Captain Beefheart, Pachuco Cadaver - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Analysis

[@fastenbulbous]

I’m really impressed with your ability to see the design and intent of this on a first listen. Most just hear random chaos. Funny you compared this to Frank Zappa. He was the producer of this album. They went to high school together and collaborated on various projects.

[@danielnilsson8881]

Trout Mask Replica is a work of absolute genius, the more times you listen to it the more stunning it becomes. Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) was also an abstract expressionist painter, which I think is reflected in his composing style. Hope you react to more from him!

[@lofi-guy]

When I listen to Beefheart, it's like somebody turned the colours up making the world an interesting and stimulating place. No other artist ever did that for me as much as Captain Beefheart. I'm so lucky to have lived in a realm where this exists.

[@sjbang5764]

Yours is an absolutely beautiful expression of the emotions Captain Beefheart enlists. Beefheart is so unique that comparisons to anyone else is just pointless.

[@kimn9802]

Beefheart is the love child of Beat poetry, Hard Bop jazz, the Blues and Dada.

[@bobf9749]

Zappa was definitely more musically sophisticated, but Captain Beefheart was way out there with his lyrics. Definitely an heir to the Beat poets, as you say.

[@toxotorana]

It is also at the same time both pre psychedelic post psychedelic and during psychadelic.

[@carlharvey6461]

I never thought I'd be witness to a KZbin reaction video of Captain Beefheart's "Pachuco Cadaver". Congratulations to you on being willing to go where few -if any other- YT reactors have gone. This has been one of my favourite songs since I first heard it about 35 years ago. The Captain's childhood friend Frank Zappa, sitting in the producer's chair, certainly had a hand in realizing the masterwork that is the double album 'Trout Mask Replica', but the fact that this sounds so different from most of Zappa's output indicates that Don Van Vliet had his own distinct musical perspective.

[@charleslangrishl9124]

And he famously hated Zappa's production

[@jasonshort1437]

I unapologetically love this music. It fills me with joy when other people "get it".

[@wmhafm]

The best rock artist ever! You can listen to the same song for a thousand times and still find something new every time!

[@dennispope1355]

You have no idea how fascinated I was at the way you analyzed/dissected these two Captain Beefheart songs. I have all his albums and many think people who like him think us fans are faking it to be fashionable. You explained his complexities better then most critics (who pretty much all give Trout Mask Replica 5 out of 5 stars. Really enjoyed, and was impressed by these videos. Beefheart is on a few Frank Zappa albums. (Bongo Fury and Hot Hats come to mind). Frank Zappa produced this album. Thanks for these enjoyable videos.

[@almishti]

What a lovely reaction and breakdown of this utterly charming song. What I've always loved most about it is how it's never really clear in the lyrics whether he's talking about a woman or a car. :D

[@madmanasaurusRex]

Frank Zappa produced this double album for the good Captain. Sure, it’s not commercially viable, but it’s art and FZ obviously was a proponent of the arts. Glad you got to hear/visualize it. Much thanks to Zappa! 😊

[@charleslangrishl9124]

Don hated Zappa's work on this production.

[@sluggo68]

Zappa & Beefheart grew up together & played in Doo Wop bands together in high school. Zappa produced Trout Mask Replica.

[@BrennanYoung]

These Beefheart reactions and analysis from Amy are extraordinarily insightful, putting into words what so many have discovered at a more visceral level. Amy is unfazed by the "in your face" racket, picking out the vivid lyrical imagery, the "down-to-earth' aesthetic (to the point of being in the dirt), and the oblique way that musical and verbal phrases are connected. Many lesser minds would take several listens to realise that they were not just hearing the noise of dilettantes$, but actually experiencing these specific things. I hope Virgin Rock will tackle some more Beefheart, perhaps "Clear Spot", "Lick my Decals off, Baby" or some of the later albums (which I think rank amongst Don's best work), or even "Willie the Pimp" and "Bongo Fury".

[@jimbaker5720]

Being one who has heard this track a zillion times, I immensely appreciated the freshness of hearing it anew through your experience of it. Thanks so much.

