Grow Fins: Rarities 1965-1982 [ENHANCED CD] [Box set] [Enhanced]

Amazon.com
Grow Fins is an impeccably assembled, lavishly produced, epic fanboy love poem to one of popular music's least popular and most influential geniuses, Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart. Packaged in a hardcover accordion folio that recalls the 78-rpm era, five CDs of demos, acetates, concert recordings, video footage, and radio broadcasts are packaged alongside 112 densely annotated, highly illuminating pages of previously unpublished text and photos that leap from trainspotting minutiae to insider revelation. The sound has been cleaned up considerably, but the set is essentially the world's coolest bootleg. The upshot is that if you love Beefheart's music, you're likely to have already one-clicked it, but if you are looking for an introduction to his idiosyncratic and totally addictive music, you should hear Trout Mask Replica, Lick My Decals Off, Baby, and Safe as Milk first. This set traces the various permutations and exhilarating development of the Magic Band, from bluesy garage punks to otherworldly, thoroughly orchestrated avant-Delta/skronk/rock avatars of the Trout Mask sessions to the rejuvenated new-wave-era group. Insights into the Magic Band's working method abound, notably with the earliest recordings of Trout, in which they're rougher sounding and mostly instrumental, although their exacting precision disproves the legend that the music was banged out in a free-form free-for-all; clearly, it was a laborious effort. The video footage from Cannes Beach, France, in 1968 and the Detroit "Tubeworks" show in 1971 is priceless. The radio appearances on disc 5 are also thrilling; Beefheart plays solo harp and sings relaxed, spine-tingling a cappella songs. After beginning John Lee Hooker's "Black Snake Moan," which shows off Beefheart's infamous, multi-octave range, he stops in the middle, informing a Boston radio host, "I just can't get it through this microphone--it's too little." --Mike McGonigal

Grow Fins: Rarities 1965-1982 [ENHANCED CD],Captain Beefheart,Revenant Records,Blues-Rock,Experimental,Pop,Popular Music,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Proto-Punk,Psychedelic,Rock,Rock/Pop

Grow Fins: Rarities 1965-1982 [ENHANCED CD] [Box set] [Enhanced]

Average customer rating:

Could have been better, though.
BFHRT 301 : A Beefheart Crash Course!
A must for Beefheart fanatics.
Great collection for obsessive fans
Break Out the Cash and Grow a Fin!

Grow Fins: Rarities 1965-1982 [ENHANCED CD]
Captain Beefheart
Manufacturer: Revenant Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Proto Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music

General | Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music

Classic Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music

Classic Rock | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Progressive | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Bluejeans & Moonbeams
Strictly Personal
Doc at the Radar Station
Unconditionally Guaranteed
The Mirror Man Sessions

ASIN: B00000IXTB
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Tracks:

Obeah Man - (1966 demo)
Just Got Back From The City - (1966 demo)
I'm Glad - (1966 demo)
Triple Combination - (1966 demo)
Here I Am I Always Am - (early 1966 demo)
Here I Am I Always Am - (later 1966 demo)
Somebody In My Home - (live, 1966)
Tupelo - (live, 1966)
Evil Is Going On - (live, 1966)
Old Folks Boogie - (live, 1967)
Call On Me - (1965 demo)
Sure Nuff N Yes I Do - (1967 demo)
Yellow Brick Road - (1967 demo)
Plastic Factory - (1967 demo)

Tracks:

Electricity - (live, 1968)
Sure Nuff N Yes I Do - (live, 1968)
Rollin N Tumblin - (live, 1968)
Electricity - (live, 1968)
Yer Gonna Need Somebody On Yer Bond - (live, 1968)
Kandy Korn - (live, 1968)
Korn Ring Finger - (1967 demo)

Tracks:

Untitled 1
Untitled 2
Hair Pie: Bake 1
Hair Pie: Bake 2
Untitled 5
Hobo Chang Ba
Untitled 7
Hobo Chang Ba - (take 2)
Dachau Blues
Old Fart At Play
Untitled 11
Pachuco Cadaver
Sugar 'N Spikes
Untitled 14
Sweet Sweet Bulbs
Frownland - (take 1)
Frownland
Untitled 18
Ella Guru
Untitled 20
She's Too Much For My Mirror
Untitled 22
Steal Softly Thru Snow
Untitled 24
My Human Gets Me Blues
Untitled 26
When Big Joan Sets Up
Untitled 28
Untitled 29
China Pig

Tracks:

Blimp
Herb
Septic Tank
Overdub [plus ENHANCED CD live performance footage: Cannes Beach, 1968; Amougies, Belgium, 1969; Detroit, Michigan, 1971; Paris, France, 1973]

Tracks:

My Human Gets Me Blues - (live, 1969)
When Big Joan Sets Up - (live, 1971)
Woe Is Uh Me Bop - (live, 1971)
Bellerin' Plain - (live, 1971)
Black Snake Moan I - (1972 radio phone-in)
Grow Fins - (live, 1972)
Black Snake Moan II - (1972 radio)
Spitball Scalped Uh Baby - (live, 1972)
Harp Boogie I - (1972 radio)
One Red Rose That I Mean - (live, 1972)
Harp Boogie II - (1972 radio)
Natchez Burning - (1972 radio)
Harp Boogie III - (1972 radio phone-in)
Click Clack - (live, 1973)
Orange Claw Hammer - (1975 radio)
Odd Jobs - (1975 piano demo)
Odd Jobs - (1976 band demo)
Vampire Suite - (1980 worktapes/live)
Mellotron Improv - (live, 1978)
Evening Bell - (1981 piano worktape)
Evening Bell - (1982 guitar worktape)
Mellotron Improv - (live, 1980)
Flavor Bud Living - (live, 1980)

Amazon.com

Grow Fins is an impeccably assembled, lavishly produced, epic fanboy love poem to one of popular music's least popular and most influential geniuses, Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart. Packaged in a hardcover accordion folio that recalls the 78-rpm era, five CDs of demos, acetates, concert recordings, video footage, and radio broadcasts are packaged alongside 112 densely annotated, highly illuminating pages of previously unpublished text and photos that leap from trainspotting minutiae to insider revelation. The sound has been cleaned up considerably, but the set is essentially the world's coolest bootleg. The upshot is that if you love Beefheart's music, you're likely to have already one-clicked it, but if you are looking for an introduction to his idiosyncratic and totally addictive music, you should hear Trout Mask Replica, Lick My Decals Off, Baby, and Safe as Milk first. This set traces the various permutations and exhilarating development of the Magic Band, from bluesy garage punks to otherworldly, thoroughly orchestrated avant-Delta/skronk/rock avatars of the Trout Mask sessions to the rejuvenated new-wave-era group. Insights into the Magic Band's working method abound, notably with the earliest recordings of Trout, in which they're rougher sounding and mostly instrumental, although their exacting precision disproves the legend that the music was banged out in a free-form free-for-all; clearly, it was a laborious effort. The video footage from Cannes Beach, France, in 1968 and the Detroit "Tubeworks" show in 1971 is priceless. The radio appearances on disc 5 are also thrilling; Beefheart plays solo harp and sings relaxed, spine-tingling a cappella songs. After beginning John Lee Hooker's "Black Snake Moan," which shows off Beefheart's infamous, multi-octave range, he stops in the middle, informing a Boston radio host, "I just can't get it through this microphone--it's too little." --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews:

Could have been better, though........2007-05-24

Grow Fins features all rare not-released-before recordings of Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. That sounds good, doesn't it? Well, unfortunately, not all sounds that good in this box set. Let's take a brief look.

CD number 1 features mostly old pre-Safe As Milk Beefheart studio recordings. The sound quality is amazingly good. It gives a good insight to the early sound of a band that was great from the very beginning. There were not rhythmic extravaganzas yet, not Zoot Horn Rollos nor Drumbos, but Beefheart's voice was already ready to shine. Nicely played and nicely recorded. There are also tremendously good live recordings that do the band even more justice. The few last tracks, which are early versions of tracks that would later appear on debut album "Safe As Milk" sound more poorly, but anyway it is nice to hear them on their early encarnations.

CD number 2 features mostly post-Safe As Milk live recordings. The sound quality is acceptable, but not as good as the live tracks on CD#1. Anyway, the group's sound was turning more distinctive, not to say unique. Unfortunately, this CD is quite short for today's length standards, not even reaching the 40 minute mark. It closes with an unreleased studio recording which can be found nowadays with slightly better sound on the reissue of "Safe As Milk".

CD number 3 gives the listener an opportunity to get into the early stages of recording of "Trout Mask Replica". It features instrumental tracks recorded at the house where the band was living. It is worth mentioning that that was the way in which the album was going to be recorded until Don Vliet complained about it to producer Frank Zappa, who rented a bunch of hours at a studio later to record the album we all know and love. The CD sound quality is really good and it portraits the instrumental complexity of those almost-impossible-to-play compositions over which Don would lay his legendary vocal tracks later.

