In
John Harris’ “Mission Unlistenable”, published in The Guardian, the author tackles one of the most perplexing albums
of the 1960s. This album, he states, features ‘a discordant racket, all
biscuit-tin drums and guitars that alternately clang and squall’[1].
The album is Captain Beefheart’s 1969 album, Trout Mask Replica, and it has continually attracted criticism
since its release[2].
Yet, beneath the clatter and the noise there resides something unique.
The
‘clang and squall’ was not, as suggested, due to incompetent musicians[3]. Beefheart,
or rather, Don Van Vilet, wanted to break the monotony of popular music and
‘the prevailing norms… of contemporary society’[4]. As
it continues to influence bands[5],
and advanced Rock as a genre[6],
criticising Trout Mask on its musical
merit might be missing the point. The album is emblematic of the very ideas the
‘60s gave rise to. It is a protest
against the humdrum records being produced and sold en masse. It illustrates
what can be achieved without high production quality. Stripping music to its
basics and refusing to reassemble it produces something truly resonating:
chaotic, but beautiful. The rawness of the album in many ways fulfils the 60s’
notion of “being there”[7]:
surrounded by sound, and lyrics from poems which seemingly run straight from
Vilet’s subconscious. If drugs were seen as way to open the mind whilst
challenging conformity[8],
Vilet’s music is a tangible representation of these aspirations. Trout Mask is a revolutionary idea,
staked against the establishment of musical norms.
But Trout Mask could be reactionary. As Jazz
was an established musical genre before “pop culture”, jazzy themes appear to
hark back to earlier times. Further, as Trout
Mask was a revolt against the contemporary revolutionary musical
developments, is it not a reaction? Finally, the album postures to strike
against the commercial music industry, whilst itself requiring
commercialisation in order to reach a broad market; the album, released by
Warner Bros, sold in large quantities[9].
[2] Dave Sanjek, “Life in the Fast and Bulbous Lane:
Captain Beefheart (1941-2010),” Popular
Music and Society 35, no. 2 (2012): 302; Lester Bangs, “Captain Beefheart:
Trout Mask Replica,” Rolling Stone, July
26, 1969, accessed September
27, 2016, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/trout-mask-replica-19690726.
[3] This was a myth actually started by Don Van Vilet
himself; Dave Sanjek, “Life in the Fast and Bulbous Lane,” 305.
[4] Paul R. Kohl, “Looking Through a Glass Onion: Rock and
Roll as a Modern Manifestation of Carnival,” Journal of Popular Culture 27, no. 1 (1993): 157.
[7] Arthur Marwick, “Youth Culture and the Cultural
Revolution of the Long Sixties,” in Between
Marx and Coca-Cola: Youth Cultures in Changing European Societies, 1960-1980,
ed. Axel Schildt and Detlef Siegfried (New York: Berghahn Books, 2007), 47.
[8] Gerard DeGroot, The
Sixties Unplugged: A Kaleidoscopic History of a Disorderly Decade (London:
Pan Macmillan, 2008), 211-214.
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