Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band
Grow Fins
Rarities [1965-1982]

Released: 1999
Contents: 5xCD, Series of 3x2LP
Revenant No. 210

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band set rock on its ear from 1965 until 1982, when leader Don Van Vliet retired from music. Engineering a mutant strain of musical DNA (tuff-ass garage punk R-n-B, extraterrestrial field hollers, austere “classical” miniatures, loping sea shanties, scorched-earth delta blues, free-blowing skronk, fat-bottom groove and post-everything clangor all found their way into the soup) CB&HMB are now regarded as one of the most original and consistently compelling bands ever waxed. The closest to a Best Of collection as we are likely to see, this career-spanning set corrals rare tracks from a variety of sources (band members’ personal archives, live tracks, demos, worktapes, radio spots) along with over 30 minutes of Enhanced CD footage of live performances, 112 pages of text and never-published photos, the complete Trout Mask Replica house sessions, and John Drumbo French’s “colorful” history of the band. Hear a captain and his truly magic band.

If you got ears, you gotta listen.

“4 Stars” – Rolling Stone

“Phat–a secret history of 30 years of freak rock.” - Spin

“Best Reissue of 1999″ – Spin

“Captain Beefheart is the most important musician to rise in the Sixties, far more significant and far-reaching than the Beatles; as important for all music as Ornette Coleman was for jazz, as Leadbelly was for the blues.” – Lester Bangs, Rolling Stone

“Beefheart & His Magic Band were the first rock group to truly blow me away.” – David Fricke

“What Beefheart inspired was not a reproduction of his Delta atonality or famous multi-octave range, but a willingness to rethink rock from the bottom up.” – Spin Alternative Record Guide

Track Listing
Disc 1

1. Obeah Man, (1966 demo)
2. Just Got Back From the City, (1966 demo)
3. I’m Glad, (1966 demo)
4. Triple Combination, (1966 demo)
5. Here I Am I Always Am, (early 1966 demo)
6. Here I Am I Always Am, (later 1966 demo)
7. Somebody In My Home, (1966 live)
8. Tupelo, (1966 live)
9. Evil Is Going On, (1966 live)
10. Old Folks Boogie, (1967 live)
11. Call On Me, (1965 demo)
12. Sure Nuff n Yes I Do, (1967 demo)
13. Yellow Brick Road, (1967 demo)
14. Plastic Factory, (1967 demo)

Disc 2

1. Electricity, (1968 live) (listen)
2. Sure Nuff n Yes I Do, (1968 live)
3. Rollin n Tumblin, (1968 live)
4. Electricity – ver. 2, (1968 live)
5. Yer Gonna Need Somebody On Yer Bond, (1968 live)
6. Kandy Korn, (1968 live)
7. Korn Ring Finger, (1967 demo)

Disc 3

1. [untitled 1]
2. [untitled 2]
3. Hair Pie: Bake 1
4. Hair Pie: Bake 2
5. [untitled 5]
6. Hobo Chang Ba
7. [untitled 7]
8. Hobo Chang Ba, (take 2)
9. Dachau Blues
10. Old Fart At Play
11. [untitled 11]
12. Pachuco Cadaver
13. Sugar n Spikes
14. [untitled 14]
15. Sweet Sweet Bulbs
16. Frownland, (take 1)
17. Frownland
18. [untitled 18]
19. Ella Guru
20. [untitled 20]
21. She’s Too Much For My Mirror
22. [untitled 22]
23.  Steal Softly Through Snow
24. [untitled 24]
25. My Human Gets Me Blues
26. [untitled 26]
27. When Big Joan Sets Up
28. [untitled 28]
29. [untitled 29]
30. China Pig

Disc 4

1. Blimp
2. Herb
3. Septic Tank
4. Overdub

Disc 5

1. My Human Gets Me Blues, (1969 live)
2. When Big Joan Sets Up, (1971 live)
3. Woe Is Uh Me Bop, (1971 live)
4. Bellerin Plain, (1971 live)
5. Black Snake Moan I, (1972 radio phone-in)
6. Grow Fins, (1972 live)
7. Black Snake Moan II, (1972 radio)
8. Spitball Scalped Uh Baby, (1972 live)
9. Harp Boogie I, (1972 radio)
10. One Red Rose That I Mean, (1972 live)
11. Harp Boogie II, (1972 radio)
12. Natchez Burning, (1972 radio)
13. Harp Boogie III, (1972 radio phone-in)
14. Click Clack, (1973 live) (listen)
15. Orange Claw Hammer, (1975 radio)
16. Odd Jobs, (1975 piano demo)
17. Odd Jobs, (1976 band demo)
18. Vampire Suite, (1980 worktapes/live)
19. Mellotron Improv, (1978 live)
20. Evening Bell, (1981 piano worktape)
21. Evening Bell, (1982 guitar worktape)
22. Mellotron Improv, (1980 live)
23. Flavor Bud Living, (1980 live)