Captain Beefheart – London 1974

I love "tragic Band" era Beefheart. Love most of the other stuff too, but Beefheart doesn't have to hurt, be over-the-top weird, extreme avant garde bordering on left-field to be good. This release contains the definitive version of This Is The Day. Really good sound quality live recording. Wish guitarist Dean Smith did more music.

how can this album cover look like this and it only be cd/cdr? There has to be some analog master tape, and yeah, I think we all want a vinyl of it.

When will this go on vinyl? Please Mr. BRANSON!!!! I REALLY NEED IT

A live album that is effectively a remastered issue of a complete concert by the band. A hastily reassembled band too, due to some dissension in the ranks after the making of Unconditionally Guaranteed, which was slated by Beefheart's hardcore followers. Originally recorded by Virgin at the Sunday 9th June show in London's Drury Lane Theatre, this concert was part of the ' tour' for said album.

Two tracks were released on Virgin's "V" sampler, nestled beside the likes of Robert Wyatt, Tangerine Dream and White Noise II, but the remaining recording then went to ground. The missing bits then emerged on "London 1974", a Portuguese issue (MPG 74025) in 1994. I believe the engineers of the live recording were Phil Newell and Alan Perkins.

This full concert, with an added Capitol Radio promo track and Mike Barnes' sleeve notes, is perhaps Virgin's belated attempt to recoup some lost revenues. This was a period when the Don was pretty much out of his comfort zone and his homeland, equipped with a band doing their best to play catch-up. What the Captain might call "circumstances". That said, it's still worth having- if only to compare the musicianship to the studio versions. Or to see if there are any clues that "Upon The My-O-My" & "New Electric Ride" might be adventures with a 'rabbit' rather than a roller-coaster outing under the stars... at the very least, the Captain always makes me smile.