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Bluejeans & Moonbeams

 
Album Review: Bluejeans & Moonbeams
 

Review

About the best one can say about 1974's Bluejeans & Moonbeams is that it's not as bad as his other release of the year, Unconditionally Guaranteed. In fact, there are two tracks, the pretty reverie "Observatory Crest" and the stomping blues-rocker "Party of Special Things to Do," that are actually quite good. The rest of the album, however, is fairly dire. Recorded with anonymous studio musicians who are clearly out of their league and glossed to a soul-less polish by producer Andy DiMartino, Bluejeans & Moonbeams never catches fire even at its best, and its worst tracks -- those would be "Pompadour Swamp" and the utterly wretched proto-disco "Captain's Holiday" -- are the worst things that have ever borne the Captain Beefheart name. Captain Beefheart would eventually return with the revitalized Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) in 1978, but Bluejeans & Moonbeams sounds like a tired and cynical make-work project. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Party of Special Things to Do Elliot Ingber, Don Van Vliet Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (2:49)
Same Old Blues J.J. Cale Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (4:00)
Observatory Crest Elliot Ingber, Don Van Vliet Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (3:31)
Pompadour Swamp Don Van Vliet Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (3:31)
Captain's Holiday Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (5:47)
Rock 'N Roll's Evil Doll Mark Gibbons, Elliot Ingber, Don Van Vliet Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (3:20)
Further Than We've Gone Don Van Vliet Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (5:32)
Twist Ah Luck Mark Gibbons, Ira, Ingber, Don Van Vliet Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (3:22)
Bluejeans and Moonbeams Don Van Vliet Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (5:04)

Credits

Jimmy Caravan (Keyboards), Captain Beefheart (Guitar), Captain Beefheart (Harmonica), Captain Beefheart (Vocals), Captain Beefheart (Main Performer), Andy Dimartino (Producer), Mark Gibbons (Keyboards), Ty Grimes (Percussion), Elliot Ingber (Guitar), Ira, Ingber (Bass), Gene Pello (Drums), Dean Smith (Guitar), Dean Smith (Bottleneck Guitar), Michael Smotherman (Keyboards), Michael Smotherman (Vocals), Michael Smotherman (Vocals (Background)), Don Van Vliet (Harmonica), Don Van Vliet (Vocals), David Moore (Design), Larry Vigon (Design), Jason Day (A&R), Bob West (Bass), Darren Evans (Reissue Design), Tom Wegg Prosser (Project Coordinator), Mike Barnes (Liner Notes)
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Wikipedia: Bluejeans & Moonbeams
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Bluejeans & Moonbeams
Bluejeans & Moonbeams cover
Studio album by Captain Beefheart
Released November 1974
Recorded 1974
Genre Rock
Length 36:50
Label Virgin Records, Mercury Records
Producer Andy DiMartino
Professional reviews
Captain Beefheart chronology
Unconditionally Guaranteed
(1974)
Bluejeans & Moonbeams
(1974)
Bongo Fury
(1975)

Bluejeans & Moonbeams is the ninth LP by Captain Beefheart, originally released in 1974. Despite its uncharacteristically mainstream sound the album failed to chart. Most observers consider the album to be the Captain's weakest work, leading fans to christen the line-up of the period the 'Tragic Band'.

The album does, however, have its influence: an early White Stripes EP entitled Party of Special Things to Do (2001) contains three Beefheart covers, including this album's opening track.

Contents

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Party of Special Things to Do" (Don Van Vliet, Elliot Ingber) – 2:48
  2. "Same Old Blues" (J. J. Cale) – 4:00
  3. "Observatory Crest" (Van Vliet, E. Ingber) – 3:32
  4. "Pompadour Swamp" (Van Vliet) – 3:32
  5. "Captain's Holiday" (R. Feldman, W. Richmond, S. Hickerson, C. Blackwell) – 5:43

Side two

  1. "Rock 'n Roll's Evil Doll" (Van Vliet, Mark Gibbons, Ira Ingber) – 3:20
  2. "Further Than We've Gone" (Van Vliet) – 5:31
  3. "Twist ah Luck" (Van Vliet, Gibbons, I. Ingber) – 3:22
  4. "Bluejeans and Moonbeams" (Van Vliet) – 5:02

Personnel

The musicians in this version of the Magic Band appear on no other Beefheart album. Several of those who had appeared on Unconditionally Guaranteed and earlier albums had left to form Mallard.


 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bluejeans & Moonbeams" Read more