[@marcustulliuscicero237]

Trout Mask Replica is my desert island disc, not because it is my favorite album but because in over 40 years of listening to it I hear something new every time. Thank you for a seriously appreciative listen, which became a new listen to me.

[@paulmitchum8658]

There's an article on The Quietus called '“Make Something Out Of This”: Drumbo On The Making Of Trout Mask Replica' that quotes from Drumbo's book on being in this band. Drumbo being John French, the drummer. Anyway... One of my favorite memories is a long, lonely road trip listening to 'Bat Chain Puller' and being so tired I thought I had unlocked the mystery of what it actually meant. And the next day it all vanished like, you know... breath on a mirror.

[@stuarthastie6374]

Safe As Milk..... Is still my favourite beefheart LP. I like to this one .

[@clarkeblacker]

You finally figured out Beefheart's greatest qualities, he is both hilarious and profound at the same time. The Magic Band is incredibly skilled despite their unconventional sound. There is more content there to unpack than with almost any other artist. He is also very much more human than Zappa, who, although a musical genius, was also a rather cold fish. By the way, they had known each other since they were teenagers and went to school together.

[@chriskleine2690]

Bat Chain Puller, Ice Cream for Crow, Steal Softly Thru Sunshine

[@Royalle_with_Cheese]

The Floppy Boot Stomp

[@MrBadVuggum]

Am I alone in hearing a snatch of "Shortnin' Bread" used in there? Still love it half a century on.

[@dennisthornton7461]

Gotta chime in for the "Clear Spot" and the "Spotlight Kid" albums. Slightly more accessible and disciplined in terms of songwriting but still a very innovative approach to sonic aspects.

[@charleslangrishl9124]

I find Clear Spot inferior to pretty much everything else he did. It's down there with the horrible Blue jeans and Moonbeams. The other money shot!!!

[@alskeno9918]

It was a joy hearing you describe the song. Bravo

[@gergsar]

check out his paintings, they are stellar...

[@scotmark]

Many years ago, on my first exposure to Beefheart, this song had me at "fast and bulbous".

[@davidstanton1261]

Painting is right!! Thank you again Amy! Another fun time in deep music

[@NickSBailey]

one of my favourite albums, people seem to either hate it or get addicted, I put Beefheart alongside Zappa and Cardiacs as irreplaceable

[@nem0763]

I became an instant fan at 15 years old. I only wish I could have a first reaction again! @13:00 Apparently he was a very difficult and demanding person while making music, a kind of megalomaniac, but he was also mischievous, profound, and a bit uncanny. He'd be a guest at my dream dinner party.

[@owenicus]

Always loved orange claw hammer! Thanks Virgin Rock.

[@ashulman2008]

My breakthrough with Beefheart was the third time through trout mask when I realized, wait, he’s doing this on purpose

[@danclark745]

Avocado Green Alfalfa Yellow, somebody has been to my mother's kitchen in '69, moving from Chicago to Phoenix and going to Nogales for the first time.

[@akeempotter3775]

I love your descriptions

[@maartenlemmens8628]

Musical action painting, sound collage. They knew what they were doing, intuitively. Glad you got it at first listen. Beefheart lived in the Mojave desert and listened to free jazz and blues a lot. He also painted in an abstract expressionist style.

[@bzbzob]

When the musicians were learning the stuff and they tried being status quo harmonically and melodically he'd tell them they had been listening to too much music like the Beatles and would lock them in a closet with rough old blues records (those old recordings were scratchy and dissonant and "down home" as you can get) until they rid themselves of the boring preconception of most music (I think I got that right, it was a long time ago that I read that or saw him say it in an interview). All I know is when I was young and heard this album I had more fun than I ever had to music before. Thank the universe this was recorded for us and thank you, you are the best! if you ever have 20 minutes... Zappa Studio Tan's "The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary." I just want you to do it so I can see you light up the way you do!

[@EdDunkle]

You're certainly openminded! Listening to it now, the lyrics remind me of beat poetry, and the music? Not sure how to describe the music. Avant R&B?

[@mrwomby5007]

You’re right, he was more a poet than a songwriter..

