Blabber 'n Smoke

I’ve moved my LP (what we now must call vinyl) collection to a more accessible location, which means I am playing music which I acquired 40+ years ago. What a treat it is. I seem to have had a penchant for American music emanating from the West Coast, like The Flock, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, It’s A Beautiful Day, Zappa (of course) and Captain Beefheart. And more besides. But I wasn’t only interested in the white boys. I have a large blues collection, highlights of which include BB King and Taj Mahal, as well as the older guys like Sunhouse, Memphis Slim, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James and many others. And then there’s Clifton Chenier from as deep south as you can get. So I’m playing these albums, and I’m surprised that given how many date from my teenage collecting period how unscratched they are. I did once lend out an LP and it came back like a ploughed field. I vowed I would never lend anyone an LP ever again. I hasten to add that I also collected British and European bands too, and I will return to that. But at the time (60s/early 70s) it seemed to me that the cutting edge was all American. Never mind the Beatles.

Some of this stuff dates back nearly half a century – that does seem incredible – and so it’s interesting to consider who dates and who doesn’t. I think my original first Yardbirds album will probably sound a bit dated (I have not played it again yet) but listening to Beefheart I think he has gained in his contemporaneousness – his lyrics are impossible to pin down to some earlier genre, his sound, his beat if you like has a currency which defiantly rejects period. If there were a tribute band now for Beefheart it could be led by Tom Waits, who defies easy categorisation. Beefheart was a one-off, and like classic one-offs he cannot age. It’s time for a BBC4 documentary (surely Ronnie Wood met him and could say a few words).

A sample of his lyrical wit: (from Spotlight Kid, Blabber’n Smoke)

All you ever do is blabber ‘n smoke
There’s ah big pain in your window
‘N all your waters turn t’ rope
It gonna hang you all
Dangle you all
​Dang you all
If you don’t hurry there’ll be no hope
Why don’t you quit actin’ like ah dope
All you ever do is blabber ‘n smoke
(continues)
 
Whilst Beefheart’s words may to a degree reference the euphemisms of the Blues, his references rather go further, into a surreal world of fantasy. This particular song seems very blueslike, but surely few could now disagree that Blabber ‘n Smoke could be retitled Brexit Blues. The man was a genius.