What a great historic recording of a great band, misunderstood by most including me at one time. His performances and his personality were dictated a certain extent by the "life long" illness Multiple Sclerosis. He had treatment for cancer in 2006 but it was complictions due to his MS that killed him in 2010 aged 69. His performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1974 was really special, the band too excelled. Happy memories RIP Captain, you were one of a kind.
Thanks for sharing 👍 I saw Beefheart and the Magic Band circ 74 Newcastle City Hall... I had the chance to meet back stage the good Captain,and when you're 16 with long hair it's feels freedom ❤️.. Yeah he was approachable , we talked about Zappa for a few minutes and the possibility of a future tour together... hence Bongo Fury 👍
Yup 👍 He certainly was a one of a kind man alrighty! Totally changed my perspective about what it is that we as musicians have the ability to create and share our vision with all.
Stupéfiant, ce document. Beefheart et sa formation, une musique géniale, d'une invention, d'une force, d'une fraicheur inégalées, vous n'entendrez plus jamais quelque chose comme ça.
You can tell Don is not too amused doing this tour. Nonetheless, I'm very grateful for his role in music. It made me a grown up. And still I listen to all his music with awe and admiration. The Captain will never leave his post in my world.
Né en 77 je suis jaloux j avoue..découvert à 18 ans en retournant la pochette de strickly personnal.. je l ai vu.. sans écouter j ai compris. Je l ai écouté dans la voiture en 10 secondes j adorais..
Wow! ‘Trout mask replica’ was genius, however that more challenging side of beefheart kind of overshadowed things a bit, and it’s easy to forget what a pure slab of rock’n’roll fury this guy and his magic band could be. Truly amazing performance ❤️😁
06:51 The Captain is wearing TWO, incredibly beautiful Indian cuff bracelets. The one at 06:51 with turquoise, red coral, mother of pearl, etc, would probably go for over $2,000 today.
It’s very interesting to compare this to Lou Reed’s live performances from the same year. Not saying that either one took ideas from the other but like they both commanded the stage in a very similar manner I feel.
I’m saying that; most definitely reevaluate it and see how much of what Lou Reed has done is strategically based upon Captain Beefheart’s performance in his musicality alone. Fuck yeah 👍
this incarnation of the Magic Band had it so easy compared to earlier incarnation of the band regarding the complexity of the arrangements and song structure etc
Nothing worse then whenever someone says something funny and we all laugh 😆 but then they ruin their own little bit by trying to top whatever rarity we just got through laughing at. I am pertaining to some of these folk’s commentaries.
Rare ! Thank you. Je m'adresse aux français, et spécialement aux anciens élèves de HEC ou à quiconque était là ce soir, car je suis venue à un concert au printemps à HEC en 74, et c'était Soft Machine qui jouait... S'il y avait eu le Captain, je m'en rappellerais. Mais je me trompe peut-être d'année... serait-ce 76 ?
Anyone know who's playing in the band at this show? I don't recognize any of these guys. I'm thinking they could've been hired for a show/tour in Europe and that's why they're playing some of the more "straight" tunes.
This line-up, commonly refered to as "The Tragic Band", consisted of: Fuzzy Fuscaldo - guitar Ty Grimes - drums Dean Smith - guitar Michael ‘Bucky’ Smotherman - keyboards; vocals Del Simmons - saxophone; flute Paul Uhrig - bass "The band performed two songs live during the UK tour on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test (another song, ‘Peaches’, from the Manchester show was also broadcast) and a complete concert was recorded for French television (which ends with the drummer kicking his drum kit all over the stage)." Source: The Captain Beefheart Radar Station's entry about the tragic band.
OMG! Paul Uhrig! No way! I have watched this concert for years and not made that connection. He’s a Nashville cat. Played in my dad’s band for a minute and Dolly Parton… tons of greats. Thank you so much for connecting this massive dot. Nothing “tragic” about this band. I LOVE this performance! So great to see a hi res up.
@@JSTNtheWZRD Wrong place !! I wanted to answer to the guy who was asking for the "full personnel of the performance" but it seems I messed up in the comments :D so this list is in the answer from Joe to a comment by kontube, there it is !
Despite the shrieking adulation of a few deluded fans, this is basically just garbage. Originality, style and obscure references do not make up for mediocrity. This is just a terrible rehash of Howlin’ Wolf and some old blues men w a psychedelic twist. This is some of the worst harp playing I’ve ever heard. If you think this is great, Dial Up, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, and Robert Johnson.
