Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica (33 1/3)

Putting music into words is hard enough, but crafting words to adequately express an album as complicated, multilayered and ineffable as "Trout Mask Replica" must count as the Everest of music criticism. The album itself has infuriated and ingratiated those brave enough to both acknowledge its existence and actually let their cochleas jangle to all of its angularity and often frightening unfamiliarity. Those who last for more than a few listens may find themselves personally changed by the experience. Though the indescribable album definitely has precedents in earlier avant-garde music, the music industry, and especially the rock genre, has simply never produced anything like it before or since. It stands pretty much alone in its singular and individualistic expression.Of course such treasures often come at a price, as the extremely readable and adequately sized 33 1/3 "Trout Mask Replica" installment points out. Freedom of expression, or so it seems in this case, came at the cost of extreme tyranny over the musical process and the people involved in it. So goes the paradoxes of existence, good sometimes emerges from evil, and vice versa, and freedom sometimes emerges from tyranny and vice versa. If the cacophonous album exudes any one overarching feeling, it exudes the intangibility and slipperiness with which we hold on to reality and that nagging feeling that things are not what they seem. It's a challenging and often uncomfortable listen for newcomers. But that same and almost paranoid claustrophobic feeling can eventually emerge into a new way of seeing and experiencing the world. Long time listeners to "Trout Mask Replica" also speak of the joy emanating from the music that often sounds like the Large Hadron Collider crapping its pants. Something utterly new and affirmative happened here, regardless of the situation from which it arose.The small, some 150-page 33 1/3 volume doesn't dwell on the negatives. It does shatter many myths, some of which were already shattered, and tries to paint a complete picture of the creative process. Stories of Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart, from the time of "Trout Mask Replica's" recording, have become horrifyingly legendary. He allegedly sought total control, which apparently included control over the minds and behavior of his supporting band. Dictatorial and emotionally manipulative techniques were sometimes applied, according to those present. Still, the band seemed fervently dedicated to the project at hand, as though they knew this was the process needed to create something astonishingly unique and willingly acquiesced. The band, of course, played a huge role in the creation of "Trout Mask Replica." Most of them, quoted at length in the book from various sources, seem very proud of their accomplishment. They should be.Short breezy chapters cover varying aspects of this incalculable masterpiece. The preface relays the author's own personal experience with the album. And then the memoir, though interesting, stops. It would have become uninteresting quickly had it continued and permeated the entire book. Then the backstory begins, and the book covers loads of it, including numerous influences from blues, jazz and the visual arts. Clashing, at first harmoniously, biographies of Van Vliet and producer Frank Zappa fill the next few chapters. They were intimately connected by a Webcor recording device. A quick tour through the making of "Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band's" first few recordings, from "Diddy Wah Diddy" to "Strictly Personal," ensues. Then the band moves into the famous house on Ensenada Drive and the seeds of "Trout Mask Replica" are sown. Then the drama begins which ultimately ends in the now infamous 1969 album. Chapter Six provides a song-by-song analysis of the entire album. A final epilogue places the album in the context of its time. Essentially, it doesn't sound like it exists in any context and it more or less ignored the world and cultural happenings outside of itself. In fact, someone with no knowledge of the album would probably have a hard time dating it upon first listen. It sounds both modern and classic. Nonetheless, it seems almost impossible to imagine "Trout Mask Replica" happening at any other time and receiving the attention it received, though sparse in comparison to most popular music. So though it doesn't sound like a product of the late 1960s, it is definitely a product of the late 1960s.Though actually listening to "Trout Mask Replica" isn't a prerequisite for reading the 33 1/3 installment, it's difficult to imagine deriving a lot from the book without first experiencing the unimaginable music. Fans who have read other sources may not find much new here, but they will find the story presented in a very compact and easily digestible form. Those who have just arrived at the album will find the book a near perfect introduction. Lastly, this book appeared before Don Van Vliet's death in 2010. It instead ends with his musical exile to a trailer somewhere in California, where he dedicated himself to painting. But a final quote from critic Roberto Ohrt aptly sums up Van Vliet's artistic output: "The voice of Don Van Vliet, alias Captain Beefheart, was a signal and a proof that something else was possible - that nothing has to stay the way it is." In 1969, Van Vliet and his band demonstrated that beyond question. And things haven't quite stayed the same since.

