Nine Feet Underground

Today would have been John Peel's 76th birthday were it not for his untimely death in 2004.  As a small note of respect for the man who introduced me to more new and exciting music than any other person, here's a musical tribute. I'm not 100% certain whether it was John Peel or Alan "Fluff" Freeman who first brought Captain Beefheart to my attention.  If it was Alan Freeman, then the first track I heard would have been 'Big-Eyed Beans From Venus' - I know I heard him play it. If it was Peel, then I really have no idea - he played so many of  Either way John  Peel remained a huge fan of the man, regularly including tracks in  his radio shows and was the person who first brought Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band to the UK This is one of my favourite Beefheart tracks: Happy Birthday John. Gone but not forgotten.

The 25th October 2014 marks a decade since John Peel died of heart attack, at the age of 65, whilst on a working holiday in Peru.  I first heard of his death on that day on my way back home from Leeds.  When I got off the train at Kings Cross I had to walk to the tube station via the street (there were building works going on) and on my way I passed some 'Metro' stands and the headline caught my eye, so I picked up a copy and read the bad news.  A lot of words have already been written this month about John, his legacy and what he meant to many of those who met and worked with him.   I didn't ever meet John though did see him near Broadcasting House one evening in the 1990's - just didn't have the bottle to say hello. Apart from having influenced and broadened my musical horizons for more than 30 years – from teenager to father of three – he also introduced to some of the artists and bands I still love today.  This post i...

I’ve been listening to ‘Trout Mask Replica’ by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band’s for the past couple of days. Although it’s one of my favourite albums, certainly a desert island candidate, I’ve actually been listening to a new release of the album issued from the record label set up by Frank Zappa’s estate. Why a new release?   Is it a multi-disc release with lavish notes, out-takes, demo versions, recordings of the musicians asleep and imagining how to arrange ‘Veteran’s Day Poppy’? No, none of the above; it is a single CD release of the original album. What’s special is that it’s an almost completely re-mastered version of the album, taken from different set of source tapes which, in the most part, have not suffered from the oxide loss and deterioration of the Warner Brothers master. If you’re interested in the full story of the new set of source tapes and the re-mastering process, see here. I guess the real question is, what does it sound like? To my ears the so...