[@redape6870]

i was turned onto the captain back in 1987 when i was a junior in high school. my friend told me about trout mask replica. he said it was "offbeats" that were hard to play. he said the first time you listen to the album, your reaction is "wtf is this?" then on the second listen your reaction is "i dunno". then on the third listen, you're like "yeah. this is alright." so i bought the cassette tape (tapes were the thing before CDs came around). i was lucky in that the cassette version of the album starts with this song and not Frownland like the vinyl version. had the songs been in the same order on the tape as the LP i probably wouldn't have liked it at all. Frownland is very hard to listen to as are most the songs on the album. but this song had me hooked from the getgo. i was forwarned about the disonance of the band and how it takes a few listens to fully appreciate what the captain was going for on this album. and i thought the album was improvised. it was years later that i learned that they rehearsed these songs for nearly a year before they recorded them in a marathon 4 hour studio session. i heard the captain held the band hostage in a cabin in Woodland Hills sending out one member of the band per day to buy food. i wish someone would make a film about that time the magic band was couped up in that cabin learning these songs.

[@mightyV444]

Zappa also was my first impression, and this also reminds me of the German 'Krautrock' band Can! 😀

[@gregpanagos1139]

You’ve nailed this review. TMR was a tightly composed album. They practiced the music for months (maybe a couple of years) before recording the album, then went into the studio and recorded straight through. If you can find live recordings from the period, the performances are remarkably close to the studio. Your Zappa analogy is spot on, as Don and Frank were close friends….went to high school together. Finally, it is my understanding that Captain Beefheart was trying to capture the sound of untrained children playing on instruments.

[@leonardoglesby1730]

Beefheart and Zappa collaborated quite often. I suggest you examine Zappa's 1975 "Bongo Fury" with Beefheart's "Sam With The Showing Scalp Flattop" and "Poofters Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead."

[@gavinspence2381]

I agree about how "particular the point" you made

[@tickmann]

@@gavinspence2381 "and what nots"...

[@sootikins]

"Sam was a basket case!"

[@garlooroztox]

The early works Trout Mask and Decals are masterpieces of inspired controlled insanity, but there are two later LPs Clear Spot and The Spotlight Kid that are equally masterful. Glider, Click Clack, My Hat is My Only House are wonderfully assessable tunes. thanks for your journey.

[@Bassman2353]

The later albums are more accessible, less abstract. And still great.

[@alejandrorey359]

You already got me hooked with your analyses. I wish you could react to Red Velvet's Feel My Rhythm. I'm pretty sure you'll immediately recognize the popular piece used throughout the song.

[@Poppa_Bob]

This one always puts me in mind of a Warner Bros cartoon: Road Runner meets Speedy Gonzales, with Bugs Bunny doing his Picasso impression in the middle

[@Dave-er2pn]

I love the outro after the clarinet solo, that " Mama's little baby loves shortening bread" riff, its my favourite bit of the album.

[@sjbang5764]

If you get Don Van Vliet, count your blessings. There has never been nor will there ever be anything quite like Trout Mask Replica and its follow-up Lick My Decals Off Baby. Please read Lester Bangs review of LMDOB. This is how it starts " Gazing across pop music’s stale horizons, past all the cynical ineptitude, pseudo-intellectual solemnity, neurotic regression and dismal dead ends for great bands, there is one figure who stands above the murk forging an art at once adventurous and human: Don Van Vliet, known to a culture he’s making anachronistic as Captain Beefheart." Don Van Vliet retired from music in1982 in order to further pursue his first love, painting. His work has been displayed worldwide and is highly regarded. Thank you, Amy for your wonderful take on this music.

[@newpuritan9292]

Check out his paintings. For more soothing Beefheart try ‘Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles’ (from “Clearspot” album), or for raw blues “Dropout Boogie” (from “Safe As Milk”). Enjoy. I often found myself wanting to hear a certain track from “Troutmask” but end up having to listen to the whole album. There’s a hidden beauty in the album that develops with familiarity. I echo that you did incredibly well with the understanding you showed on first listen, Keep delving and you’ll be rewarded.

