CAPTAIN BEEFHEART KORN RING FINGER 1967 STUDIO ACETATE

$

1,077

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & THE MAGIC BAND 1967 ORIGINAL & UNIQUE BELL STUDIO 12" ACETATE CONTAINING STUDIO PERFORMANCES RECORDED AUTUMN 1967  WITH A CLASSIC MAGIC BAND LINE-UP  FEATURING ALEX ST. CLAIR SNOUFFER, JEFF COTTON, JERRY HANDLEY & JOHN FRENCH.  THESE RECORDINGS HAVE BEEN GENERALLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE AND ARE REFERRED TO AS  MIRROR MAN OUT-TAKES.  THIS IS A 100% OFFICIAL AND ORIGINAL 1960'S PRODUCED ACETATE. ALMOST CERTAINLY THE  ONLY COPY IN THE WORLD!!  FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE "I AIN'T HUNGRY, BUT I SURE AIN'T WEIRD" PRODUCER.  GUARANTEED ORIGINAL.  EXCELLENT VG+(+) CONDITION.  SUPERB SOUND QUALITY!!

THIS MAY WELL BE THE RAREST CAPTAIN BEEFHEART RECORD ON THE PLANET.  AN EDITION OF ONE COPY WOULD BE A REASONABLE ASSUMPTION REGARDING THIS DISC. IT IS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE ONLY KNOWN COPY, I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND ANY REFERENCE TO THIS DISC ONLINE, OR ELSEWHERE.  YET, WITH IT'S IMPECCABLE PROVENANCE, IT'S GENUINENESS IS BEYOND QUESTION.

Back in the late 1980's & early 1990's the curious world that fans of Captain Beefheart inhabit was wildly abuzz with news & rumours of an amazing cache of recently discovered 1960's era material that was being panned for official release.  In 1992 these rumours proved true with the release of the UK based Sequel labels release of mauch of this material on the "I May Be Hungry, But I Sure Ain't Weird" collection.  This acetate was discovered by the producer of that release, the late UK writer & archivist John Platt, during research for this project.  This is the only copy that John Platt found during his archival research, and is almost certainly the only copy of this material ever to have been produced.  The sound quality is , as should be expected from a STUDIO REFERENCE ACETATE, STUNNING!!!  The condition of the disc is remarkably fine,  revealing only the most minimal signs of wear.  Evidently unplayed at the time of it's discovery by Platt, it was recorded and filed, to remain unplayed in his personal collection until his untimely passing in the late 1990's.  Post his passing, certain items from his collection were offered for sale to a small circle of his acquantances, which is how this acetate became available.  It was purchased in NYC circa 2000 by a private collector, and is now being offered sale for only the second time in 40+ years.

THIS ITEM  CERTAINLY QUALIFIES AS ONE OF, IF NOT THE, RAREST BEEFHEART RECORD IN THE WORLD.  A SINGULAR ARTIFACT, IT'S RARITY CAN ONLY BE IMAGINED, NOT DEFINED.  FOLLOWING ARE SOME NOTES REGARDING SOME BACKGROUND TO THIS MATERIAL.  IN IT'S ORIGINAL  MASTERING, REVEALED ONLY ON THIS ACETATE, THE POWER AND DETAIL OF THE PERFORMANCES ARE REVEALED AS THEY COULD BE NOWHERE ELSE, THE UNQUESTIONED INTENT OF THE STUDIO ENGINEER TO CAPTURE THE BANDS SOUND AT THE TIME REVEALED IN IT'S PRIMARY FORM  AND INTENT ONLY ON THIS ARTIST SANCTIONED & APPROVED MASTERING.  PERHAPS THIS WAS EVEN D.V.V. 's COPY?  SADLY JOHN IS NO LONGER HERE TO ASK.  WHAT IS UNQUESTIONED IS THAT THIS RECORDING REVEALS ONE OF THE MOST MOMENTOUS & IMPORTANT ARTISTS / BANDS OF THE ERA AT AN ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL JUNCTURE IN THEIR CAREER, PERFORMING AN ARRAY OF MATERIAL THAT IS JUST AS BOLD, ADVENTUROUS, CREATIVE, EVEN SHOCKING, AS IT UNDOUBTEDLY WOULD HAVE BEN CONSIDERED TO BE IF IT HAD BEEN HEARD AT THE TIME OF RECORDING (AT TTG STUDIOS IN LOS ANGELES, REPORTEDLY, THE SAME STUDIO THE THE VELVET UNDERGROUND ENTERED A FEW MONTHS EARLIER TO PUT THE FINAL FINISHING TOUCHES ON THEIR DEBUT LP.  I'VE NO DOUBT THAT THERE ARE THOSE ROCK FANS WHO WOULD ARGUE, WITH REASONBLE VALIDITY, THAT THE RECORDINGS CONTAINED ON THIS SINGULAR ARTIFACT OF THE ERA ARE NO LESS IMPORTANT.  I WOULD COUNT MYSELF AMONGST THOSE ESPOUSING SUCH A CLAIM.  HERE IS A CHANCE  TO ACQUIRE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT & UNUSUAL ARTIFACTS / RECORDINGS OF THE ENTIRE 1960'S.

FOLLOWS SOME BACKGROUND INFO TO THESE SESSIONS / RECORDING. 

