Safe as Milk by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band is one of those albums that tore up San Francisco in the late 1960s but was barely heard anywhere else until the one and only John Peel found it and blasted it to fame on British airwaves. It’s become regarded as a landmark psychedelic record and one that many music critics and bloggers suggest you hear at least once (before you blindly wander into Trout Mask Replica).
Starting with “Sure ‘Nuff ‘n Yes I Do,” the band riffs on the classic “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” blues classic with the Captain (Don Van Vliet) giving us slightly raspy vocals perfect for the genre. You can probably guess the inspiration behind “Zig Zag Wanderer.” Ry Cooder‘s psych-rock guitar riffs are great, and Jerry Handley‘s bass is almost as thick as molasses. “Call on Me” shows how Beefheart and The Magic Band could easily shift back and forth from grungy blues to psych-out love songs (“If you need free love, call on me, ’cause I’m gonna call on you.”).
“Dropout Boogie” is wild, wooly, and weird…which is everything you want in a Captain Beefheart song. Van Vliet shows that he can, you know, actually sing on the classic ballad “I’m Glad.”
“Electricity” is the center of the album, and it’s a freak-out complete with Theremin by Samuel Hoffman that pushes your brain to the melting point. “Yellow Brick Road” is a psych-folk song on its surface but has some surprising heft to hit. “Abba Zaba” was the original title of Safe as Milk and is the name of Van Vliet’s favorite candy bar. Cooder’s guitar and bass work on it is top-notch, as is Van Vliet’s harmonica riffs on “Plastic Factory,” which is a solid, gritty blues rocker you’ll instantly love.
“Where There’s Woman” is a short blues track about the troubles of love, and then their solid cover of Robert Pete Williams‘ “Grown So Ugly” hits like a shot of bourbon. The album ends with the warped, incense smoked-filled “Autumn’s Child.” It’s like a psych-rock / sci-fi theme sung by someone who trained under Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
It’s a classic record that inspired more people than you realize. You can put it up there with anything from the late 1960s and it still holds up.
Keep your mind open.
[I’ll feel safe as milk if you subscribe.]