[@jaquestraw1]

Love the lyrics to this track

[@paulmcmillen5925]

One of the better known pieces from Trout Mask Replica is "Ella Guru". This tune is also cartoonish and darn catchy. Another worthy of your unique response and analysis. I've enjoyed these first two Beefheart videos from you. thanks.

[@victordevonshire807]

I can't even spell proper english anymore after to listening to him. Isn't life beautiful. ❤

[@markdeloria20]

Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa were friends from school, and oftentimes made music together...

[@charleslangrishl9124]

Not often. Their music and styles were mostly at odds with each other

[@johnroberts1708]

The magic (Magic Band?!) of Beefheart (a name that covers spectrum from the strength of a beef heart to the tiniest Bee Fart) is that each song gets better and better each time you listen to it (and that's from a very impressive starting point)

[@stephenmorton8017]

I bought this album when it was released and scared everyone in my household. I still think my favorite is sugar and spikes. Zappa produced the record so you were right on the money there. I also think that once you are familiar with the entire ouvre of the captain he comes out on top.

[@christophermoebs5514]

Love your reactions! Zappa produced this album

[@Liisa3139]

Yes very zappaesque. Also like Kerouac and the beat poets put into music.

[@bobf9749]

Zappa and Don van Vliet met in high school. They remained close, and Captain Beefheart performed “Willie the Pimp” on Zappa’s album Hot Rats.

[@earinsound]

glad you got the Captain. talk about painting a picture, he was also a visual artist, more so after he quit music around 1982. interesting you hear Mexican music! "Pachucos are male members of a counterculture that emerged in El Paso, Texas, in the late 1930s. Pachucos are associated with zoot suit fashion, jump blues, jazz and swing music, a distinct dialect known as caló, and self-empowerment in rejecting assimilation into Anglo-American society." (wiki)

[@jeffclinton9289]

It is quite perceptive that you would see the relationship between don and frank. They were friends and they actually went to high school together and even did recordings together in the early 1960s at zappa's studio z in cucumonga. Frank started his own record label in 1969 and produced trout mask replica. Their relationship was very complicated almost frenemies rather than clise buddies.

[@kim_o_the_concrete_jungle]

Yeah. This is the album that convinced me of one thing: the more complicated you get with timing and polyrhythms, the more it begins to sound just like random noise.

[@cclewes7373]

It's well thought out music. He was like a composer.

[@rhythmking10]

A classical musician does not hear swing , syncopation or opolyrhythm which this track is based on an RnB shuffle a 4=4 and 6/8 which is very jazz and African in concept not classical. Finally the last section returns to a major key and based on an older folk song " shortening bread" which Beefheart may have known, the Magic Band arranged and played all the parts.

[@BILLYMORGAN1971]

Keep this in mind though, he is not Mozart or Beethoven, he doesn't have the music in his head or ear. He refused to wear headphones when he recorded the vocals. Frank being Frank shrugged his shoulders and said okay. Don Glen Vliet(Captain Beeefheart)does have an artistic child like mind. You can watch and listen to him later in life on the David Letterman show being interviewed. He is far out. I never really listened to TMR but I'm listening now and can clearly hear the disconnect between the music and his vocals. It is a very abstract psychedelic piece. I used to employ some of what he's doing but used a Groove Box which had a lightbeam that acted like a Theremin which ironically was used on his first album, Safer Than Milk. Not exactly Clara Rockmore but was used to convey his or their thoughts through another extremity, the hands. I can totally picture him using such a device as it can be very powerful but that's essentially what he's doing with his band. Abrupt break downs and mood shifts....yes there is something to be learned from this seemingly simple man who colored outside the boundaries.

[@rpgc61]

I kept wanting to hear Amy analyze the meters...

[@MarcosElMalo2]

The Pachuco is a mythic character of Chicano culture. For an artistic presentation of La Pachucada, check out the musical Zoot Suit. So if you got a southwest U.S. vibe from it, that’s maybe what you were picking up. Not Mexican, but Mexican-American. It’s an important distinction. You can get little flashes of it from certain works of more commercially successful artists like Ry Cooder, Warren Zevon, and Linda Ronstadt. (Check out Ronstadt performing the Zevon penned “Carmelita”.)