When Autumn's Child closes, I'm used to hearing a minute or so of silence until I get up and start the album playing again, but not any more. Instead Safe As Milk Take Five crashes in, followed by six more outtakes of songs which later appeared on Strictly Personal.

This is my one small reservation about the release - do these essential tunes really belong on Safe As Milk? Would all the outtakes not have been more at home on a double CD with Mirror Man, possibly entitled It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper, as was the title of the album that these sessions were originally meant to form. John Platt, the co-producer and sleeve note writer for both these Buddha reissues, answered my questions about this:

"When BMG first asked me to work on the reissues, I made two suggestions - either they should release all the relevant tracks as a deluxe double package or keep Safe As Milk the way it was (there are no outtakes, alternate versions or mono mixes in the vault!) and release all the October/November '67 tracks as a double album entitled The Complete Mirror Man Sessions. Unfortunately their budget prevented the latter and since they wanted to reissue 'original' albums they wouldn't go for the former. I could sort of understand wanting to reissue original albums, although I did point out that the 1971 Mirror Man was really a bogus record. Anyway, they at least agreed to put out virtually all of the 'left over' Mirror Man cuts on Safe As Milk, which is a lot better than not using them at all. My problem was what to put on the new Mirror Man CD and what to 'relegate' (if that's the right word) to the end of the Safe As Milk CD. I suspect that some fans will object to my choices, but there you are. Despite my reservations about having to mix up the sessions, I think that for a major a label to treat a (sad to say) cult figure like this is quite remarkable."

The Plain Brown Wrapper tunes have been split over the two discs, with The Mirror Man Sessions featuring the 'finished' outtakes with vocals, while the Safe As Milk CD contains the 'unfinished' or instrumental tunes and alternate takes, along with Korn Ring Finger. While a double CD package featuring the Plain Brown Wrapper sessions all together would have been nice, and more as originally envisioned by Don, Platt's efforts at compromise between budget restrictions and historical correctness are certainly not to be sniffed at.

The outtakes included at the end of the two albums are essential listening for anyone with an interest in the Magic Band. All bar one, Korn Ring Finger, were previously available on Sequel's I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain't Weird CD, but with this being unavailable for some time, we now have a much needed complete collection of some of the most remarkable tunes recorded in the Magic Band's history. We see their unique music, combined with Van Vliet's vision, approaching its full realisation, which undoubtedly came with the albums Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Off Baby. These outtakes help complete the story.

Sound quality appears fairly similar to the high standards found on the Sequel release; very clear and fresh with absolutely no production frills whatsoever. Also, Korn Ring Finger gets its first ever official release. This is probably the most whimsical of the Magic Band's tunes, and hangs in the air very pleasingly for seven and a half minutes before closing this new version of Safe As Milk.

Mirror Man kicks off as always with Tarotplane, still complete with the distortion on the harmonica in the opening bars, though things probably wouldn't be quite right without it. The general quality of sound is excellent, exceptional in fact, sounding very similar to the other Plain Brown Wrapper tunes featured on these two CDs (not surprisingly as they were all recorded at more or less the same time) which is a big big improvement on any previous releases of Mirror Man that I have heard. I haven't been able to listen to this and any other versions back to back to compare any specific differences in the mastering as my two copies of Mirror Man both mysteriously disappeared at some point in the last few years, however I can confirm without any hesitation that the album has never sounded this great. The clarity of sound bears almost no similarity to what we are used to. When all the instruments retreat at the end of 25th Century Quaker, the sonic detail is exceptional, and Don's chugging harmonica in Mirror Man stands out beautifully. This truly is the definitive mastering of a previously very badly treated, almost sabotaged album. Throw all the other versions into the sea and 'be reformed, be reborn'.

The other noticeable difference is that the tunes have been re-ordered, for 'aesthetic reasons' according to John Platt, with 25th Century Quaker now residing after Tarotplane instead of being at the end of the album, a sequence which runs very smoothly, possibly more so than on the original. The triumphant and joyous klang of Kandy Korn is an ideal close, however things aren't over yet as we still have five more of the Plain Brown Wrapper outtakes before everything is over.

John Platt's sleeve-notes are an excellent read, containing a thorough and fascinating overview of the history of both Safe As Milk and Mirror Man. The booklet for each release has been beautifully put together, not only with John's notes, but also with many of the images from the original releases, and several previously unseen photographs. Sadly there is no bumper sticker with Safe As Milk, but that probably would be expecting a little too much! John Platt commented:

"They let me write reasonably extensive booklet notes, both of which, I think, are much better (or at least more accurate) than the notes I did for I May Be Hungry and they took a lot of trouble with the design. I tracked down Guy Webster, who took the Safe As Milk and Strictly Personal cover photos and he supplied us with some fabulous outtakes. Unfortunately BMG's budget restrictions meant we were unable to use more (hence the use of my slightly anachronistic photo of Don in the fur coat). We also incorporated much of the original Safe As Milk inner bag, albeit spread out through the booklet - if we'd used the whole thing reduced to the relevant size, one booklet page per side of the original, it would have been a tiny mess! And yes, I too think the remastering job is pretty damn fine."

So, hearty congratulations from the Radar Station to all involved with these stunning releases which have not been out of my CD player since I got them, and appear to have universally thrilled the Beefheart fans who have already heard them. This review could easily have been reduced to just two words: 'at last,' but I thought you might want to know a little more.

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