Trout Mask Replica
by Captain Beefheart
- Type: Album
- Released: Oct 1969
- Label: Straight
- Country: United States
- Length: 1:18:19
- Community rating: 3.88/5 from 15 ratings
Artists on this release: Doug Moon, Frank Zappa, Mark "Rockette Morton" Boston, John "Drumbo" French
Album Notes & Community Reviews
Produced by Frank Zappa, 'Trout Mask Replica' is a landmark of experimental rock that fuses avant-garde composition and free jazz with the raw structures of R&B and blues. The album is defined by its use of polyrhythm and polytonality, achieved through months of grueling, isolated rehearsals where Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) exerted total artistic control over the Magic Band. The instrumental tracks were recorded in a single six-hour session, over which Van Vliet later added vocals and horns while hearing only the faint sound leakage from the studio, creating a radical and influential work renowned for its challenging complexity and seeming chaos.
Genres
Descriptors: dissonant, improvisation, unconventional, satirical, bluesy, experimental, avant-garde, conceptual
Tracklist
- Frownland (1:39)
- The Dust Blows Forward 'N The Dust Blows Back (2:04)
- Dachau Blues (2:21)
- Ella Guru (2:23)
- Hair Pie: Bake 1 (4:57)
- Moonlight On Vermont (3:55)
- Pachuco Cadaver (4:37)
- Bill's Corpse (1:47)
- Sweet Sweet Bulbs (2:17)
- Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish (2:25)
- China Pig (3:56)
- My Human Gets Me Blues (2:42)
- Dali's Car (1:25)
- Hair Pie: Bake 2 (2:23)
- Pena (2:31)
- Well (2:05)
- When Big Joan Sets Up (5:19)
- Fallin' Ditch (2:03)
- Sugar 'N Spikes (2:29)
- Ant Man Bee (3:55)
- Orange Claw Hammer (3:35)
- Wild Life (3:07)
- She's Too Much For My Mirror (1:42)
- Hobo Chang Ba (2:01)
- The Blimp (Mousetrap Replica) (2:04)
- Steal Softly Thru Snow (2:13)
- Old Fart At Play (1:54)
- Veteran's Day Poppy (4:30)
Credits
- Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) - music composer, vocals, saxophone, musette, natural horn
- John "Drumbo" French - arranger, drums, percussion
- Bill "Zoot Horn Rollo" Harkleroad - guitar
- Jeff "Antennae Jimmy Semens" Cotton - guitar, occasional vocals and narration, recited poem
- Mark "Rockette Morton" Boston - bass guitar, narrator
- Victor "The Mascara Snake" Hayden - bass clarinet, occasional vocals and narration, illustration
- Gary Marker - bass
- Doug Moon - guitar
- Frank Zappa - producer, occasional vocals and narration
- Dick Kunc - engineer
- Cal Schenkel - album design, cover photography