@@TheEWFX29Thanking You for making my morning with your comment. I too added this: Yeah 👎 no, I take it you’re more of a Zappa type of fella then.. Well duh! It’s actually right above this one ☝️ lolol Greetings from Boston Massachusetts Amerikkka quite obvious by this point in time with the 2nd assassination attempt against Trump that nobody wants to talk about on any major news network, right?
@@deanpesaturo6401 We all have our favorites I guess. Probably better to leave it alone then argue even further. I realize the Captain isnt for everyone. But he is definitely not a second rate player. He took what he heard and liked and made it into a unique stew. Greetings back from New Bedford Ma.
..aah.. bless.. they're playing nicely-wicely... ah well... it's done... nicely-wicely is as nicely-wicely does as my Ma used to say to me... hyuk! TMR still consistently selling.... so yah-boo-sucks...
....nothing tragic about this band....sure there's been more adventurous ...but they were hired by Don...and he directed the music...the U.C. band quit 2 months earlier...and after this tour ended this band quit due to no money again....for this curve of Beefheart they are soulful and they get it...great players...
Really? I’ve been a fan since Trout Mask came out. Missed the one chance I might have seen him in the early 70s. Don’t think he came to the Baltimore/Washington area much. Wonder how his music will hold up in another 50 years …?
Del Simmons!!!!
What a great historic recording of a great band, misunderstood by most including me at one time. His performances and his personality were dictated a certain extent by the "life long" illness Multiple Sclerosis. He had treatment for cancer in 2006 but it was complictions due to his MS that killed him in 2010 aged 69. His performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1974 was really special, the band too excelled. Happy memories RIP Captain, you were one of a kind.
I never knew about the cancer, although I've been obsessed with Beefheart / Van Vliet for years. Where do you have that information from?
Cannot agree more..RIP Captain Beafheart
Thanks for sharing 👍 I saw Beefheart and the Magic Band circ 74 Newcastle City Hall... I had the chance to meet back stage the good Captain,and when you're 16 with long hair it's feels freedom ❤️.. Yeah he was approachable , we talked about Zappa for a few minutes and the possibility of a future tour together... hence Bongo Fury 👍
Yup 👍 He certainly was a one of a kind man alrighty! Totally changed my perspective about what it is that we as musicians have the ability to create and share our vision with all.
Stupéfiant, ce document. Beefheart et sa formation, une musique géniale, d'une invention, d'une force, d'une fraicheur inégalées, vous n'entendrez plus jamais quelque chose comme ça.
You can tell Don is not too amused doing this tour. Nonetheless, I'm very grateful for his role in music. It made me a grown up. And still I listen to all his music with awe and admiration. The Captain will never leave his post in my world.
@@1dudeleek Yes the good Captain.🙏 Don+Frank keep it Bongo Fury always ❤️
This is fucking brilliant...the best gig i've ever seen and I'm 52 years old.
And the cap.tain was a lot ready passed
Maker of a magic band!!!!
wow, poor you. you need to get out more. this is very ordinary Beefheart due to the poor quality of his band.
Saw him in London mid '60's on the Safe As Milk Tour. One of his best albums. Much tamer here.
I must admit that I’m pretty jealous.
yep its sub par at best.
The captain at his very best , all the band are amazing musicians, sax player is off the scale
Bollocks.
And just as Zappa said, you just sit back and let him do whatever it is he does.
Right on!
@@zoits.1319 Bongo Fury🙏R.I.P Frank+Don👍
exactly..... bongo fury 👍
@@zoits.1319 exactly 👍
J'y étais! I was here!
Né en 77 je suis jaloux j avoue..découvert à 18 ans en retournant la pochette de strickly personnal.. je l ai vu.. sans écouter j ai compris. Je l ai écouté dans la voiture en 10 secondes j adorais..
They broke the mold with this guy...
Not true! He inspired!
Yeah, before he was cast. And then afterwards they dragged the mold maker through the streets of the town by his ankles. Cat was different. Wink
Definitely not The Police
Captain Beefheart is among my biggest inspirations.
I got into The Captain with his 80’s albums but this is incredible - 1974.
Watching rhe hands of the beefheartstrings together is like watching a band of all drummers in the pocket
Thank you. Zappa forever!
What has he got to do with this??
Horn player is off the chain ! 😎
Fuck! Who posted this? Give em a medal! Seriously..this is freaking solid GOLD!!!
The audience don’t realise they are witnessing the best band ever
Not the Tragic Band
His magic band
@Plbdg nothing MAGIC about this band. Saw them, they were as sharp as a dull razor.
The MAN.
@@scbtx yep!
One of the best things I've found on YT ever.
