Captain Beefheart - Live at Bickershaw 1972

Never mind the acoustics, go with the groove

Here’s the stuff of legend. From 3am on a cold Lancashire night at one of the 70s’ most chaotic festivals comes this piece of rock history, even complete with its hotly debated audience asides (was the Captain talking about a “comet” or a “collie” in his band intro?). The future Joe Strummer came away believing the show to be the best gig he’d ever attended. Frendz simply described it as a “motherfucker” of a set. From Rockette Morton’s jarring bass solo introduction, through the growl of When It Blows Its Stacks and the menace of I’m Gonna Booglarise You Baby, it’s a mind-bending freak-out of distorted blues and warped rock. This might be a release predominately for completists and Beefheart archivists, and the raw audience capture is not easy on the ears, but only two recordings of this set are thought to exist, and it’s reported that one of those is only feasibly listenable for about 20 minutes due to errors in the tape speed. So if you’re happy to trawl through an hour’s worth of sound quality nearly as muddy as the rain-drenched festival itself, then rip-roaring through its murk is a seminal performance.

Ozit Records | OZITCD 9006

Reviewed by Ian Abrahams
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