No. 348: Captain Beefheart - "The Spotlight Kid" (1972)

After five years of releasing "far-out" music that not many people bought and fewer people understood, Captain Beefheart (AKA Don Van Vliet) and his Magic Band released The Spotlight Kid in 1972, which was his most accessible release to date.
Beefheart made no money from his first five albums, so this sixth was an attempt to move a bit closer to commercial territory. It's a seemingly straightforward swampy blues album which contains some of Beefheart's best singing and harp playing, however nothing is ever that straight-forward in the Beefheart universe, hence the appearance of interesting instruments such as marimba and jingle bells on this record. "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby" contains perhaps the deepest voice ever heard on a rock album, however tracks like "Click Clack" and "When It Blows Its Stacks" are the highlights with their driving rhythm and muddy guitar breaks. Purely and simply this is a great listen - and a great place to start with Beefheart if you're curious to find out what all the fuss was about.
This particular commercial attempt, however, was in vain. The Spotlight Kid failed to give Beefheart the breakthrough he was hoping for and he spent the next few years wandering around in the musical wilderness before eventually returning to his quirky best in the late 1970's with a stunning trilogy of albums. And, criminally, he didn't make any money from those either.