Read Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica Online
Authors: Kevin Courrier
Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica
Praise for the series:
It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized that there is an audience for whom
Exile on Main Street
or
Electric Ladyland
are as significant and worthy of study as
The Catcher in the Rye
or
Middlemarch
.… The series, which now comprises 29 titles with more in the works, is freewheeling and eclectic, ranging from minute rock-geek analysis to idiosyncratic personal celebration—
The New York Times Book Review
Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just aren’t enough—
Rolling Stone
One of the coolest publishing imprints on the planet—
Bookslut
These are for the insane collectors out there who appreciate fantastic design, well-executed thinking, and things that make your house look cool. Each volume in this series takes a seminal album and breaks it down in startling minutiae. We love these. We are huge nerds—
Vice
A brilliant series…each one a work of real love—
NME
(UK)
Passionate, obsessive, and smart—
Nylon
Religious tracts for the rock ’n’ roll faithful—
Boldtype
[A] consistently excellent series—
Uncut
(UK)
We…aren’t naive enough to think that we’re your only source for reading about music (but if we had our way…watch out). For those of you who really like to know everything there is to know about an album, you’d do well to check out Continuum’s “33 1/3” series of books.—
Pitchfork
For reviews of individual titles in the series, please visit our website at
www.continuumbooks.com
and
33third.blogspot.com
Also available in this series:
Dusty in Memphis
by Warren Zanes
Forever Changes
by Andrew Hultkrans
Harvest
by Sam Inglis
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
by Andy Miller
Meat Is Murder
by Joe Pernice
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
by John Cavanagh
Abba Gold
by Elisabeth Vincentelli
Electric Ladyland
by John Perry
Unknown Pleasures
by Chris Ott
Sign ‘O’ the Times
by Michaelangelo Matos
The Velvet Underground and Nico
by Joe Harvard
Let It Be
by Steve Matteo
Live at the Apollo
by Douglas Wolk
Aqualung
by Allan Moore
OK Computer
by Dai Griffiths
Let It Be
by Colin Meloy
Led Zeppelin IV
by Erik Davis
Armed Forces
by Franklin Bruno
Exile on Main Street
by Bill Janovitz
Grace
by Daphne Brooks
Murmur
by J. Niimi
Pet Sounds
by Jim Fusilli
Ramones
by Nicholas Rombes
Endtroducing…
by Eliot Wilder
Kick Out the Jams
by Don McLeese
Low
by Hugo Wilcken
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
by Kim Cooper
Music from Big Pink
by John Niven
Paul’s Boutique
by Dan LeRoy
Doolittle
by Ben Sisario
There’s a Riot Goin’ On
by Miles Marshall Lewis
Stone Roses
by Alex Green
Bee Thousand
by Marc Woodsworth
The Who Sell Out
by John Dougan
Highway 61 Revisited
by Mark Polizzotti
Loveless
by Mike McGonigal
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
by Ric Menck
Court and Spark
by Sean Nelson
69 Love Songs
by LD Beghtol
Songs in the Key of Life
by Zeth Lundy
Use Your Illusion I and II
by Eric Weisbard
Daydream Nation
by Matthew Stearns
Forthcoming in this series:
London Calling
by David L. Ulin
People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
by Shawn Taylor
Double Nickels on the Dime
by Michael T. Fournier
and many more …
Kevin Courrier
2007
The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc
80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038
The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
Copyright © 2007 by Kevin Courrier
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers or their agents.
Printed in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Courrier, Kevin, 1954-
Trout mask replica / by Kevin Courrier.
p. cm. -- (33 1/3)
eISBN-13: 978-1-4411-9269-1
1. Captain Beefheart. Trout mask replica. 2. Rock music--1961-1970--History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series.