[@marzcapone9939]

There's a Zappa "song" titled "Rubber Shirt". It's bass, guitar, and drums. The three tracks are from 3 different improvised live songs. It's more mellow than Pachuco Cadaver, and has it's own style of chaos.

[@mightyV444]

3:20 - Well, now my imagination of Vlad being a vampire complete with a Dracula outfit got shattered just like that! 😅

[@bengerson7064]

Don had a commanding personality and, appropriately, an entourage, including a scribe charged with jotting down his gnomic utterances. When he wasn't holding forth or playing music he was drawing surrealistic imagery, at least in my encounters with him. He was a nonstop creative dynamo.

[@samsmyth9191]

How did you get to meet him? You said 'encounters' so it obviously wasn't a one off thing.

[@bengerson7064]

@@samsmyth9191 I was the music editor of the Boston (Mass.) Phoenix, an underground weekly, 1971-74. He contacted me whenever he came to town, possibly looking for publicity but also because he was a gregarious guy. On one occasion, my birthday, I was essentially a captive in his hotel room for many hours and got to see him as his retinue always saw him.

[@caryxander]

He's authentic

[@bluetopguitar1104]

There is a song on this album "it's the blimp". My friend had a Warner brothers /reprise sampler album of Zappa associated artists called Zapped and it's the blimp was the first beefheart I heard. Such an original unique guy. His band had some crazy names. One was "Zoot horn rollo" on guitar, I think the bass player was called "erronious"

[@danclark745]

When I met my soon to be wife, she had that lp...I was in heaven

[@leftyodaniels2645]

I have that one.. GTO.S ..the Capt...

[@tickmann]

One of my desert island albums is Bongo Fury. Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa live. It is a MUST listen! It's the best Beefheart I've heard.

[@mikespaulding1118]

I never really listened to Beefheart much, but I used to live Sam with the showing scalp flat top, it was on some Zappa album. Sam was a basket case a hound dog ivory cliff hill! Saleable everyday pencils!

[@barryparris91]

Beefheart suggestions: Ice Cream for Crow & Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop.

[@Bassman2353]

I love Woe Is A Me Bop - and the entire LMDOB album

[@barryparris91]

​@@Bassman2353It's my favorite Beefheart album.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

I love it

[@ralphmunn6689]

When I was in 10th grade my English teacher asked us to bring in "rock albums" so we could analyze lyrics. On day 1, someone brought in a Simon and Garfunkel album, which the teacher loved. On day 2, I brought in Trout Mask Replica and played, "The Dust Blows Forward 'n' The Dust Blows Back" for the class. So ended our foray into analyzing lyrics... 🤣

[@becuzitsthere4484]

Thanks for taking this dive into the Beefheart. There are numerous jewels on this album. Interesting that Don Van Vliet had little skill with instruments and no skills at putting music down on paper. His drummer could write the music after painful sessions with Van Vliet so that the rest of the band had something to go on. Van Vliet is very artistic and led an odd life since childhood. He was a favorite of David Letterman, knowing those interviews would certainly be "off beat".

[@gavinspence2381]

Right...... I'm making a tuna sandwich and will whistle along with this one ;)

[@victordevonshire807]

Pretty good. It's brilliant ❤❤❤❤ Frank Zappa couldn't rein him in.❤

[@victordevonshire807]

He was brilliant. You got it chaos. You know. Luv yer. 👍💥💢💥🤠❤👍💪❤💯😊

[@russellhenrybieber6620]

Trust Us, Kandy Korn, and Moody Liz are my faves by him. Different vibe from trout mask but def worth a listen.

[@shadowstealer2790]

TMR is raw primitive blues like Son House smashed against Free Jazz a la Ornette with rural surrealist lyrics.A totally original combination.

[@ChrisCasseroles]

You really MUST review anything from the Philosophy of the World album by the Shaggs. Zappa adored and championed it.

[@paolomantovani9596]

Siii, grandissima.

[@joecromwell2471]

Funny how you compared it to a painting. Beefheart was an accomplished visual artist too.

