Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Live at the Knebworth Festival 07/05/75

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band live at the Knebworth Festival in Stevenage, England on July 5th, 1975. Pictures are from the festival and some from the show itself. 00:00 Moonlight On Vermont 03:59 Abba Zaba 08:45 Orange Claw Hammer 12:26 Dali's Car 13:53 When It Blows Its Stacks 17:47 My Human Gets Me Blues 20:45 Alice In Blunderland 24:48 Beatle Bones 'N Smokin' Stones 28:28 Gimme Dat Harp Boy 33:31 Electricity 37:51 I'm Gonna Booglarize You, Baby 43:32 Sam With The Showing Scalp Flat Top 47:02 Improvisations 53:20 Big Eyed Beans From Venus Ben Waters: Beefheart was introduced by John Peel with the words "Here he is, the guv'ner, Captain Beefheart!" The drums beat a couple of times, and they launched into a gloriously lurching, cacophonous version of "Moonlight on Vermont". There were two distinct reactions from the audience. The Pink Floyd fans put their hands over their ears and looked at each other as if to say "What is this shit?!". The Beefheart fans lunged forward, electrified by the sound. It was so off kilter; so alien; so "other" to what we'd been hearing all day, yet so much better, deeper; so RIGHT. The line up was a strange one: Winged Eel Fingerling and Ella Guru Davidson (who he?) on guitars; Drumbo on guitar and drums; Jimmy Carl Black (introduced as Indian Ink) also on drums; and, instead of a bassist, Bruce "fossil" Fowler on trombone, or air bass as Beefheart called it. You couldn't really say they were tight; one or two songs sort of slowed down halfway through, and the trombone made the rhythm kinda slurry; but it was a great sound; like a load of drunks trying to play impossibly complex music, and threatening to collapse into chaos at any moment, but always just avoiding it. Chris Hayes: Well the only time I ever saw Don was at Knebworth around 1975 when they used to have those outdoor festivals in the summer. Remember? I was watching with some friends, having never previously heard any of his stuff at all. I can plainly remember John Peel coming on and introducing Don this way: 'here he is: the guvnor!', clearly remembered even though I was undergoing an artificially-induced religious experience... I was scared to death. The only way I could survive was to lie down between the legs of a mate's girlfriend for an hour or so, while the man did his set and I hid. Nice.. At the end of it, I can also recall that half the crowd couldn't appreciate his performance at all whereas the other half were going ballistic. Which is pretty much how I still feel to this day about the guy: he's definitely a genius; but a flawed one. More recollections: http://ukrockfestivals.com/75-Knebworth-memoirs.html