ML420.C2535C68 2007
782.42166092--dc22
2007002716
Preface
The Truth Has No Patterns
Chapter One
A Desert Island of the Mind
Chapter Three
Jumping Out of School
Chapter Four
A Little Paranoia is a Good Propeller
Chapter Five
Music from the Other Side of the Fence
Epilogue
Everyone Drinks from the Same Pond
Although this was the most enjoyable (and least disruptive) experience I’ve had yet writing a book, the idea for this little tome followed some rather unfortunate circumstances. After working as a film critic at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for close to fifteen years, I was let go in 2005 by an aspiring executive who didn’t find me (among other things) consumer-friendly enough. It therefore seemed perfectly fitting to go on to write a book about an album that was even less consumer-friendly than me.
For that, I have to offer deep thanks to David Barker, my editor at Continuum press, for giving me the opportunity to delve deeply—but quickly—into my love for a peculiar record that makes demands on that love. Besides being the progenitor of a fascinating series of books for those who truly adore music, David continues to affirm my faith that there are still sharp editors dedicated to creating a nurturing climate for good writing. (He also returns every e-mail query promptly.)
Gabriella Page-Fort supplied a concise copyedit, too, which made my job as a writer about as painless as anyone could hope for.
While writing is always a solitary act, I have a few readers to thank who made it less lonely. Shlomo Schwartzberg bravely tore through this text, and offered invaluable advice, even though he could barely stand to listen to two minutes of the actual album. Naomi Boxer was unflinchingly supportive, extremely helpful, and enormously generous in her comments. Besides being a great friend, John Corcelli offered some deeply insightful suggestions that cleared my head long enough to take the text further than I had planned. Adam Nayman, who is one of the brightest young film critics around, is also a cherished and deeply valued friend. Our endless conversations consistently opened up ideas that found there way into informing this book. David Churchill, one of my oldest and dearest friends, always asks the right questions and provides the best answers. Donald Brackett is every bit part of the fabric of this book. As with my previous efforts on Randy Newman and Frank Zappa, this one also grew out of long passionate discussions about music dating back to 1985.
There are some other special people to thank for the indispensable role they play (or have played) in my both my personal and professional life: Albert & Sheila Vezeau, Scott and Shawn Courrier, Steve Vineberg, Annie Bryant, Mimi Gellman, Dave King and Lynne Godfrey, Avril Orloff, Susan Green, Judith Edwards, Leonore Johnston, Lynne Teperman, Nick Power, Jean Jinnah, Brian Quinn & Vi, Mi-Kyong Shim, Bob Douglas and Gayle Burns, Larry Rooney, Jack David, Jen Hale, the late Tom Fulton, Dave Downey, Anton Leo, Janice
Newton, Sandra Kerr, and my special colleagues and friends at Public Outreach, who every day remind me of the value of professional integrity and dedicated idealism.
Special gratitude also goes to Mimi Divinsky, who truly made this book possible with her profuse generosity and precious friendship.
I set out to write this book with a keen ear for the larger culture that informs Beefheart’s work, in an effort to prove that it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s an important aspect of what a good critic does. For those fans on Internet sites, though, who only crave “new information” (i.e. minutiae), or resent other informed voices who value digging into the “nilly-willy” in order to get at the “nitty-gritty,” this book may not satisfy any fetishistic urges. I can only paraphrase Frank Zappa: information is not knowledge. For those fans inquiring enough to delve into what is maybe (for you) a familiar story, I’ve tried to magnify my appraisal of one of America’s most original artists by including those (like Blind Willie Johnson) who also occupy a kindred spirit of invention. In that vein, I hope you find this book an enjoyable and valuable edition to the ongoing discussion of
Trout Mask Replica
.
Kevin Courrier
February, 2007.
The Truth Has No Patterns
Like most stories, the tale of this particular book begins with an earlier one. It’s about a love affair with music, and how our liaison with music takes unpredictable twists and turns. As our encounters in romance can begin so suddenly, so innocently, so mysteriously, timeless music can also follow a similar course. A record will sometimes hit us quite unexpectedly on a car radio, right at that moment when the music and the commercials blend into one totally innocuous whole. That’s how I discovered Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” for instance, on a family vacation to Florida. My father, who was driving the car (and who hated rock and roll), became so transfixed by the tidal pull of the song that even he couldn’t find the will to change the station. Other times, it happens through chance encounters with an acquaintance.