Mallard (band)
Mallard was an American rock group that emerged from the core of the Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and existed from 1974 to 1977.
history
founding
In 1974, after the disappointing, because it was very commercial, Beefheart album Unconditionally Guaranteed ( Virgin Records ), the creative core Bill Harkleroad ( Zoot Horn Rollo ), Mark Boston ( Rockette Morton ) and Art Tripp ( Ed Marimba ) immediately left the Magic Band, to found Mallard. Beefheart bitterly berated her as a “bunch of charlatans” and they countered that her former boss was a “thieving asshole”. The singer Sam Galpin (formerly The Champs and The Coasters ) was recommended to them by the former Magic Band guitarist Elliot Ingber (Winged Eel Fingerling ). He supposedly knew nothing about the musical past of his new band members, since he had previously played the piano in the casinos of Las Vegas.
The albums
The debut album Mallard , the cover of which adorned the steam locomotive of the same name , which has held the world speed record for steam locomotives since 1938 , was recorded in Devon in 1975. Barry Morgan ( percussion ) worked alongside the later Who keyboarder John "Rabbit" Bundrick . John French (the former drummer of the Magic Band), actually a founding member, but returned to Beefheart after a few weeks, participated as a composer and lyricist. It is hardly surprising that the typical trademarks of Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band characterize the album: the close interplay of guitar and marimba as well as the apparently unbalanced, strongly syncopated rhythm. The dominant part is Bill Harkleroad, who wrote most of the material or co-authored it with Mark Boston and John French. Sam Galpin, who allegedly had never heard of Captain Beefheart's recordings before, sounds amazingly like this on many tracks - except for Guy Clark's ballad Desperadoes Waiting for a Train . The basic feeling of the album is a “progressive country feeling” with lots of tempo changes and the “twang attack” (typically wiry, razor-sharp sound) of Harkleroad's slide guitar, as you can hear on She's Long & She's Lean . The Beefheart past is evident in the tracks Road to Morocco and Winged Tuskadero with spoken text over a country rock background. Precisely because it is quite clear that no further Beefheart album was recorded here, and the musicians had definitely found their own style, it is surprising that they adapt Peon from the Beefheart album Lick My Decals Off, Baby . Perhaps a sign of how much the musicians ultimately shaped the sound of Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band. Mallard said they covered the play so their former boss could earn his much-needed royalties. The acoustic piece Yellow , with its balance of melodic inventiveness and atonal renewal, has obviously influenced composers as diverse as Pat Metheny , Richard Thompson , Tom Verlaine and Steve Vai . One gets the impression that impeccable musicians have recorded an unmistakable album here to inspire the masses. Like Beefheart, however, they didn't achieve the goal. The album was funded by Jethro Tull boss and Beefheart fan Ian Anderson .
The album In a Different Climate was recorded in Wales in 1976 and was also released in 1977 by Virgin Records. With Mallard , they had set the bar very high. Apparently everything was the same: Harkleroad presented high quality compositions, Sam Galpin, who still claimed to have never heard of Beefheart, still sounded exactly like Beefheart. Art Tripp, who had returned to Beefheart, was replaced by George Dragotta . John Thomas , whom Beefheart had just fired from the Magic Band, joined as keyboardist (in his early years he had played with John French on Rattlesnake and Eggs ). The problem with this album wasn't the material but the execution. Overall, it was more of a country pop album, especially since John McFee was a guest on the pedal steel guitar . Ultimately, you couldn't reach the Beefheart community or the mainstream audience and so Mallard broke up after this album. Mallard's tombstone could read: “Not bad, but not good enough.” (Not bad, but not good enough).
In 1994 Virgin Records released both albums on one CD Mallard / In A Different Climate .
Discography
- 1975: Mallard (Virgin Records)
- 1977: In a Different Climate (Virgin Records)
- 1994: Mallard / In a Different Climate (Virgin Records)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Raymond Casey: Liner notes Mallard / In A Different Climate , Virgin Records 1994
- ↑ a b c d e Heibutzki, Ralph: Mallard , Allmusic , accessed on September 19, 2012
- ↑ Prato, Greg: Mallard Biography , Allmusic , accessed September 19, 29012
- ↑ Heibutzki, Ralph: In a Different Climate , Allmusic , accessed on September 19, 2012