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Peter's music has been heard on hundreds of radio stations and has been on SiriusXM rotation for over a decade. As a multi-award winning artist, Peter's music has also topped Billboard's Classical and Crossover charts.
For Captain Beefheart, a maverick-artist-musician, who was not just a complicated man but highly demanding and by most accounts very difficult to deal with. It was appropriate that Beefheart's Magic Band was to prominently feature a bassist as accomplished, bold and adventurous as Mark Boston, a.k.a Rockette Morton.
Born on July 14, 1949, Mark began life in the small town of Salem, Illinois before his family moved out to Lancaster, California when he was 13. With a bassist and steel player for a father, Mark gained a great appreciation for country and bluegrass along with the R&B and rock’n’roll that was on the rise. Within a year of the Boston clan moving out to Lancaster, Mark befriended a young guitarist by the name of Bill Harkleroad.
At a time when the bass guitar was seen as the dummy’s instrument, Mark left quite an impression on Bill with his talent and equipment, leading to the two joining forces to form BC And The Cavemen. With Mark’s mother sewing some outfits for them, the band developed a decent reputation, and the two would also play in a band with Jeff Cotton and John French known as Blues In A Bottle. And then a local hero came calling. Or perhaps screaming and howling!
In that same Lancaster scene, Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band were making a big splash as a top flight blues rock outfit, with 'Safe As Milk' having made a strong impression and 'Strictly Personal' being a strong record as well. But even with a sound that was speaking to people, one that perhaps would have been a more pragmatic one as far as a career goes, Don Van Vliet just wasn’t meant for conventional norms.
The Captain had all these ideas, ideas far too out for many, including early members. He needed new musicians, younger and more impressionable ones that wouldn’t object to his ideas. Already having John and Jeff in the band, now 'Drumbo' and Antennae Jimmy Semens, he then recruited Bill, dubbed Zoot Horn Rollo. And on bass, he found Mark Boston, who took the name Rockette Morton due to his love of outer space. And the classic Magic Band was born.
Trout Mask Replica (TMR) wasn’t an easy album to make. Yet even with all the bizarre ideas and the difficulty in preparing those ideas into music, Mark was a total champ through it all. The Beefheart sound is one of great dichotomy, and Mark can capture all of it. He’s so tight and precise, and yet there’s this raw grit and dirt. He’s highly intelligent and sophisticated in his playing, and yet there remains this childlike sense of wonder and curiosity.
He takes after all the great traditional American music, yet out into a whole other realm of time and space. The bass traditionally serves the role of grounding the harmony while locking in with the drums to provide a foundation, yet Mark’s playing often serves as another melody line in the music. In a lot of ways, he’s like a third guitarist that just happens to be playing bass.
The TMR on its own is a legacy few can compete with, and yet Mark contributed to more classic records like "Lick My Decals Off, Baby", "The Spotlight Kid", and "Clear Spot". There on Decals, you get the equivalent of Godfather II. With Mother Art Tripp on marimba and drums rather Jeff on guitar, you get an album that captures a great deal of TMR's brilliance while being brilliant in its own unique way.
Then you get to 'The Spotlight Kid', with bass godliness on cuts like “When It Blows Its Stack”, resulting in a bass solo that often opened shows, yet Mark proves himself just as talented on traditional in-the-pocket styles as demonstrated on cuts like “I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby”. And that thing about bassists being failed guitarists? In the 'Clear Spot', with Mark taking guitar and the rhythm section now being a mini Mothers reunion of Art and Roy Estrada, yet nobody missed a beat. Throughout the record, Bill and Mark’s kinship really shines, their weaving right there with what Bill and Jeff had done, or what was done with Alex St Clair early on.
Of course, dealing with Don was quite a task of its own, so it’s inevitable that Mark and the others would all end up departing by 1974. He and Bill soon formed a group of their own called Mallard. For two albums, the first with Art and having some writing help from John French 'Drumbo', Mallard showed itself a pretty decent blues rock outfit. And giving that it was Mark who finally had a chance to create something that was truly his own rather than helping some achieve their vision, it’s understandably the work that he takes pride in. And over time, he’d end up making a solo record and create some cool artwork of his own, as well as performing with 'Drumbo' in the reformed Magic Band, allowing the music to live and breathe on stage again.
If you’re a Beefheart fan, how can you not love Rockette Morton? Not only a uniquely talented bass player but such a great stage presence full of joy, along with a lovably quirky personality and such a sweet guy. Easily one of my favorites from Magic Band members, you can’t help but smile when thinking about Mark. He’s been through some rough weather, including his health scares, and yet he’s still the same Mark we’ve known and loved all the years.
Happy birthday Mark! Thank you for all you have given us and look forward to more.
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Patrick Moore is a freehand drawing artist and freelance music writer.
