captain beefheart electricity

THE BLIMP
reviews and rants



SAFE AS MILK with 7 bonus tracks

content:
RE-MASTERED SAFE AS MILK
6 tracks i may be hungry but i sure ain't weird
NEW WORK KORN RING FINGER

go to the start - THIS is PART 2 the REST

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the CEEDEE STOCK COPIES

the european plate

• usa 1999 ceedee buddha 74465 99605 2
• europe 1999 ceedee buddha 74321 69175 2
• japan 1999 ceedee buddha / bmg bvcm 35051

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well, not only the recordings have been revised - and how! these refreshed versions really are AMAZING! - but the LINER NOTES also got 'face-lifted', as mark already indicated but couldn't confirm....

besides the original front and similar back cover (now with the new bonus titles added to the track list), the notes also include the complete artwork by tom wilkes for the inner sleeve and the bumper sticker which only came with the first usa release. unfortunately the booklet gives no information whatsoever on the main collage, the reasons for the portraits of weirdos like producer bob 'giant sunglasses' krasnow and his family, and what that baby and a slogan like:

got to do with 'safe as milk'. and due the much smaller format of ceedees you can't see that 'mr. sombrero' presents us the 'sgt. pepper's lonely heart's club band' elpee by the beatles (why?).

instead,  the clarifying text by john platt - a secure investigator who already gained fame with his notes to 'i may be hungry but i sure ain't weird' - explains how things came to happen, helped by memories from the intended producer, gary marker. those notes include new facts about beefheart's manipulations with the people involved, as well as about the recording sessions and the troubles with the unprofessional mixes (but, as the lines were written in january this year, without the 'santa claus' information from the 'grow fins' set at hand). although, a 'move to rca' doesn't get any further explanation, and writer nor the team of sixteen (wow!) project coordinators were aware of the important kamasutra acetate (news revealed on 1st january).

also completely new is an unused picture by guy webster taken on the cover photo session: the band standing in a kind of barn, with don van vliet having crossed his arms in an unnatural way. it's nice the names of the guys are given along it, so we can reconstruct who's who on the original sleeve - which had no notes at all beside the songs list, by the way. mind that ry cooder is missing, who 'didn't want to be on the pictures, as i actually wasn't part of the band' [source: a french interview containing details about that period], but can be seen on the baby's forehead on the inner sleeve art work.

the band (without ry cooder)
picture by guy webster

AND THE MOST AMAZING IS...

the low-budget price! i am dumbfounded that both ceedees only cost 25 guilders each [12 euro or dollar] plus a bit of post costs - and after buying them you even have a third one for free! which makes it the easier to replace all your version of 'safe as milk' and 'mirror man' by this ABSOLUTE MUSTS. yes, you can throw that old vinyl and ceedee re-issue stuff away!

[101099]

• england 1999 test pressing audiophile 180 gram 2elpee simply vinyl svlp 122 ten copies
• england 1999 promo audiophile 180 gram 2elpee simply vinyl svlp 122 in company promo sleeve
• england 1999 audiophile 180 gram 2elpee bmg / buddah 43216 91751 manufactured by simply vinyl in clear plastic over sleeve
  
• england 2001 audiophile 125 gram 2elpee bmg / buddah / simply vinyl s 125 009

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despite the revolution in sound reproducing technologies over the past decade, some people still love the good old vinyl. in what probably is the last convulsion of a dying breed there even sprouted up a record company specialized in re-releasing all kinds of classic recordings. but with a difference: as a start that english firm, simply vinyl, melts a larger amount of vinyl for an elpee (which guarantees a much better sound quality) and then they are realistic enough to use recently re-mastered and / or digital versions of the worn-out originals.

one of the latest additions to their catalogue is captain beefheart and the magic band. maybe inspired by the magnificently renewed 'buddha versions' of their (chronologically spoken) first two recordings, they started with transforming those records into - so-called audiophile - double albums. SAFE AS MILK was their first project, and of course the bonus tracks are neatly gathered on the second elpee. some time later plans arose to also re-release THE MIRROR MAN SESSIONS for the vinyl lovers!

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a REVIEW

after a few months of delay the vinyl version also got available. a quite pricy double-album of which the package could have been given a bit more attention for the money paid: it seems the audiophile experts were more interested in providing an optimal result for the ears than for the eyes (too). not only did they paste three quite big stickers on the plastic envelop holder, the two elpees are packed in an uneasy nón-gatefold sleeve!

left: outcut of the audiophile baby, right: of the original baby (on same pixels)

for although that outside is in accordance with their slogan to stay as close to the 'classic outfit' as possible, it's rather strange that on the other hand they took the freedom to replace the original art work inner sleeve by a doublefold insert. the outside of it reproduces the full size artwork and inside it are printed the text, the notes and the band picture - in black and white - from the ceedee booklet. that necessary addition is a clever idea, but personally i would have thought of a gatefold sleeve with the original artwork on the inside, and the new liner notes on a separate sheet (don't you?).

but what especially makes the lay-out look cheap, is the fact that both the cover pictures are 'pale' like photocopies (as if the folks hadn't taken their daily safe milk) and the artwork immediately can be recognised as being...: scanned! and last but not least: where is my BUMPER STICKER?

[081299]