Captain Beefheart, één jaar later

Vandaag is het precies één jaar geleden dat Captain Beefheart overleed. Ter gelegenheid daarvan schreef Levien van Oorschot een artikel voor mijn website Platenkasten.nl: Het Verlies van de Grote Don.

Tevens werd vandaag bekend dat de Zappa Family Trust begin 2012 de originele versie van Beefheart’s album “Bat Chain Puller” zal uitbrengen.

“Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)” was in 1978 het tiende Beefheart-album, maar de originele in 1976 opgenomen versie is tot nu toe nooit officieel uitgebracht.

Wikipedia zegt over deze opnames: “These recordings featured a lineup of John French on drums, John Thomas on keyboards, and Moris Tepper and Denny Walley on guitars. The band represented what was left of the post-Bongo Fury band the Captain had put together after Elliot Ingber and Bruce Fowler had left.

Herb Cohen had authorized the recordings for Frank Zappa’s DiscReet Records, but the record was suppressed after getting caught up in a lawsuit Zappa had launched against Cohen. Tapes of the album had been sent to Virgin Records, however, as well as reviewers and radio stations. The album has since been heavily bootlegged, with titles such as Original Bat Chain Puller and Dust Sucker. The rights are owned by the Zappa Family Trust”.

In januari kunnen we dus 35 jaar na dato alsnog gaan genieten van een ontbrekende schakel in het ouevre van de Captain. Tot het zover is, kun je genieten van “Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)” via Spotify.