[@ulfingvar1]

There is hope for the world, when Amy, with her musical background, can get a kick out of Beefheart

[@nolaspeaker5656]

81 Poop Hatch is my all-time favorite Beefheart. That and Ice Cream for Crow and Hey Garland I dig your Tweed coat and 1010th day of the Human Totem Pole.

[@DenUitvreter]

I think his vocal perfomances and composition get more interesting when he is doing somewhat normal music and especially ballads. Love Lies, My head is my only house unless it rains, Too much Time, Here eyes are a blue million miles but also more up tempo stuff like the Floppy Boot Stomp, Circumstances, Grow Fins, so many songs but it's albums like Clear Spot, Shiny Beast and The Spotlight Kids where he is in het sweet spot between very weird and easily digestible songs.

[@michaelmartin3040]

"Opaque melodies that would bug most people."

[@johnmcfadden1416]

They both attended school at Antelope Valley High and listened to music together as teens. I would not say that Zappa influenced Van Vliet at all rather that they both had similar musical tastes in their early teens and developed their tastes closely but independently. Captain Beefheart also appears on a few Zapoa LPs.

[@retinalcircus]

Zappa produced this album, He gave Don money frequently without ever asking for repayment. They were childhood friends,they fell out sometime after the Bongo Fury tour and album, which Don later regretted, He loved Frank, considered him a brother.

[@Liisa3139]

I got the very same images from desert and maybe Mexico. So, Orkesta Mendoza would fit in this scene too.

[@nigelfelton9824]

Don was born in the desert!

[@HisboiLRoi]

I grinned so hard when I heard you say "Frank Zappaesque" that I almost broke my face. Frank Zappa and Don Van Vliet were childhood friends. Zappa produced the "Trout Mask Replica" LP from which both "Moonlight on Vermont" and "Pachuco Cadaver" came, and released it on his "Straight Records" label. This is just a hint at the connections between the two.

[@jonathanwobesky9507]

Lady got to get to Clear Spot, Up wand hand broom-core, revered through the bone-knob land... and an acid gold bar swirled up and down up and down in back of the sing-a-bus

[@FredGarnett]

Fast and Bulbous? There is a Fast and Bulbous bench to sit on at Sussex University endowed by a Professor (Beefheart fan obviously) in his will. In order for students to eat their squid in poly ethelyne dough at lunchtime. Incidentally Frank Zappa (nice spot) can be heard on The Blimp (mousetrap replica)

[@FredGarnett]

Professor Mike Scaife was the the 'fast and bulbous" Beefheart fan...

[@LeftLib]

2 songs you must llisten to from this band; Big Eyed Beans From Venus and Ice cream For Crow.

[@davidchaplain6748]

I've been listening to this album for decades and I love it completely. However, I'm still not sure if I "like" it, if that makes any sense. It's so over-the-top.

[@andrewlocke6103]

Highly recommend Semi-Multicolored Caucasian and/or Bat Chain Puller

[@DavidSuit-jj8ci]

Zappa and Captain Beefheart were childhood friends. He lived down the street from Frank

[@MichaelDority-u7d]

John "Drumbo" French was a great drummer. You realize Zappa mixed/produced this album, right?

[@ianstaples9118]

I remember the first time I listened to this album when it first came out all other pop music from then on seemed banal and trite. To this day it's still my all time favourite album

[@oCidadao]

Brasilian Music 🇧🇷 Clube da Esquina - O Trem Azul kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3_bqGyMd6aWiNEsi=uVHUyebElwhkZx5Z

[@andrewlocke6103]

The lore of this album is absolutely ridiculous. Zappa included

[@daverigby23]

You get it

[@retinalcircus]

Do Cardiacs next ❤

[@sicko_the_ew]

Or she could be first to celebrate the millionth view of Tarred and Feathered? (It might take a while, but it's on the way there.) I think she might enjoy it (and even be one of the rare people who realize there's more to it than just the joke, right away.) OK, so maybe that's too long to wait (it is!). So? How about The Breakfast Line? It's got the string quartet, so it crosses over the borders between quite a lot of musical worlds.

[@drdark666]

Zappa produced Trout Mask and was friends with Don Van Vliet (Beefheart) that’s why there’s a similarity to Franks music