Don van Vliet will not be for most people’s taste. Even for those that enjoy him he will not be everyday listening. His odd and frequently changing time signatures only rarely make for danceable music.His wide ranging and expressive vocals challenge the concept of easy listening. His idiosyncratic reliance on jazz, blues, and classical influences are beyond eclectic. His lyrics were a combinations of psychedelia, surrealism, and, more rarely, down-home truths that would fit in a country song. He was unique and often great. This is a live recording made in the late 70’s at a small venue, to be rebroadcast by a radio station. His other live recordings have a reputation of having sound quality problems. Any quality problems here are minor. He and his band are enthusiastic, spot on in their playing, with a representative collection of his music. The audience is enthusiastic, but mostly stays out during the music

A few years ago, iTunes offered this in a vastly screwed up version. As one who has an open reel recording of this show off WLIR-FM, THIS is what you want if you know and love Don Van Vliet's music from this period. I was at the late show the same night and it was just as good. If you love Beefheart, all the errors have been corrected. Get this!

...just murder.