CD number 4 is definitively not interesting. Though it features some really nice videos to watch on the computer, the dialogues featured on the audio section of the CD are not very interesting. It doesn't add much really.

CD number 5 covers the rest of Beefheart's career, mainly through live recordings which in general sound quite awful. Especially "Spitball Scalped Uh Baby", where Artie Tripp's talent simply can't be appreciated because of an extremely badly recorded performance. The highlights are the performances at TV in 1971 and Beefheart appearances on radio (including a Beffheart-Zappa version of "Orange Claw Hammer"). The rest is not very valuable, and this is because of the recordings' sound quality. I wish other cleaner live takes had been chosen.
The booklet is certainly great, especially because of John French's revealing liner notes, and also because of a good-taste design.
As the title of this review says, it could have been better. Anyway, it is essential if you're into Beefeart.

BFHRT 301 : A Beefheart Crash Course!.......2006-07-27

FANS, Beefheart aficionados are like few others. They are steeped in the lore, amazing skeptics, lovers of music off the beaten path, and all of them deeply moved and influenced by the body of work by one band (with a great number of players) and one writer vocalist, Don Van Vliet.
There's a lot of hogwash going on about this great blues influenced band turned psychedelic, jazz, rock, skronk genius - AND most of the urban legends are completely disassembled in the accompanying book. In fact, I've never seen an artist undergo quite a thorough raking over the coals in tribute, IN THE VERY BOX SET!

But it's worth it, and the price is coming down - time to get addicted!

A must for Beefheart fanatics........2003-11-27

This box set is BOOTLEG QUALITY, but the music and liner notes are FIRST RATE. The video footage is priceless! This package was made with tender loving care by Beefheart fanatics, and it shows. If you love Beefheart, grab it before it goes out of print! The instrumental "Trout Mask" rehearsals are worth the price of admission alone....burn them to a CD-R (without the in-between song banter) and you're in Trout Mask Heaven!

Great collection for obsessive fans.......2003-07-21

I probably wouldn't have bought this collection at full price. Lucky for me, I found it for 20 dollars at a CD store that was going out of business. But if you're an obsessive Beefheart fan, you probably don't care anyways. This is a good collection, packed with tons of rarities and live tracks. I haven't even checked out the entire thing yet. But anyways, good stuff. Go for it!

Break Out the Cash and Grow a Fin!.......2003-03-02

Although the price of "Grow Fins" is steep, this set is essential if you are a fan of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. Although they could have fit discs one and two onto one disc, I don't care. Although they could have added more video cuts or even some "clean" copies of Beefheart gems for which we have been waiting years (e.g., "Bat Chain Puller" original album), I don't care. Although the Trout Mask Sessions disc is filled with endless meaningless studio chatter, I don't care.

Why do I not care? After listening to and absolutely loving the music on this set for several days now, I realized that despite its limitations, had this set been a bootleg costing twice the price, I still would have happily paid the cash and felt great about my purchase. The reason for my gleefulness is precisely because Don Van Vliet and his comrades produced such powerful, engaging music that I'll happily devour whatever scraps of music or studio chatter that they left behind. For the uninitiated listener, "Grow Fins" might not be the best place to start your journey into the world of Beefheart, but it isn't the worst, either. The music on the discs reveal a vast array of stylistic textures, showing how the band developed their music from their blues-oriented beginnings to their avant-garde blowouts of the early `70s. The video clips on Disc 4, although a little grainy, are wonderful examples of the early Beefheart and Magic Band.

There are additional highlights on the other discs. On Disc 1, the demo of "I'm Glad" is absolutely gorgeous, as it showcases Don's incredible ability to use his voice with a rare tenderness. The blues-based songs on the disc show that the Captain Beefheart band was arguably the best blues band of that period. Unlike the numerous British bands that were butchering classic blues songs in that period (e.g., Yardbirds, Stones, among many others), Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band played the blues with technical and aesthetic authenticity. The version of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" on Disc 2 absolutely smokes. Disc 3 offers a penetrating look into the making of the classic "Trout Mask Replica." While there is a lot of insignificant studio chatter, many of the instrumental jams provide insight into how the songs developed over time. (Some of the studio chatter is hilarious, such as Don's discussion of how Herb Alpert uses overdubs on his albums. As a fan of postmodernism, I appreciate that it is often when nothing seems to be happening that everything is happening.) Although the final "Trout Mask" album sounds pretty chaotic to many people, it is actually highly cohesive when compared to the demos on "Grow Fins."

My overall impression of "Grow Fins" can be summed up as follows: When is the next box set of rare Beefheart material going to be released?

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