News Grille
XII.III.XXI
GARY'S RITE OF STRINGS!
By Ravi V. Chhabra
Gary Lucas dons many hats. An ace guitarist, composer, actor, songwriter and producer. Spanning his mostly musical flights for 40-years with many great musicians like Don Van Vliet a.k.a Captain Beefheart among other rock masters.
fnbworld.com is all too pleased to have him chat with us (email-interview) his voicemail affixed at our music/podcast button on all-pages (top right) and know some facets of the ever smiling Mr. Lucas.
He has over 30 acclaimed albums to date under his 'felt', both as a solo artist as well as band leader in many genre(s). He has toured in 40 plus countries including Russia, China, Cuba, Israel, Morocco, South Korea, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the UK, US and Canada, and all over Eastern and Western Europe. In 2020, instead of doing live performances, due to the wretched COVID-19, Sir Lucas started a Pandemic Live Streaming every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 3pm (EST) on his Facebook page, which has a global following.
Remarkably, Gary has collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Nick Cave, David Johansen, and Lou Reed. He has also worked with Chris Cornell, DJ Spooky, Dr. John, Amanda Palmer, Bryan Ferry, The Future Sound of London, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Hammill, Warren Haynes, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Geoff Muldaur, Bob Neuwirth, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Graham Parker, Van Dyke Parks, Iggy Pop, Roswell Rudd, Fred Schneider, Richard Barone, John Sebastian, Adrian Sherwood, Patti Smith, Peter Stampfel, Damo Suzuki, Steve Swallow, Bob Weir, John Zorn, Nona Hendryx, Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra, Hal Willner, Kip Hanrahan, Elli Medeiros, Haydee Milanes, Suylen Milanes, Los Van Van, and Alabama Three.
His recently released album: "The Essential Gary Lucas" (Knitting Factory Records), is an absolute collectors' delight and left me spellbound as it entered after months inside my dust-brushed laptop CD drive. A 36-track, two-CD anthology that spans 40 years of Mr. Lucas' music.
Broadway World states the album: “Offers ample evidence of this maverick artist's trailblazing and unique career.... a truly epic body of work that spans psychedelic rock, film music, classical, electronica, jazz, blues, avant-garde, and world music excursions through 1930s Chinese pop, Hungarian folk, raga, and more, all unified by Lucas's virtuosic guitar and ceaselessly questing spirit.”
In an exclusive interview with fnbworld.com, Garry Lucas spoke with Ravi V. Chhabra as he traverses through his past, now and into the future. I must add here, Gary is so much fun to watch live on social media as he usually offers tips about books, authors, philosophy and he sure has a way with words.
Ravi V. Chhabra: How has the long musical journey been pre-Beefheart and with your band and as a soloist till date?
Gary Lucas: Do you mean post-Beefheart? About 41 years. I joined Don Van Vliet around late 1979 and since we split up in 1984, I have concentrated full steam ahead on my own music. Before joining Don I’d been playing solo and in rock bands since the age of 9.
Ravi V. Chhabra: You are perhaps the only one from the Capt Beefheart camp to be going LIVE on social media regularly and you are always relaxed, despite such Corona times. What is the secret?
Gary Lucas: I think it’s because I really enjoy what I do, playing guitar is sheer ecstasy to me. Plus I’m home in my comfort zone doing it!
Ravi V. Chhabra: A favourite musical ‘episode’/anecdote with Don Van Vilet, considering the mixed reactions about his behaviour patterns by some of the other members?
Gary Lucas: Once in LA we were trapped in a rain storm in his car. There were swarms of mosquitos about, and we started discussing whether or not or rather how they were able to dodge big rain drops. Don started singing in the voice of a mosquito an old blues ala Muddy Waters “Feel Like Goin’ Home”: “Layin’ over in the evenin’ / 'I feel like stingin’ a man!”
Ravi V. Chhabra: In my interview earlier with John French 'Drumbo' he had admitted to mixed emotions for Don Vliet. How was Capt Beefheart to you as a kapellmeister. I mean how do you perceive in flashback and remember his persona?
Gary Lucas: I mainly remember him with total love. I don't dwell on any bad memories of Don at all. I can understand and empathize with John French from John’s perspective, but I never had to live with Don as he and the early Magic Band members did. I had difficult times with Don also but I choose to accentuate the positive in my recollection of knowing him. I never met anyone remotely like Don for sheer creativity and life force. His persona and aura on a good day was magical-- totally captivating , entertaining and charming. He seemed wise beyond his years and also like a playful little boy.
Ravi V. Chhabra: Who has been the biggest guitar influence on your distinctive style … both acoustic and electric?
Gary Lucas: Skip James on acoustic and Jeff Beck on electric, definitely.
