Sad to hear of the death of Captain Beefheart. It feels like my past is fast disappearing from this world.
In spite of his acknowledged influence, he was never a mainstream performer. Back in 1973 you were part of a elite minority if you liked him. Female fans were an even rarer breed. I was one of them. I had just joined Drive in Rock as a Rockette. Our manager Roger Eagle was a friend of Beefheart's - two men of similar age ( and build) united by their passion for the blues.
When Beefheart and the Magic Band came over to tour Clear Spot a group of us went over to Liverpool to see them with Roger. One thing led to another and after a night with Rockette Morton ( different days, different ways) the two of us went off to explore Liverpool, taking the ferry across the Mersey. As he saw me off on the train back to Manchester from Liverpool Lime Street he announced that his girlfriend was coming over from California that week, so that was the end of that.
However, thanks to Roger, my friend, fellow Rockette and fan Cathy and I still had reserved seats on the tour bus. I struck up a friendship with the tour manager Bill Shumow, and spent the rest of that English leg of the tour meeting up with him and the band.He was older than me , married with a family, and a really lovely companion. I knew he was someone special at the time, and many years later I read a tribute to him in Bill Harkleroad's (aka Zoot Horn Rollo) book about his Magic Band Days, so it wasn't just me who loved him! He came to visit On the 8th Day, where I worked then. We explored antique and junk shops wherever the tour went, and I had a beautiful enamelled butterfly brooch he bought me for many years. I had met the Broughton brothers and their families through another 8th Day contact, Brian Livingstone, and the Edgar Broughton Band were huge fans of Beefheart. I took Bill round to meet them, and he took a cassette of theirs back to Beefheart. We spent a great couple of days chasing round the Suffolk countryside trying to get hold of Honeyrose Special herbal cigarettes and John Peel. We managed to find the Honeyrose Special factory, and bought a supply for Beefheart. His wife Jan ( and they were still married when he died) was travelling with him - Art Tripp, Roy Estrada, a great crowd to be around - legends then and legends now. Beefheart gave Cathy a drawing, which she gave away in her rush to rid herself of material possessions when she joined an ashram! One of life's regrets. One of mine is that I never saw Bill Shumow again - I kept in touch with some friends of his from Leeds for a short time, when I went to University there later that year.
Amazing times - I can say I went on tour with Captain Beefheart. I still have my copy of Clear Spot, given to me then.
We will not see his like again.
