Book Review: Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica (33 1/3) by Kevin Courrier
Zut boF
Written by Eric Whelchel
Published April 09, 2008
See also:
>> The Great Book Adventure: Walden - Part One
>> Book Review: Hoi Polloi edited by Robert McNulty
>> Author Interview: Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman
I can count the number of people I've met who have liked Trout Mask
Replica upon first listen on one hand. Okay, on one finger. It's one
of those rare albums where every listener who hears it for the first
time walks away saying it's unlike anything they've heard before; the
difference is whether they think it's a masterpiece or a pile of
garbage. Even for those listeners who like the album, it usually takes
several listens to finally get on the Beefheart Express.
Kevin Courrier tackles Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's finest
album in his 2007 entry into Continuum's ever-expanding 33 1/3 series
(next up: a six-volume series analyzing the works of Skid Row). The
end result is an informative, if uneven, account of the origins,
making, and legacy of one of music's most challenging albums.
To say Courrier knows the material is an understatement; he covers in
great detail everything from the band's biography to how the album fit
into the larger arena of avant-garde works by musicians like Ornette
Coleman and John Coltrane. For a short book (less than 150 pages), the
amount of quoted sources is impressive; a bibliography that includes
more than just shady Beefheart internet fan sites is also included.
For anyone looking for a one-stop shop that summarizes the history of
the album and its conspirators, Courrier's book is a great source.
One of the main storylines in the making of Trout Mask Replica is
Beefheart's documented Gestapo-like intimidation and domination of the
band members, including cultish tactics like food and sleep
deprivation and attempts at mind control. Courrier manages to discuss
this without turning the book into a musical E! True Hollywood Story.
While Courrier is clearly a fan of the album, he does offer an
impartial, and often critical, portrayal of the reclusive Captain. He
also rights some of the wrongs perpetuated against the band members by
showing how the musicians played an integral role in the album's
music, dispelling the myth long propagated by both critics and
Beefheart himself that the album was a work of Beefheart's singular
genius.
Nevertheless, Courrierr's 33 1/3 is flawed. Despite tons of details
about the album, his ultimate conclusion never really advances past
the argument that Trout Mask Replica is an atonal masterpiece unlike
any other album and listeners either love it so much that they wet
themselves or flee to the catacombs in abject horror, scarred for life
by what they've just heard. It's of course difficult to argue this
point, but it doesn't really add much to understanding or appreciating
the album.
Details about the commercial and critical responses to the album are
brief and perfunctory. Likewise, scant pages are devoted to how the
album has influenced other musicians (by law and under penalty of
banishment to Iowa, anyone discussing Trout Mask Replica is required
to mention Tom Waits, and Courrier fulfills this obligation). With
such few pages covering these topics, it seems they were included
almost as an afterthought or as a way to pad the book's length. Some
of the details provided about Frank Zappa, Beefheart's previous works,
and other non-mainstream artists sometimes feel extraneous and
unnecessary; a greater focus on the album's lasting legacy and impact
would have been more welcome.
Courrier notes that around 80,000 copies of Trout Mask Replica have
been sold. Although this number seems low, he might be right: conduct
an informal unscientific poll of "What do you think of Beefheart?"
would likely return seven perplexed glances, one suggestion to do
something physically impossible to yourself, and two beyond-
inappropriate propositions.
Accepting Courrier's number as accurate, it does show the difficulty
in writing a book about Beefheart's best album: those who don't like
or haven't heard the album probably won't care enough to buy 33 1/3,
and those who like the album will expect the book to increase their
understanding of the album. While Courrier's study does a great job of
examining the origins of Trout Mask Replica and its place in music
history, hardcore Beefheart fans (is there any other kind?) probably
already know the story.
lsaul
See, this is what really pisses me off about reviewers/writers who
don't really know music.
TMR is hardly atonal. In fact, I believe it is probably around 98%
tonal. There are tonics and dominants galore.
Have a seat on thy writing implement...
LS
Piper
>>the argument that Trout Mask Replica is an atonal masterpiece
>
>
> See, this is what really pisses me off about reviewers/writers who
> don't really know music.
>
> TMR is hardly atonal. In fact, I believe it is probably around 98%
> tonal. There are tonics and dominants galore.
But surely none in Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish.