do you remember the first
picture
of this 'striped light' photo album? it appeared over a year
ago, was called blimp
over
europe 1a, and dealt with the visit captain
beefheart
and the magic band brought to holland (aka the netherlands) at
the end
of their second tour of europe in spring 1968. the news item
announced
four gigs - including takes for a teevee program - on 31 may and
1 june...
because of an overdose of
beefheartian activities
i forgot to find time for further investigations - yes, it's a
shame (ja,
jullie hebben gelijk: natuurlijk ben ik maar gewoon een
aartsluiaard met
een mooie smoes - is er dus misschien iemand die deze eervolle
klus over
wil nemen?). but luck sometimes comes from an unexpected
corner - in this
case: the burnleg ceedee out here over
there.
for inside the notes foldout to the collection of songs from
the european
1968 gigs there is another proof they were over here!
which, by the way, happened
suddenly. after their
first european tour in january that year - as part of a
'buddah records'
promo exuberance - they were booked for a second round 'on
their own'.
except for a side-jump to the international pop festival in
rome, italy on 4 may, the three-weeks
tour was planned to take place in england only. but during the
execution
of their contract interest in his music arose on the other
side of the northsea too, as well as possibilities to give
some concerts. difficulties
with work permits prevented an immediate storming of the eager
lowlands, but after
a handful of boring days in london they finally could steer
their blimp
towards the land of the wooden shoes and tulips...
as the mentioned announcement
proved,
captain beefheart and the magic band didn't come unnoticed and
one photographer
even caught them doing some sightseeing in the country of don
(van) vliet's
ancestors. he made them line-up around an assortment of tulips
they were
admiring (don later would write the song 'sweet sweet bulbs'
about it;
or do you think this is a joke?) - which portrait resulted in
one of the
best group pictures of the early days - and surely their most
relaxed one!
great!!!
some remarks, just because i always
like
to make them: 1) i can assure you those tulips aren't
decoration bought
in a (uk) shop - as a dutchman i can recognise a tulip when
it's flowering
in its natural soil. 2) on the notes to the bootleg this
picture
is combined with a short interview from
the tour in england in may - i'd like to know the source of
that publication,
and of the photo of course (dutch review? article? interview?
[question later solved!]).
3) where
can that goddamn tv footage be? 4) the guys in the picture are
from left to right
DON
VAN VLIET captain beefheart, ALEX
SNOUFFER alex st. clair, JERRY
HANDLEY, JOHN
FRENCH drumbo and JEFF
COTTON antennae jimmy semens
- and in fact is the last picture of
this
particular line up (back in the states they split, just read
on).
VERY
IMPORTANT LATER
CORRECTION
i must apologize
for giving you totally wrong notes to the above photo... for
i truly believed beefheart
had been in holland in 1968 as 1) the liner notes to 'i may
be hungry but
i sure ain't weird' say so, 2) a reliable dutch paper
mentioned the performance
at paradiso in amsterdam, 3) the announcement of their
concerts seemed to
be the ultimate proof. i honestly thought this picture was
the next clue
to their presence over here...
but someone
who
can know - john
french, the contemporary drummer -
by accident visited this website and sent me a mail yesterday (and i didn't dare to change
a capital of it!):
Unfortunately,
this
is totally wrong. The band went back to the States before
ever playing
in
Holland. Regretably, our acting manager, Bob Krasnow, had
left the
UK with all the funds we had earned while on tour in
England. We
found out about this the morning we were scheduled to depart
for Holland
and therefore cancelled, flying home the same day. I do
believe there
was some legal action or fines that had to be paid as a
result, but we
felt as though we would become involved in a serious
financial situation
were we to go to Holland, then back to the UK, with a four
week hotel bill
to pay, then fly home.
so that's
been cleared
now (thanks, john).
by the way: as you
know, right after the return at his luxurious office bob k.
started to
'produce' what would be the next beefheart album 'strictly
personal' by
adding flower-power effects to it. after finding the cheapest
record manufacturer
around he brought out a grim pressing... - on the 'blue thumb'
label he
had sneakily started for himself (while buddah - of which he
was the head - owned the
rights of release)...
[100399]