Ravi V. Chhabra: I have at least 50 personal guitar favourites from Johnny Guitar Watson, Wes Montgomery, John Abercrombie, Pat Metheny, Steve Vai, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa to name a few. If you were to name the ones you love in the 5 top 10 guitarists cross-genre, who all would they be?
Gary Lucas: Difficult, as they might keep shifting. How about Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett, John Fahey, Skip James, Bert Jansch for starters.
Ravi V. Chhabra: You surely seem to be a ladies man and I especially say this for your amazing rock-jazz and covers with the very charming and famously talented Nona Hendryx and Najma Akhtar those ones I play often. Can you tell our audience how you organized the recordings / live performances with them?
Gary Lucas: I guess I sought them out once I knew they were interested in working with me. Najma I'd already been a fan of since around 1990, when I bought one of her first solo albums. A friend of hers came to me out of the blue and suggested a collaboration which I thought was an excellent idea. I'd been wanting to do something with Indian music for a long time. Nona I knew of through Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads during the time he was playing with and producing Gods and Monsters. Turns out she was a huge Beefheart fan! We met at a Beefheart tribute our friend the bassist Jesse Krakow had put together, and we clicked.
Ravi V. Chhabra: I like the title of your latest double CD release “Essential” Gary Lucas – to me it emotes the ‘sensual’ feeling, I must confess, I do not own this yet; who was behind it and can you please spell the musicians for 'Rishte" and how long did the project take?
Gary Lucas: I am 100% behind that album. Send me your mailing address and I’ll send you a copy. I thought it was time to gather the tribes by putting out a compilation covering much (but not all) of the full spectrum of music I’ve released over the past 40 years—a way for fans who already know some of my work to sample more of it, and a way for curious people who might not have heard any of my music to get into my work . I mean, I’ve generated a massive amount of music since leaving Beefheart. It’s like a hurricane and I am in the center of it. So it wasn’t easy at all to compile it and try and boil it down to “the best of”, it's hard for me to have an objective perspective that way as the creator of it all. But I think I did a reasonable job as curator—although in hindsight there are many tracks I left off for one reason or another that make me go “Damn! I should have put that one on there!” “Rishte” features myself on acoustic, Najma on vocals, and Nitin Mitta on tabla.
Ravi V. Chhabra: I have seen some paintings you have with you done by Don Vliet (my abstract art is increasingly getting influenced with Don's) – any other memorabilia? Are you in touch with his wife Janet? Or any other of the Magic Band groupies – Rockette Morton, Zoot Horn Rollo, John French etc...
Gary Lucas: Yes I have a whole bunch of paintings and drawings and ephemera of Don’s here, all sort of stuff he gave me. I’m not in touch with Jan directly or the other Beefheart alumni really anymore, I hope they're all okay.
Ravi V. Chhabra: Musicians and artistes of high caliber/repute are feted and wooed by charming women. Can we know what’s been Gary Lucas' romantic side?
Gary Lucas: I have a lovely English wife—we have been together many years.
Ravi V. Chhabra: Musical plans/concerts in offing. Are you looking at touring with a band of your own or as a soloist-freelancer?
Gary Lucas: Both really - but we’ll have to see how the pandemic plays out, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next. I have a bunch of albums in the can, including two with my Chinese singing partner Feifei Yang. And I recorded two albums with two different male vocalists last year in France and the Netherlands respectively, they still need final vocals. There are some live albums also of various projects of mine that could be out this year, and I plan recording new work with a couple new projects and old ones too. You might say I’m busy!
Ravi V. Chhabra: Going back in time would you now play differently with the 'hard-headed' iconoclast Don Vliet? How would you rate the 'art rock' Trout Mask Replica - in terms of it still not having the ‘mass appeal’? Your favourite Beefheart album and reasons?
Gary Lucas: No I think what I played on guitar with Don was right and true and I wouldn’t go back to change anything about it at all. It helped put me on the musical map, so I guess I must have been doing something right there. I think Trout Mask Replica is an amazing album but I’m not surprised it didn’t sell in vast quantities as it was totally fore-grounded music that demanded your attention and very close listening—something most people don't have the time or inclination to give themselves to. Music for the masses is basically background music, an adjunct to brushing your teeth. I prefer "Lick My Decals Off , Baby" that’s my favorite, because it is the most distilled and concentrated burst of Beefheartian energy out there. The double drumming and marimba add a whole other dimension to the musical statements being made, and the finesse of execution a year on from Trout Mask is breathtaking.
Ravi V. Chhabra: I noticed in your studio/living area a photo of Indian Goddess in the backdrop. What’s the connection with Hinduism or symbolism?
Gary Lucas: I have travelled in India and have found the Hindu mythologies very resonant with traditions in the Jewish faith I was raised in. Especially Kali the Destroyer of Evil, who reminds me of the Shekinah in Judaism, the animating feminine principle of the universe.
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He can be reached via: garylucas.com
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