Lunar Notes - Zoot Horn Rollo's Captain Beefheart Experience

Bill Harkleroad aka Zoot Horn Rollo is one of my heroes. I was fortunate enough to see the best band in the universe – Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band – a number of times back in the sixties and seventies. They were undoubtedly the greatest band that ever lived (and I’ve seen most of the biggest bands on the planet). Their interweaving rhythms, guitars and bass was the most complex and exciting sound to have been generated by any band. When that is coupled with Don Van Vliet’s (Captain Beefheart) incredible voice and poetry the result is in another planet.Zoot was an amazing guitarist and remarkable individual. To see him play live in that band was a revelation.This book is not a professionally written/ghost written book. It is not carefully crafted. It is Zoot reminiscing and talking about his experience in that band. I can imagine him talking into a tape-recorder with a friend. He saws he is not a writer, and he isn’t, but this is his story and recollections. I enjoyed it immensely.Thanks Zoot. I loved your live performances and those brilliant albums you played on.The Magic Band are still together with Drumbo, Rockette Morton and Denny Whalley. They are still brilliant and they are touring in November. Still one of the best bands around even without Don. What I would give to see Zoot do a guest appearance!

very informative insight into beefheart personallity

Enjoyed this as it gave a good insight into making Beefheart's music tangible. Did not like the short " Soundbite " style of writing, as if we could not concentrate longer than three or four sentences.

Good condition/ A good read and good value

small book, nice info.

Slim volume devoured in about an hour so not a very long lunar note or particularly insightful

In the post Haight-Ashbury sixties,cults would proliferate in California. Mostly quasi-religious affairs founded by charismatic and manipulative leaders,they mopped up misplaced and distressed flower children. Two such cults would,for different reasons, achieve worldwide recognition,yet whereas Manson followers' stories stayed mostly within penitentiary walls,there has long been (especially in Europe) residual but enduring interest in testimony from survivors of an authoritarian state of affairs within which one Donald Vliet pursued music over two decades before switching to a far more lucrative gig as an avant-garde painter.Herein a man called Bill recounts events that befell him as a teenage guitar player caught up in the Magic Band of Captain Beefheart as they began creating the 'Troutmask Replica' album, a piece of work whose fame/notoriety is belied by total sales still barely shading Crispian St.Peters' back catalogue.Bill tells us of his six year stint with Vliet, and his post-op recovery with the erstwhile Magic Band as they decamp to England only to fizzle out in a glam-pop single obsessed market. Soon Bill was heading back across the pond on a more personal musical trajectory that would recast him as both a student and a teacher of music, able to appreciate his unique early career (though Vliet took all the royalties) yet also more than happy to regard it all as ancient history.

Great book, lots of interesting facts and stories from a great guitarist and musician.

This is not a bad book, but it's short amd really not the best one on this topic. For completists only.

Bill Harkleroad, aka Zoot Horn Rollo, racconta di come entrò nella Magic Band di Captain Beefheart e di come svolse il ruolo di chitarrista in diversi album, tra cui il famigerato "Trout Mask Replica". Harkleroad racconta del suo personale rapporto con Don Van Vliet, dell'elusivo Frank Zappa, della lavorazione dell'album, di come dovette imparare le parti "lunari" di chitarra e dell'atmosfera che aleggiò durante i sei mesi di preparazione, con un impegno dei musicisti coinvolti di 12 ore al giorno, che trovarono epilogo in sole due sedute di registrazione che consegnarono l'album alla storia. La lettura è abbastanza scorrevole, benché si avverta uno stile amatoriale non privo di refusi e nonostante qualche lungaggine di troppo sulla descrizione di ogni traccia in cui il nostro lavorò accanto al Capitano. Non si entra nel merito soltanto di "Trout Mask Replica" ma anche di "Lick My Decals Off Baby", "The Spotlight Kid", "Clear Spot" e del pessimo "Unconditionally Guaranteed". Vengono trattati gli episodi più salienti delle performance live della band, delle stranezze del capitano e di come l'autore, a 48 anni nel 1998, anno di pubblicazione del libro, viva nel nord della California gestendo un negozio di dischi, impartendo lezioni di chitarra e giocando a golf (vantando un eccellente 3 di handicap!). Il saggio è breve (125 pagine, anche se piuttosto fitte) ed è un ottimo punto di partenza per comprendere meglio il mondo beefheartiano - o almeno un'importante fase storica di esso.

