Captain Beefheart

When the Captain first toured the British Isles, it was barely credible that He had come among us. It was a supre-special night at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow; most of the audience deserved stage-space themselves- Superman was there, and a gorilla too. A little boy of, say, four years, in a giant bowler hat danced down right in front of the stage through two or three songs. The concert began with guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo striding back and forth in his flowery satin suit like a caged tiger, repeatedly gesturing as if he was about to start playing, and at last blasting off into a slide attack, the band galumphing along with him. When Beefheart had joined the band to deafening cheers and they had got through the first number, he pointed at Rollo and said, "This is the Mascara snake. And (holding up his clarinet) this is the for Chrissake!"