| CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND - THE LOST BROADCASTS
DVD . Gonzo Multimedia.  You only have to watch any music documentary to realise how much rare footage is sitting, unseen, in the vaults of TV broadcasters of the world, so it’s good to see that this fairly seminal footage of Captain Beefheart, shot for German TV show Beat Club in 1972, has emerged.
Packaged like a CD, this DVD recording of live performances by Beefheart and his band, playing in the studio during their European tour of that year. While only one track made it to air, there are four songs played here – Click Clack, Golden Birdies, Steal Softly Thru the Snowand I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby. We get three versions of the latter – the first is interrupted by a technician close to the end, while the final broadcast edit – complete with classic early Seventies Beat Club psychedelic back projections wraps things up. There’s alsoMascara Snake, which is a bass solo intro.
It’s excellent stuff – Beefheart without the moustache that you normally picture him having, and his band blasting away on top form. It’s a sign of how much things have changed for the worst that you can’t imagine a rock group this ugly ever getting airtime today, but there’s no doubting their ability, and the tracks are that classic Beefheart mix of the strange and the groove-laden.
Of course, this is for fans only – the sort of thing they would previously have sought out as poor quality bootlegs, now in pristine condition. If you are unfamiliar with Beefheart, then this is hardly the place to start. But completists will welcome this long overdue release – hopefully, there will be more of this sort of thing to come from the extensive Beat Club archives. .
DAVID FLINT |
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