Merci pour ce live
Still stellar! …even with the relatively ordinary 'Tragic Band'
Wow! ‘Trout mask replica’ was genius, however that more challenging side of beefheart kind of overshadowed things a bit, and it’s easy to forget what a pure slab of rock’n’roll fury this guy and his magic band could be. Truly amazing performance ❤️😁
What an amazing man entirely unique not like the tripe of today
Min 25:42 damn!! .... Finally i found this song! I really needed to listen to it again 🎉💗💃🏾
I was alive to catch one of these gigs. Thankful for the videos one of the best I've seen so far. Truly a magic band.
I was hitching around Europe that time I missed them... I got to see GONG ....great
Unreal
What a beautiful man.
06:51 The Captain is wearing TWO, incredibly beautiful Indian cuff bracelets. The one at 06:51 with turquoise, red coral, mother of pearl, etc, would probably go for over $2,000 today.
Wow, truly bad and yes, tragic.
Thank you for posting this amazing and interesting footage.
Thank you for sharing this.
The sax/clarinete player is fantastic.
Del Simmons (ua-cam.com/video/O0nZnrMbxcQ/v-deo.html) He was no fucking parrot. RIP
Thank you for sharing this footage. It is gold
It’s very interesting to compare this to Lou Reed’s live performances from the same year. Not saying that either one took ideas from the other but like they both commanded the stage in a very similar manner I feel.
I’m saying that; most definitely reevaluate it and see how much of what Lou Reed has done is strategically based upon Captain Beefheart’s performance in his musicality alone. Fuck yeah 👍
Captain is the captain
Larry from 3s company blew that sax like prom night!
i fuckin love the captain🧩
J could not inderstand a single world from his songs !!
It really doesn't matter :) the energy, the voice and the music are more than enough !
Tip top 👌👍
The merger of poetry musical fun he was having fun in France betcha upon the my oh my Amsterdam Berlin too we loved his set in Vancouver too
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Old Grey Whistle Test.
Beyond the my oh my
Driven away from your own spinning wheel
Beyond the my oh my oh my.
so good
he is the king
This Is so awesome 👌
this incarnation of the Magic Band had it so easy compared to earlier incarnation of the band regarding the complexity of the arrangements and song structure etc
I don’t think that easy is the right word; seeing as how no incarnation of the Magic Bands ever did. Don was the man for a damned reason, 👏
I can't conceive of a better damn band
This is the worst iteration of the magic band
@@gordonhuskin7337 nah, the 80s magic band, only reason I listened to ice cream for crow and the other albums is the Capn's poetry. 🥩🫀
@@gordonhuskin7337 Tragic Band it's called
You got good taste man
@@davidwaltzer2235 naturally 🦈
I was in the audience... And he and my father managed to die on the same day.
Life is strange...
He's the genius behind Zappa
A lot of great mustaches
No potential commercial as zappa said. Weird place for that man
Zappa was a trip. He said Don “ has the uncanny ability to sign any piece of paper that is put in front of him..”
Left field necessity!
Nothing worse then whenever someone says something funny and we all laugh 😆 but then they ruin their own little bit by trying to top whatever rarity we just got through laughing at. I am pertaining to some of these folk’s commentaries.
Rare ! Thank you. Je m'adresse aux français, et spécialement aux anciens élèves de HEC ou à quiconque était là ce soir, car je suis venue à un concert au printemps à HEC en 74, et c'était Soft Machine qui jouait... S'il y avait eu le Captain, je m'en rappellerais. Mais je me trompe peut-être d'année... serait-ce 76 ?
En tout cas les étudiants français avaient bon goût à l'époque !
@@MrTortureneverstops1 Mais grave ! :)
@@MrTortureneverstops1😅 infatti
J'y étais il y a bien eu un concert du Captain dont j'étais fan. je n'étais pas étudiant à HEC mais j'avais vu l'affiche sur les murs de Paris.
After 30 or so minutes of this magic band the only place to go is The Fall.
Or, Howlin Wolf.
The voice rescues almost anything and it had its work cut out during this period. But, as he said, 'Why can't I be a blonde?'
Sounds good even though this is in the valley of Captain Beefheart material
You might say his most prominent goal was not commercial success .
Get up. Get down.
Beaches.
Sea.
How fruity.
Man bee.
Buzz, buzz, buzzing into town.
Just how much.
Man bee.
Another day. Another Way. VanGelder.
Smooth... (comparatively). I guess this is about as close as Beefheart got to being "commercial".
Check out Clear Spot's tunes with the Blackberrys. Commercial on Don's terms.
Anyone know who's playing in the band at this show? I don't recognize any of these guys. I'm thinking they could've been hired for a show/tour in Europe and that's why they're playing some of the more "straight" tunes.
