Rockette Morton (Mark Boston)

“What are you doing, Rockette Morton?” “I’m running out of beans!”

a sort of inside joke among fans, comical and surreal ritual before they start playing, reflecting the eccentric and theatrical spirit of C. B. aka Don Van Vliet

bassist of the Magic Band, especially active on the albums Trout Mask Replica (1969) and Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970).

The “running on beans” was a joke about energy and vitality — as if his fuel was beans, instead of gasoline or anything else.

These lines reinforced the avant-garde and humorous character of the band's shows, which mixed experimental music with theatrical performance.

Poetic nonsense, surreal humor, and strange imagery—Captain Beefheart cultivated an aura of "musical shamanism"... and the band members often participated in performative rituals like this.

Mark Boston -- pseudonym Rockette Morton -- was 19 years old when he joined Captain Beefheart's Magic Band.

A self-described "country bumpkin" raised on a diet of country and western and early rock 'n roll, the young bassist thought he would be performing the more conventional Safe as Milk material upon joining the group in 1968.

Instead, he found himself thrust into the caustic, contorted world of Trout Mask Replica.

Still, Boston kept an open mind, and adjusted his approach to the bass accordingly.

He quickly developed his own technique of using three metal finger picks along with a standard flat pick, in order to properly "attack" the album's chordal bass parts.

In typically self-aggrandizing fashion, Don Van Vliet claimed to have taught him how to play the instrument from scratch -- but other Magic Band members insist this wasn't the case.

"Back in 1965...it was hard to find people who played bass," guitarist Bill Harkleroad remembers in his book Lunar Notes.

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972 2014 Rhino ————————————————— Tracks LP One: Lick My Decals Off, Baby 01. Lick My Decals Off, Baby 02. Doctor Dark 03. I Love You, You Big Dummy 04. Peon 05. Bellerin’ Plain 06. Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop 07. Japan in a Dishpan 08. I Wanna Find a Woman that’ll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have to Go 09. Petrified Forest 10. One Red Rose that I Mean 11. The Buggy Boogie Woogie 12. The Smithsonian Institute Blues (or the Big Dig) 13. Space-Age Couple 14. The Clouds Are Full of Wine (Not Whiskey or Rye) 15. Flash Gordon’s Ape

Tracks LP Two: The Spotlight Kid 01. I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby 02. White Jam 03. Blabber ‘n Smoke 04. When It Blows Its Stacks 05. Alice in Blunderland 06. The Spotlight Kid 07. Click Clack 08. Grow Fins 09. There Ain’t No Santa Claus on the Evenin’ Stage 10. Glider

Tracks LP Three: Clear Spot 01. Low Yo Yo Stuff 02. Nowadays a Woman’s Gotta Hit a Man 03. Too Much Time 04. Circumstances 05. My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains 06. Sun Zoom Spark 07. Clear Spot 08. Crazy Little Thing 09. Long Neck Bottles 10. Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles 11. Big Eyed Beans from Venus 12. Golden Birdies

Tracks LP Four: Out-Takes (1970 to 1972) 01. Alice in Blunderland [alternate version] 02. Harry Irene 03. I Can’t Do This Unless I Can Do This • Seam Crooked Sam 04. Pompadour Swamp • Suction Prints 05. The Witch Doctor Life 06. Two Rips in a Haystack • Kiss Me My Love 07. Best Batch Yet 08. Your Love Brought Me to Life 09. Dirty Blue Gene [alternate version 2] 10. Nowadays a Woman’s Gotta Hit a Man 11. Kiss Where I Kain’t 12. Circumstances 13. Little Scratch 14. Dirty Blue Gene [alternate version 3]—————————————————

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Clear Spot 1972 Reprise ————————————————— Tracks: 01. Low Yo Yo Stuff 02. Nowadays a Woman’s Gotta Hit a Man 03. Too Much Time 04. Circumstances 05. My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains 06. Sun Zoom Spark 07. Clear Spot 08. Crazy Little Thing 09. Long Neck Bottles 10. Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles 11. Big Eyed Beans from Venus 12. Golden Birdies —————————————————

Mark Boston

Bill Harkleroad

Roy Estrada

Art Tripp

Don van Vliet “Captain Beefheart”

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band The Spotlight Kid 1972 Reprise ————————————————— Tracks: 01. I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby 02. White Jam 03. Blabber ‘n Smoke 04. When It Blows Its Stacks 05. Alice in Blunderland 06. The Spotlight Kid 07. Click Clack 08. Grow Fins 09. There Ain’t No Santa Claus on the Evenin’ Stage 10. Glider —————————————————

Mark Boston

John French

Bill Harkleroad

Art Tripp

Don van Vliet “Captain Beefheart”

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band Trout Mask Replica 1969 Straight ——————————————————————— Tracks Disc One: 01. Frownland 02. The Dust Blows Forward ‘n the Dust Blows Back 03. Dachau Blues 04. Ella Guru 05. Hair Pie: Bake 1 06. Moonlight on Vermont 07. Pachuco Cadáver 08. Bill’s Corpse 09. Sweet Sweet Bulbs 10. Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish 11. China Pig 12. My Human Gets Me Blues 13. Dali’s Car

Tracks Disc Two: 01. Hair Pie: Bake 2 02. Pena 03. Well 04. When Big Joan Sets Up 05. Fallin’ Ditch 06. Sugar ‘n Spikes 07. Ant Man Bee 08. Orange Claw Hammer 09. Wild Life 10. She’s Too Much for My Mirror 11. Hobo Chang Ba 12. The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica) 13. Steal Softly thru Snow 14. Old Fart at Play 15. Veteran’s Day Poppy ———————————————————————

Mark Boston

Jeff Cotton

John French

Bill Harkleroad

Victor Hayden

Don van Vliet “Captain Beefheart”