usa 10 july 1972 warner/reprise CIRCULAR vol.4 #27

the practical context, the reason for my being there and his excuse to break away from his recording session to talk with me, was my assignment to see what was happening with his new album clear spot.

i realized that we had talked of nearly everything but the captain's work in progress, and i had to take a firmer tack if only to justify my presence. i had already heard a scrap of a gentle, pretty song called too much time and a couple of titles: my heart [whát? - t.t.] is my only house unless it rains and nowadays a woman's gotta hit a man.
the album concludes with a enigmatic vale: 'webcor, webcor...' (last phrases of golden birdies, initially written in 1970 - t.t.)
[...]
don envisioned 'clear spot' as a gleaming disc of clear vinyl [...]. however, tests on clear sample platters revealed insurmountable obstacles - a nasty tendency to pick up other colors in smudges and flecks [...]; an even nastier tendency to go gooey and stick to its sleeve [...] during shipment.
an extravagant series of experimentations compromised with the captain's original concept and the customary black record will be visible through a clear vinyl liner - strikingly unique, even for a one-of-a-kind artist. (i suspect that disc-jockeys will be grateful: how easy for a clear disc to vanish in a cluttered control room, how difficult to squint for the cut to be aired.)

album in original EMBOSSED HARD PLASTIC SLEEVE - design by don van vliet / reprise
(before jacket and insert were replaced by a common paper sleeve)

the paintings to listen to:
low yo yo stuff
nowadays a woman's gotta hit a man
too much time
circumstances
my head is my only house unless it rains
sun zoom spark
clear spot
crazy little thing
long neck bottles
her eyes are a blue million miles
big eyed beans from venus
golden birdies
words and music don van vliet

(marginal note: despite his solemn promise to play a lot of horn, he forgot to blow his saxes...)

SOME GRAND UNVEILING...

early november 1972 interview / report CAPTAIN BEEFHEART MEETS THE WOLFMAN
usa 20 november 1972 warner/reprise CIRCULAR vol.4 #46

the interview [reel] was arranged with an eye towards promoting the captain's new album 'clear spot'. wolfman understandably led off with a question about the record, asking beefheart when he wrote it.
going from harvard to yale [university] (not quite correct, but he always liked puns - t.t.).
'you're teasing me,' wolfman observed.
i wrote it on the move, i wrote it in about an hour.

[...]
a few days after the interview it was to be his honor to unveil a billboard of his artwork [...]. the record biz cat pack was on hand at a bash (on 5 november - t.t..) honoring the great man of arts' 'clear spot' release.

BEEFHEART BOARD pictured here is the captain beefheart billboard [for an audio exhibit]. the drawing of the tiger is mostly green.

although: not everything went according to plan...

A PARTY BUT NO BEEF
england 18 november 1972 SOUNDS

the billboard across from the art museum on wilshire boulevard in los angeles read 'grand unveiling - 2 p.m.'. on the lawn beneath the billboard a sunday afternoon party was in full swing complete with the best french champagne and wines, lush food and a schmaltzy violin quintet.

the party, to which some two-hundred music freaks had been bidden by warner bros. records, was in honour of captain beefheart. but the curious, wide-eyed middle-aged strollers in the neighbourhood didn't know that and they were longingly trying to figure a way to crash the roped-off party tent. they never did, though. and never did beefie who somehow didn't make it to the 'grand unveiling' which eventually took place just before sunset.

the billboard was revealed in all its glory to show a handsome impressionistic painting in shades of green, done by the good captain beefheart himself.

usa 7 december 1972 ROLLING STONE #123 news item:

warner bros. records set up a tent on a vacant lot on wilshire boulevard, stocked it with food and champagne and surrounded it with an artificial lawn, all a preliminary to the unveiling of captain beefheart's self-designed billboard advertising his new album, 'clear spot'. mimes, violins and accordion entertained. the day wore on. no beefheart. finally local disc jockey dr. demento unveiled the sign without beefheart's presence; the captain arrived about a half hour later, delayed by his plane from newfoundland, where he had given a concert in st. john's. 'how embarrassing', said the captain.

additional picture by loni specter

now, if everyone would take a few steps back, we can spot a clearer part of it:

'TIGER'
drawing don van vliet october 1972



detail from inside the box of 1999 2ceedee the dust blows forward (an anthology)

did you know that i wrote all the material for 'clear spot' in just two and a half hours? he turns and calls out to jan, who's in another room: i know it was when we were driving between two college towns, but can you remember where i wrote 'clear spot'?
jan: between boston and new haven.
of course, now i remember. we were driving to yale in the station wagon when i wrote the songs. so, as you can see, it's a pretty spontaneous little album, perhaps even more than any of the others. like just about everything i do - writing, painting or making music - i like things to be spontaneous. so when i feel that it's time for me to do a new album i always put the material together as quickly as possible, and get it in the stores so as it's reflective of what i'm doing at that point in my career.