captain beefheart interview - pop artaud (england february 1968 it international times)

from england 16 february 1968 THE INTERNATIONAL TIMES (it) #26
by unknown writer
is second half january 1968 interview

note: edited version reprinted as vintage beef in england book THE LIVES AND TIMES OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART

captain beefheart is one of the seminal figures in the american west coast pop-nuisance. when in london a few weeks ago beefheart volunteered a few choice comments to 'international times'. after you read what he says listen to his songs on the fantastic elpee 'safe as milk', soon to be released by pye.

everybody's turning on to fucking backwards now. these people at this passport bureau - are absolutely backwards. they're the ones that are wrong; they're the ones that are out of reality - don't you think so? you get a passport to walk through a country, man: if you were walking you have to stop at all these places and after you do that it sort of gives you a negative thing.

i was out in the desert five years ago and i was sitting in a car and we were all stoned. frank zappa and i and a bunch of other guys were there. frank doesn't turn on at all.... but anyway, i was just sitting there and i started laughing and i had thoughts of this name and i laid it on everybody in the car and frank says: "ah! like you know, that's great, we'll make a movie." so he said: "we'll make a movie and we'll call it 'captain beefheart meets the grunt people'." so we started work and we studied the script for a year and we wrote a thing and something happened and the movie fell through. it doesn't agree with the things i think now - changed so much in that length of time. it's a good movie though... tear on the dotted line, paste up rockets... it was really going to be far out.

you know, a thing i've become aware of since i've been here - one good thing, they gave junk addicts here possibilities - no violence happening in any of them like in new york... and now they're taking it away, abolishing it, that's really far out.

university is a joke, college is a gigantic waste of time - you know what i mean? i think it's detrimental, i think you have to shake it off later before you can even do anything - as far as i'm concerned, i had three years at college and i know, i had to get rid of it - start talking the right way.

additional remark:
the uncredited picture was taken by guy webster (usa) during the photo session for the 'strictly personal' album