Captain Beefheart - I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain't Weird: The Alternate Captain Beefheart (1992)

This short-lived release contains materials which are also available under a multitude of other titles. Among them are Rare Beefheart/Vintage Zappa, If You Got Ears, The Early Years 1959-1969, and most officially on the 1999 Buddha Records reissue of Safe As Milk and Mirror Man Sessions. These tracks were recorded in Los Angeles during October and November 1967 -- between Safe As Milk and Mirror Man. Captain Beefheart continues fusing his dadaist lyrics with the edgy garage rock of his four-piece Magic Band. These pieces reveal a slightly more stretched out and psychedelic side which had not previously been explored by the group -- including some instrumental works-in-progress. Noteworthy among these is a track whose melody would later resurface during the ill-fated Bat Chain Puller sessions as "Ice Rose." However, it is titled here as "Dirty Blue Gene" and as such should not be confused with the Doc at the Radar Station composition that bears the same name. "Moody Liz" and "Gimme Dat Harp Boy" are prime examples of the Delta blues-based continuity that became an active motif throughout every Captain Beefheart project. They come from the same bayou growl which spawned cuts such as "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby" and "I Love You, You Big Dummy." A majority of these tracks remained unissued prior to this 1992 CD release due to what would become a seemingly endless barrage of legal snafus plaguing Captain Beefheart for the remainder of his career. Inexplicably, these recordings have yet to be reissued in a single definitive volume and as such, I May Be Hungry but I Sure Ain't Weird stands as the most complete package in which to get all of the previously unissued material for enthusiasts who have already purchased both Safe As Milk and Mirror Man. Likewise, the uncompressed audio on this specific title sounds more organic and infinitely less processed that the others mentioned above.