British and European tour. On the 12th April, in the middle of the European leg of the tour Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band stopped off at the Beat Club studios in Bremen to film a session for later transmission. Of the four song session filmed that day only one track has ever been broadcast.

The band at that time included: Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet), vocals, harp. Rockette Morton (Mark Boston), guitar/bass. Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad), guitar. Orejon (Roy Estrada), bass. Ed Marimba (Art Tripp), drums. Winged Eel Fingerling (Elliot Ingber), guitar.

Jon Kirkman describes the recordings: “The session kicks off with a bass solo entitled ‘Mascara Snake’. This short piece was named after a former member of the Magic Band Victor Hayden, who had appeared on the Trout Mask Replica album.

The solo is played by Mark Boston although at this point former Mothers of Invention bassist Roy Estrada had joined The Magic Band following his departure from Little Feat in early 1972.

The other songs in the set here include a track dating back to Trout Mask Replica (‘Steal Softly Thru Snow’) and also a track that would feature on Clear Spot some eight months later (‘Golden Birdies’).

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