This line-up, commonly refered to as "The Tragic Band", consisted of:
Fuzzy Fuscaldo - guitar
Ty Grimes - drums
Dean Smith - guitar
Michael ‘Bucky’ Smotherman - keyboards; vocals
Del Simmons - saxophone; flute
Paul Uhrig - bass
"The band performed two songs live during the UK tour on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test (another song, ‘Peaches’, from the Manchester show was also broadcast) and a complete concert was recorded for French television (which ends with the drummer kicking his drum kit all over the stage)."
Source: The Captain Beefheart Radar Station's entry about the tragic band.
OMG! Paul Uhrig! No way! I have watched this concert for years and not made that connection. He’s a Nashville cat. Played in my dad’s band for a minute and Dolly Parton… tons of greats. Thank you so much for connecting this massive dot. Nothing “tragic” about this band. I LOVE this performance! So great to see a hi res up.
Prime Beef!
Wow--- this is rough...
immagine trying to explain to your parents why you want to be in this band
26:11 the first Drummer I've ever seen Smoking while playing.Love it
forgot Ginger Baker ?
Don't forget Bun E. Carlos...
@@greggzullo3155 Don't forget Bun E. Carlos...!!!!!
Don't forget Bun E. Carlos...!!!
Unsurpassed...
that clarinet player what a beak on him!
❤😅,
Is that Jimmy Carl Black on his t-shirt?
Was this filmed or videotaped?
Who is the guy playing the les Paul
Dean Smith.
Check out Red Gravel Road
and Petals in the Wind.
Trémolo
EBER LUDUEÑA EN LA BATERIA
Putain de concert. Ils étaient pas si cons finalement à HEC...
Bongo Fury
Donc l’une des seules versions de Mirror man filmée l’a été à HEC, holy shit
Bizarrement oui haha
this was the infamous TRAGIC BAND backing him ... saw this line up in toronto back then .... and yes disappointing
Tragic Band?
This is a very poor imitation of the REAL Magic band. Don knows it too.
That clarinet solo needs to be in elevators
Read the comment above from Joe :)
@@JeromeC1967 above what, jerr?
@@JSTNtheWZRD Wrong place !! I wanted to answer to the guy who was asking for the "full personnel of the performance" but it seems I messed up in the comments :D so this list is in the answer from Joe to a comment by kontube, there it is !
@@JeromeC1967 you can't fool me, Jerome. Now I know you. And I know you are eating something salty right now
@@JSTNtheWZRD Nada mejor que el chile !!
This guy was like a cult leader
Truly sad to see Don playing this Benny Hill rock.
i am captain beefheart's illegitimate step-son's neighbor's friend's sister's brother's beekeeper
Beautiful ly expressed. Thanc uwe.
Which makes me your great uncle thrice removed.
That sax player is so annoying…
Tought it was Kramer from Seinfeld
trash
Despite the shrieking adulation of a few deluded fans, this is basically just garbage. Originality, style and obscure references do not make up for mediocrity. This is just a terrible rehash of Howlin’ Wolf and some old blues men w a psychedelic twist. This is some of the worst harp playing I’ve ever heard. If you think this is great, Dial Up, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, and Robert Johnson.
If you dont understand it, that's OK. Go back to your Kenny G.
Yeah 👎 I’m guessing you’re more of a Zappa type.
@@TheEWFX29Thanking You for making my morning with your comment. I too added this: Yeah 👎 no, I take it you’re more of a Zappa type of fella then.. Well duh! It’s actually right above this one ☝️ lolol Greetings from Boston Massachusetts Amerikkka quite obvious by this point in time with the 2nd assassination attempt against Trump that nobody wants to talk about on any major news network, right?
@@deanpesaturo6401 We all have our favorites I guess. Probably better to leave it alone then argue even further. I realize the Captain isnt for everyone. But he is definitely not a second rate player. He took what he heard and liked and made it into a unique stew. Greetings back from New Bedford Ma.
..aah.. bless.. they're playing nicely-wicely... ah well... it's done... nicely-wicely is as nicely-wicely does as my Ma used to say to me... hyuk! TMR still consistently selling.... so yah-boo-sucks...
....nothing tragic about this band....sure there's been more adventurous ...but they were hired by Don...and he directed the music...the U.C. band quit 2 months earlier...and after this tour ended this band quit due to no money again....for this curve of Beefheart they are soulful and they get it...great players...
Really? I’ve been a fan since Trout Mask came out. Missed the one chance I might have seen him in the early 70s.
Don’t think he came to the Baltimore/Washington area much. Wonder how his music will hold up in another 50 years …?
Does anyone know the full personnel of this performance?