As mentioned by a reviewer in the other edition of this book it's like sitting with the guy and having a conversation in a bar. It is such a modest, revealing, direct and human telling of his time with the Magic Band, warts and all, including his own. He also gives generous credit where it is due. I tried plowing through John French's exhaustive history of Captain Beefheart but gave up after a 100 pages or so. It had none of the wittiness of this tale. It was pedantic and frankly boring to tears. I'm sure it is a treasure trove for anyone wishing that vast amount of minute detail. Not a bad book, just not for me. Bill on the other hand provides us with a brief story of his personal involvement and recollections. There are humorous insights available on nearly every page. There is a lot of focus on how the music was made. As a player I found this to be very informative. Thank you Bill. What a wonderful tale! To me, sometimes less is more.Addendum: I stand by my assessment of Zoot's personal tale but would direct those interested in a more complete picture of The Captain to Mike Barnes's book: Captain Beefheart The Biography. It sees Don through a multi-faceted lens quite effectively. Zoot, of his own admission, took a lot of mental and financial abuse which certainly colored his perception of The Captain and rightfully so. Mr. Barnes's book gives a distance necessary to see the unique genius which was Don Van Vliet. An essential read to get an inside and outside picture of a totally unique talent. Both are well worth reading.

Many thanks to Bill Harkleroad (ZOOT HORN ROLLO) for making this possible.It certainly sheds a huge spotlight on Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart).This would not have been an easy book to put together for Zoot but i'm ever so glad he did. Since hearing the new Magic Band albums and John French (Drumbo)'s City of Refuge album, I have been very interested to learn about the actual Magic band and make no mistake, it is apparent through reading this down to earth and extremely truthful detail of Zoot's accounts on his period with Captain Beefheart and the magic band that Don Van Vliet knew what he basically wanted but had very poor musical skills indeed.This book is the classic defining moment that clearly indicates Captain Beefheart was not a man but a band. Without the band and most certainly a large part of what became the underground and highly coveted by fans album 'Trout Mask Replica' was the album which put them on the map as a highly innovative and original group out there to create new music.When I first heard the album 'Blue Jeans and Moonbeams' for example I was horrified at how completely 'non-magic band' it was to the point that it was simply weird for a hard core Beefheart fan. It had some moments and there was commercial potential(which was probably the point) but overall it was a hollow album put simply missing the magic and the other 2 albums around this album were also rather low on the Beefheart scale.The reason was that Zoot was not on any of them. By this point he had left the band and with good reason.I learned about the Mallard band and while Zoot is not overly thrilled with the 2 releases that came of the group, I am keen to hear them as this will be the last of what was left of the Magic Band at that time and I'm certain I am going to enjoy those albums more than the final 3 Beefheart albums which as a fan of the Captain and the magic band were so far removed from the musical gold of the previous abums it was crazy that the title even dared to state 'and the magic band.' because the magic band is no longer even there.It was wonderful to read all the views on the tracks from a core member who was actually there and lived and breathed the music. I was stunned at the fact Trout Mask Replica got just 2 recording sessions, while less exciting albums like 'The Spotlight Kid' got a week or 2 worth and sound far less exciting.Fascinatingly I was in total agreement with Zoot on the better albums and pieces from his time with Captain Beefheart (Trout Mask Replica through to Unconditionally Guaranteed and excluding Mirror Man even though his face appears on the album cover. This book explains why.) on the best music to be found in these albums.This period truly was the REAL magic band and the reunion was wonderful but I feel could have been even better with Zoot returning. Sadly due to being burned and I mean this is one of the worst cases of abusive burning I have read to date, it's no wonder he would not have been open to going back to the Magic Band.For me, it highlighted how important the magic band were in comparison to Captain Beefheart and it's a shame that the world at the time didn't have the appreciation of this particular group in that time period(1969 till 1974) that it has gathered today from true music fans.Thankfully Zoot is still glad he is now recognized on a scale he never would have dreamed of back then but I couldn't help the book may one day get an updated chapter or 2 to give it an even better conclusion(maybe Zoot and Drumbo along with anyone else from that period could get together and create some of that magic music again together. Drumbo's solo album is proof there's till magic there to be unleashed.Highly recommended book for all fans of Captain Beefheart and those curious about the creation of one of the most famous experimental rock albums ever made, not to mention all the other gold the band of that time created.Read it cover to cover in just 2 days as I couldn't put it down.Looking forward to reading Drumbo's book now and any of the other magic band members who feel like sharing the memories and stories.Wonderful ride and I simply have even more appreciation than ever for the album, now I know the pain they went through to make it eventuate.

Nice little book, horrible seller. I had to beg and plead for a tracking number. Avoid this seller.