I first discovered Beefheart in 1970, and the first album I bought was Strictly Personal. I had been a big Stones fan, and through them I had got into Chicago blues, and from there into country blues, especially the great Son House; so I was amazed by Ah Feel Like Ahcid, with its Death Letter quotes. Strictly Personal quickly became my favorite album. Trout took a little longer to get into. I remember going to a record shop in the Lanes at Brighton every weekend for about 6 months, and listening to it on headphones, till I eventually took the plunge and bought it.
I have seen Beefheart live 6 times. You can read my gig reviews on the Radar Station at http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/forest.htm
I also made it to the Brighton art show, which was amazing. I currently play bass in a very occasional Beefheart covers band called the Fourfathers.
 I can honestly say that Beefheart changed my outlook on life. Anything "normal" is just not enough.

 Hoboism  (3.37mb)
Improvised jam from 1976 with Denny Whalley on guitar.

(I've had to remove several other mp3's, as they weren't working properly. Hope to be replacing them soon.)

Why not take a look at the rest of my site while you download ? You will need an mp3 player, such as Winamp, to play these files. You can get it from  http://www.winamp.com/

'Where The Sunsetsails' Don van Vliet

Picture by Anton Corbijn

" It makes me itch to think of myself as Captain Beefheart... ...I don't even have a boat."   Don van Vliet, 1991

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