as you know, ozit morpheus is the 'record company' that is best known for their amazing skill to release semi-official captain beefheart crap which gets offered in abundance as secondhand the very day it comes out. but unfortunately, they don't stop. to my latest disgust, the home-burning swindlers have knocked together a compilation of 'live from england' tracks which is a sort of replica of the equally dubious magnetic hands hotchpotch.

to start with, this set sure is live, but not really ráre. one: the two songs from 'london 1974' are officially available on the same-titled ceedee (and won't be missed in any anthology). two: a suspicious amount of sévén (maybe eight) tracks also can be found on the previous 'live in the uk 1972-80' bootleg. this repeat of the 70's stuff can't be a coincidence, i think. and even if this pack of songs has not been stolen from the 'magnetic hands' compilation, i'm afraid the sound quality isn't much different, because really good live recordings simply are scarce....

in case you have forgotten what i thought about the audio level, here's a selection:

HELP! bickershaw: halfway the first title i already urgently need real magnetic hands to heal me, and my tortured ears in particular. HELP! during the second track a disturbing growl from the sound system joins in. HELP! and the third song is hardly audible too. HELP! leicester: strange, but most of 'electricity' sounds like a totally new song to me (everyone spontaneously starts improvising as if it is a 'mirror man' session - which goes for the recording quality too). HELP! knebworth: this is the part of the festival gig with the best sound, especially during the 'orange claw hammer' a cappella as no accompanying music had to be recorded. HELP! portsmouth: despite a basically good sound quality - compared to the earlier tracks - this clearly is an audience recording, so all the music of the quite enjoyable performance comes from óne speaker.  CONCLUSION: help! help!

printed onto the plates (the other one is red)
are drawings from the conjunction #3 book

now the odd circumstance occurs that all this 'previously released' material plus bickershaw's 'abba zaba' exception, isn't even half of the story. for sixteen of the twenty-six tracks were all recorded at one occasion: the 30 october 1980 concert at the apollo theatre in manchester. or better: fífteen of them, because 'golden birdies' had last been played in the early 70's, thus must be wrongly classified.

if ozit morpheus used the very good audio tape which exists of this show (later discovery: they haven't!), this main part of the set could have given a proper impression of the level of the 'doc at the radar station' tour at the time (not too overwhelming; read the 29 october 1980 liverpool report, for instance). however, the chosen tracks are randomly scattered over the discs, in stead of being gathered in a consistent block. but the 'burnleg company' left most of the compiling work to a...: computer (!) - which explains why the track listing of the two ceedees practically is in an alphabetical order! so, the final piece of the performance, 'big eyed beans from venus', is one of the first songs you get to hear....

to that, on their promo web page the manufacturer promises you a 'hand-numbered 2CD box set housed in a special card slipcase with a limited edition set of six previously unpublished photos of the Captain live on stage in London, 1980 [...], plus an eight-page beautiful colour booklet and double-sided colour inlay, all with great Beefheart images'. looking at the examples shown there (without any trace of the live photographs / postcards) i only discover some pictures spoiled by unnatural colours and a painful lay-out.

p.s. also note that this product claims it is 'dedicated to the late John Peel who was instrumental in exposing Captain Beefheart to a wider audience', while the guy most likely wouldn't have supported this piece of junk in any way.

CONCLUSION: needless ADVICE: don't be stupid

as a beefheart-lover one day you simply drop dead from sheer annoyance about another compilation or live album on the morpheus / milksafe labels (which according to me are run by the same crook). what morpheus dishes up to us on 'live 'n' rare' is a disgrace, even from the point of view of a bootleg collector.

the first ceedee still has a few nice rarities from the early seventies, but these seem to me to be leftovers from that other morheus release 'dichotomy (amazing sounds)', a much better collection of swindles. almost everything on 'live 'n' rare' originates from a performance beefheart and his band did in 1980 in manchester. and we already have so much 1980 stuff.

now, that year beefheart wasn't exactly in form. through nervousness he even sang some concerts from start to finish out of tune. as far as we can distil anything from the hazy sound, that wasn't the case in manchester. but you do hear very clearly that the band already hops on one leg and two thoughts. a sulky beefheart, a more meagre and consequently even more demanding sound and a band which has been instructed very poorly by the old boss and during the tour doesn't learn anything at all to it.

that the sleeve of this piece of trash contains many errors and blunders, is no exception in these criminal circles. but when you tune in 'bat chain puller' halfway the song, while the notes announce 'my human gets me blues', you simply just deserve to be hanged.

junk, then.

a gorillacrow trancelation 200205