I certainly wouldn't qualify as an expert on Captain Beefheart but his music and mythology has intrigued me ever since I can remember knowing of his existence. I had listened to Trout Mask Replica while I was in college but I distinctly recall not enjoying it enough to pursue it or pick it up for my own library until about two years ago when I stumbled onto a slightly tattered used vinyl copy in a record store and bought it for twenty dollars. I've listened to it regularly ever since, usually weekend afternoons while painting. It does not sound like the revolting noise I had heard when I was twenty anymore but has transformed into a burlesque circus of poetry, art, music and surrealism. I've heard it can take a while to connect with this album, perhaps the reason I never gave up on it completely, always wondering about it, wanting to like it, maybe even needing to but taking my time to reintroduce myself to it as if it held a special power that one had to earn. Trout Mask Replica is magic that way, a kind of experience that grows inside a person after they first encounter it's ceremony. It becomes, to the devout, a puzzle to unravel, an exotic pleasure achieved through patience. Buying into the religion only aids in its glorification, although even without all the kneeling it still swings in a frighteningly curios manner. But then comes a day when you have to ask the gospel singer what it all really means because we all have that undeniable urge to know about the little old man behind the curtain working the levers. So for me, already owning several 33 1/3 books, Kevin Courrier's offering in the series was a great embarking point. Courrier begins the book by relating his own memorable introduction to the album, one of which is just haunting enough to give another layer of mystique to the album. I felt satisfied with the brief history Courrier gives to Don Van Vliet although I didn't know much to start with so most of what he had written was as informative as anything written on him. If a reader is beefed up on their Beefheart this might not be a selling point but because Van Vliet was such a polarizing and eccentric man I don't think it would be a detraction either. Courrier documents the recording of the album very effectively, using quotes from participants to achieve a sense of authenticity. Throughout, he also peppers interesting side stories about Van Vliet's influences such as Blind Willie Johnson and chronicles his relationship with Frank Zappa who himself gets a welcomed subplot. Overall this 33 1/3 addition is a success and is instantly one of my favorites (I would say top three in the series out of the ones I've read). I get a sense Courrier is a skilled writer, his direction from beginning to end precise even with the detours of which were always fascinating in their own right. The book never has one of those lags that a lot of the series' volumes encounters along the way to dissecting their respective albums and I found myself excited to return to the book. For any fan of this book series I would definitely recommend Trout Mask Replica. To hardcore Beefheart fan's, Courrier himself mentions in the beginning, that this will not hold any new revealing information. To novice fans or fans just coming to discover Captain Beefheart this book, like I said, is a quick and fulfilling read. I came away thinking I knew a lot more about one of my newest favorite albums of all time without having to spend months doing research. From its influences to it's creator's vision, Kevin Courrier covers it all.

A compact but interesting treatment of Trout Mask, its context and its legacy. However, I am mystified by the dicussion of ‘Moonlight on Vermont’: I quote —In the song, it’s the moon that brings on an eruption, the celebration of life’s broad diversity. Ultimately, it gets Beefheart invoking “Ol’ Time Religion.” “It was good for Aphrodite / She’s a mighty righteous sighty / and her Priestess wears no nightie / And that’s good enough for me,” wails Beefheart as he links the primal power of God, beauty, and sex. (p. 75)Great lyrics, and a suggestive analysis. But do these lyrics actually appear in any version or recording of ‘Moonlight on Vermont’? They’re not on my CD version or on my vinyl copy. Are they on a remaster or something that I’ve missed? Or are they from elsewhere and cited as a lyric Beefheart ‘invokes’ rather than actually sings (although the implication is that he sings/’wails’ it)? Am I missing something here??

I have many of these books. They vary. There are those that don't talk much about the record at all but about the author's life at the time of hearing it. Others in the series focus on the songs and reasoning but end up interesting though pretty dry. This book on Trout Mask, however, is a treasure trove as even to one who knows the story well, it comes alive through the writing of the author and provides many, many delightful unheard-of details and insights. Absolutely one of the couple of best in the series.

I'm giving this book 5 stars partly because I've tried a few of these 33 1/3 books and they're not always that great. Some of them lack detail and research, almost operating at a fanzine level of discourse. But Courrier's attempt is both personal and objectively detailed, covering Beefheart's whole output in relation to TMR. It also digs quite well into what might be termed the 'roots' of Beefheart's poetry and music and vision, and the conditions under which the album was made. This book is a small good thing and well worthy of its subject matter.

Thoughtful, well-written account of the making of Trout Mask Replica, one of the most seminal albums of the 20th century.

10/10