Captain Beefheart
Electricity

THE REVIEW

Captain Beefheart... a great name, a great genius.

Childhood friend of the great Frank Zappa, though they often had disagreements, their friendship led to several high-quality projects together, first among these the Bongo Fury tour of 1975. I usually don't review Best Of albums, but this is the only Captain Beefheart record I own, and since I find it interesting, I've decided to review it here.

The anthology takes tracks from only 3 albums: "Safe As Milk," "Strictly Personal Sessions," and "Mirror Man." The tracks from the first are my favorites. Here you can see the versatility of this great musician also as a composer. Yes, because from a classic blues ("Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do"), we move to captivating boogies ("Dropout Boogie," "Zig Zag Wanderer"), to other great tracks more in the classic rock style ("Yellow Brick Road," "Electricity," "Plastic Factory"), or to sweet ballads ("I'm So Glad").
My favorite remains that engaging and captivating African rhythm found in "Abba Zaba," also featuring a splendid bass solo. The tracks from the second album seem more like improvisations. Some are very good ("Dirty Blue Gene") while others leave much to be desired (the satirical "Beatle, Bones 'n Smoking Stones").

Other interesting tracks from this section of the album are the long "Trust Us" and the wild "Gimme Dat Harp Boy." As for the "Mirror Man" album, only two tracks have been included, but both are very long. "Tarotplane" ventures out for 19 minutes, and it's a long experimental blues with excellent harmonica evolutions, perhaps a bit too long (especially the ending), but still very good. "Kandy Korn" is shorter but still very long. Indescribable in my opinion: it begins with a pop ditty that then transforms into an intricate track in perfect Beefheart style.

This compilation can be a good starting point for those who want to discover the Captain's music, so I recommend it. Only regret: no track from "Trout Mask Replica." The only one from such an album that I've heard ("Pachuco Cadaver") wouldn't have looked out of place here.