The Legendary A&M Sessions is an extended play featuring five songs by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, recorded early in their career for their original record label A&M Records. The EP was released by the company in 1984 after Captain Beefheart had gone into retirement.
The EP is compiled from two singles originally released through A&M in 1966. The first of these paired the Bo Diddley cover "Diddy Wah Diddy" with a track written by Don Van Vliet (Beefheart) called "Who Do You Think You're Fooling?". The second, "Moonchild", was written by producer David Gates (later of the band Bread), and was backed with Van Vliet's "Frying Pan". The fifth tune featured here, "Here I Am I Always Am", was apparently a rejected B-side which had remained unreleased until the EP's appearance in 1984.
Before gaining a cult with his avant-garde excursions in the late '60s, Captain Beefheart wielded a much more traditional sort of blues-rock. That's not to say that these two obscure mid-'60s A&M singles (packaged together on this five-song EP, which adds a previously unreleased track from the same era) aren't well worth hearing. The Captain's Howlin' Wolf-like growl led a tough outfit that ranked among the best early American blues-rock groups, and among the few that could reasonably emulate the Rolling Stones' toughness. Produced, unbelievably enough, by future Bread leader David Gates, this reissue includes their regional hit cover of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy." The best track, though, is "Moonchild," their shameless derivation of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning." Featuring wailing harmonica, stomping riffs and adventurous, quasi-psychedelic production, it was actually written by Gates himself.
Track listing (All songs composed by Don van Vliet, except where noted)
Side one
1. "Diddy Wah Diddy" (Willie Dixon, Ellas McDaniel) – 2:28
2. "Who Do You Think You're Fooling?" – 2:10
Side two
1. "Moonchild" (David Gates) – 2:30
2. "Frying Pan" – 2:05
3. "Here I Am I Always Am" – 2:33
Personnel
* Don van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) – vocals, harmonica
* Doug Moon – guitar
* Richard Hepner – guitar
* Jerry Handley – bass
* Alex St. Clair Snouffer – drums (track 1–4)
* PG Blakely – drums (track 5)
In memory of Don Van Vliet passed away on Friday 17 December 2010.
Enjoy it!!!
MUCH peace n luv to all my friends at 1337x and blazinseedboxes
Media Info:
General
Complete name : Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band- Legendary A&M Sessions
Format : MPEG Audio
Overall bit rate : 320 Kbps
Album : Legendary A&M Sessions
Album/Performer : Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band
Performer : Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band/His Magic Band
Composer : Van Vliet
Publisher : Edsel
Genre : Rock, Blues/Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Recorded date : 1966
Reslease date :1984
:
Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Duration : 2mn 33s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 320 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
*many thanks to psychedelic rock'n'roll for providing the source
