I just read this old archived thread from some hipster subreddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LetsTalkMusic/comments/1tty9e/lets_talk_trout_mask_replica_by_captain_beefheart/It's a topic about the album Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band. This album is on a lot of "Best Albums of All Time" lists, but most people don't actually want to listen to it. You may have heard Marc Maron's stand-up routine about "trying to be cool enough to understand Beefheart", as if it's some badge of honor to know about some band you don't even like.
In the reddit link above, as with most online discussions I've seen, people talk about this album like it's some artistic statement to be discussed rather than listened to. They say it's "noise", or that it's not meant to be musical, or even that it's not supposed to sound good or be enjoyed. These impressions are compounded by the crazy lyrics and weird band, but mainly it's because of the music itself. It sounds noisy - at first.
The main problem IMO is that 2 electric guitars with similar tones are playing complicated jazz-type arrangements; some of the notes overlap and create a moire, making it difficult to hear the 2 separate melodies because they're running into each other. Kind of like too many people talking at the same time. If it was 1 trumpet and 1 sax playing the same song, it would be easier to hear what each instrument is doing because they're easier to tell apart.
For an example (although not from Trout Mask), here is the Beefheart song Suction Prints:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmsM2WCJtp8And here is the same song performed by a chamber orchestra:
https://player.spotify.com/album/0ZxmmWfeZXXuVBb4sKESB5 (scroll down and click Track 14)
To someone who is unfamiliar with the song, the Beefheart album version sounds noisy and not as easy to enjoy as the version by the chamber ensemble. But once you are familiar with the melodies, and especially because the different guitar parts are hard-panned between the left and right speakers making them easier to hear separately, you might grow to enjoy the song more as you become more familiar with it.
The same is true of Trout Mask Replica, and all but some early vinyl pressings are in stereo using the same left/right separation of the guitar parts.
Armed with that knowledge, you can listen to Old Fart at Play on only the left speaker (adjust your balance all the way left), and you may be amazed to hear a smoothly melodic guitar where before you heard only noise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHjOuS-rABUAfter you hear the left speaker, you can listen to the guitar only on the right speaker. Once you are familiar with both parts, you can listen to them both at the same time and maybe even enjoy the result. I do. They fit together in ways you have never heard before.
One thing they experimented with is 2 parts simultaneously playing in different time signatures. If one guitar is in 4/4, it might play a section for 5 measures (20 beats) while the other guitar is in 5/4 and plays for 4 measures (20 beats), so they arrive at the same point together in sync and then proceed to the next section of the composition.
Of course, with Old Fart at Play, you might spend your first 12 listens just trying to absorb the bizzare lyrics before you can pay attention to the music. So how about an instrumental recording?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VltqimD1lRIYes, this is a rehearsal track from the band, recorded at a different location than the album version. And yes, every note is exactly the same in both recordings.
So, although I don't like to argue, it does frustrate me when I see so many people saying that the music wasn't rehearsed, or that they were just making it all up on the spot, or that there's no music in it.
Or that it's not an album you can just listen to any time? I used to listen to it every day. There are 28 tracks, and every single one is a unique treasure and worth multiple listens.
Even after hundreds of listens, I can't help but feel a thrill at this instrumental outtake of Sugar'n'Spikes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xaYFNhsjBYAnd that's without the lyrics! It's not even the complete song, and it's still a masterpiece in my book. Is anyone else hearing what I'm hearing, or have I brainwashed myself into liking it by listening to it so many times? (Side question: is that what all fans do?)
But that track doesn't have the vocals, which brings us to the singing. Maybe you liked the above instrumental of Sugar'n'Spikes, but is Beefheart's voice too weird and annoying? Let's see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmK4WkV95L8Some people just don't like Beefheart's voice, and there may be no cure for that. If you don't like it, you don't like it. Some people feel that he created amazing musical masterpieces and then ruined them with his noisy singing and even ridiculous sax solos drowning out the band.
But that was a conscious choice, if arguably self-indulgent. He was a powerful singer with real talent, versatility, and a range of several octaves, as well as a bona fide blues harmonica performer who was perfectly capable of doing mainstream blues/rock if he wanted.
Powerful singer:
Moonchild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re7T67O98McCan do straight blues/rock if he wants:
Frying Pan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhmfYMretB4Versatility:
Where There's Woman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPl-khAXJ8sSeveral octaves:
Smithsonian Institute Blues (The Big Dig)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuJErWbzP1YHarmonica:
Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ja9PWAR_IJust messing around in the studio and still nailing it:
https://youtu.be/NCdwDSfsVFY?t=3h2m1sAnd he could even amaze people by whistling beautifully while blowing smoke rings: (no smoke rings in this song, but yes whistling at the end)
Harry Irene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiWFVq_z3n0As you can tell from the above selections, each Beefheart album has a completely different style from the others. Maybe you'll like some but not all. Maybe you'll like none.
For me, I just liked it for some reason. Even before the first time I put Old Fart at Play on an old record player and didn't realize the right speaker was accidentally unplugged, playing me only the left speaker, leading me to briefly believe that it was a different recording with actual music instead of noise.
Before that, the first time I heard Captain Beefheart was on a Comedy Central re-run of Saturday Night Live which originally aired in 1980:
Ashtray Heart
https://vk.com/video-2996299_167026538I stared in disbelief. I laughed. I wasn't sure what to think. I ran into the other room to dig through my dad's old records, certain that I'd seen "Beefheart" somewhere before. He had an old sample record with some Zappa-label artists, and when I heard Old Fart at Play I couldn't stop laughing. I started buying Beefheart CDs wherever I could find them. It was a while before I realized that the music was even better than the lyrics.
If you don't experience any similar such reactions, maybe it's just not your style. But, contrary to popular belief, it is music.
For those who don't like the singing, I'll leave you with four more especially beautiful tracks that don't have it, each different from the next, and each one wonderful:
Flower Pot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsZbcxKFsAQOne Red Rose That I Mean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov6jFRUy9J0Semi-Multicoloured Caucasian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXmMmamZUJYMoody Liz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXrEbvGNqeQ (pure musical genius, the guitar continues playing the same part which changes context and feeling as the rest of the music transitions around it from minor to major. And this was just an outtake that never made it onto an album)
