#classick rock

[duffsmckagan]

“Meanwhile, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has earned high praise for his love making abilities, with one lady describing him as fantastic with a gorgeous dick.”

[madcap-laughs]

John Bonham, 1974

by Michael Putland

[baissick]

[straddlingizzystradlin]

are we gonna talk about this or-

[shiller2001]

HopeSandoval

[vinylspinning]

Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band: Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970)

Released 50 years ago this month, Lick My Decals Off, Baby was Captain Beefheart’s fourth LP and the sequel to one of history’s most imaginative, unconventional, and incomparable artifacts: the experimental masterpiece, Trout Mask Replica.

Of course, this positive perception wouldn’t materialize for decades; at the time, Trout Mask was seen as just a very daring commercial flop!

So, Lick My Decals sought to, in many ways, both dissociate itself from, and improve upon its predecessor, beginning with a cover portrait that posed the Magic Band in sophisticated evening attire, in direct contrast to Trout Mask’s ragged, scary, hungry “freaks” (daddy).

Like that predecessor, Lick My Decals had to be painstakingly assembled from Beefheart’s random, tape-recorded piano improvisations, only this time guitarist Bill Harkleroad (a.k.a. Zoot Horn Rollo) took over those duties from drummer John French (a.k.a. Drumbo), who’d been ejected and then reinstated shortly before the album’s recording.

Unlike its predecessor, Decals’ eccentricity was “successfully” tamed by a stricter studio session environment, as compared to Trout Mask’s chaotic “field recordings” (produced by Beefheart’s longtime friend/foe Frank Zappa), but therein lies the problem, if you ask me ...

For, though they offer more of the same unorthodox song structures, off-kilter tempos, and bizarre poetry, new songs like “I Love You, You Big Dummy,” “I Wanna Find a Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have to Go” and title track feel deliberate and calculated for crazy, instead of genuinely crazy.

And, while this elevated sense of control did benefit new mutant blues like “Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop,” “The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or the Big Dig)” and “The Clouds are Full of Wine (Not Whiskey or Rye),” it also betrayed less inspired numbers like “Space-Age Couple” and “Flash Gordon’s Ape.”

What’s more, that same control virtually nullified wonky guitar instrumentals like “Peon,” “One Red Rose that I Mean,” and even the sax-led free jazz of “Japan in a Dishpan,” all of which seem to be merely mimicking Trout Mask’s legitimate improvisational risk-taking.

So, in spirit if not in sound, Lick My Decals Off, Baby had more in common with the irony of Beefheart’s debut, Safe as Milk, as well as subsequent attempts to meet the mainstream halfway like The Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot, than it did with Trout Mask’s oblivious, “what’s irony?” honesty.

Otherwise, this album sounds like that all-too-precious sequel to Trout Mask Replica, and little else.

More Captain Beefheart: Safe as Milk, Trout Mask Replica, Clear Spot, Unconditionally Guaranteed, Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), Doc at the Radar Station, Electric Poetry: Live In Holland 1980, Ice Cream for Crow.

[adriheavymetal]

Janick🎸 Dave🎸and Adrian 🔝🔝🔝🎶🎵🤘

[neoglamrock]

Peace and love, glammies! Today I am more than happy to welcome you here, our neo-glamrock future! If you are reading this, I am quite sure you enjoy the same things as I do: 60s-70s era. To specify, I would say glam, androginity, cosmic fashion and love. And, most of all, GROOVY MUSIC! Let me tell you, that we are going to resurrect the spirit of those two iconic decades. With your help, of course! I want to create a blog that would help new talents, passionate and glamorous to make our life as fantastic as it seemed to be 50 and 40 years ago; make them popular. And another goal of mine is to form this splendid generation as kind as hippies are, in this case - to raise charity funds. How and why we would do it, you gotta learn very soon but for now, I just want to mention that here you will find my little and not that perfect but funny posts about sixties and seventies, doing all my best to interest you. Plus, your works! Are you excited yet? I am! Bless you!