Captain Beefheart ('76) Bat Chain Puller & TMR back in print

I just compared both cds and the version is the same as the original cd release.

And for anybody curious . . . . . .
The packaging, the info (zappa.com VR 2012-1 V.2) on the silver side of the cd, printed side of the cd and the spine of the digipak . . . all of it is identical to the first issue. Very cool it's available again for those who missed it the first time.

 

Mine arrived today: indeed both original pressings on the Zappa label!

 

I am offering two sealed copies here for Non-North-American Beefheart fans (for whom it would not make sense to buy these from me):
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/beefheart-bat-chain-puller.778839/

 

Oy! Is there some special trick that it takes to order from this site? I keep trying to order BCP and it keeps sending me to some "error message" saying my cart is empty or just goes to some other black and white error page. Help?

 

After reading your post, I just went to place an order to see what happens. Just as you wrote of, I got an error page.
Hopefully they will fix the problem, as it was working fine last time I placed an order.

 

I ended up ordering from the US. The postage was reasonable and in the end it cost around £23 total. Came very quickly with no customs and excise bill.

Thanks to @mcchocchoc for the heads up on this restock. Also glad they (Zappa records) put this out as a standard cost-effective reissue.

Interesting how the TMR booklet matches the Reprise CD booklet in almost every way.

 

The Zappa records TMR CD is back in stock in the UK from gandsmusic.com. BCP, too. I'm only saying as I asked them when they were getting it back in stock to avoid US postage back in the summer, and they just told me that they now have it. Dave at g&s specialises in Zappa and Beefheart so worth visiting his site.

 

Bump.

 

Don Van Vliet - Eight years gone today.

 

I just got the Trout Mask CD in the mail yesterday (on the Captains birthday nonetheless) and I’m extremely impressed. It’s really night and day compared to the tracks circulating on YouTube. The biggest upgrades in my opinion are the bass levels are increased, the drums have a lot of detail in the high end (cymbals specifically), and Don’s vocals sound amazing. I was awestruck hearing even tracks like Hair Pie Bake 1 with improved clarity! The only thing that isn’t great, but isn’t a deal breaker either is there’s a good amount of tape damage on Frownland. According to the booklet, they had to source both it and Hair Pie: Bake 2 from the original worn and mistreated masters which have oxide loss at the heads of all 4 reels. Hair Pie is barely noticeable, but Frownland gets really muddy and distorted in the right channel for a few seconds, then gets significantly better. Other than that, the album sounds amazing, and is definitely a worthwhile purchase for any Beefheart fan.

 

Yes, really worth the investment, knocked me out.

 

At $14 a piece for both BCP and TMR, I'm going to order another set of each just as a back up. And maybe a TMR Tshirt

 

Thanks for the description. I didn't know about this until I stumbled on to this fan site, which posted the following:

Update: The Hobo-Ism Mystery
As you may have read above I noted that the version of Hobo-Ism here is different to the one that had circulated on bootlegs. On closer listening it didn’t seem to be of such good sound quality either. I decided that if I got the chance I’d ask Denny about this. So after the last gig of their March 2012 tour (at The Duchess in York) I did just that …

I was surprised at his response. He confirmed it is a different recording but it’s NOT him playing on it and he doesn’t know the origin of this version. Obviously Don recorded it again at some point … but with whom and why?

Denny is understandably very upset about this … he’s been waiting over 30 years to get the track released and now it’s done the ZFT have botched it. He’s hoping that they will try to sort something out .. if we hear anything we’ll let you know.

On the positive side, we fans have now, inadvertently, been gifted a previously unknown and unheard Beefheart recording!

Further update
Denny has ‘fessed up to the playing on Hoboism! However, he’s not happy with his playing nor with Don mangling the lyrics. But this attempt at recording the song seems to have been done at the wrong end of a bottle of tequila … which explains a lot!

Even further update
The correct take of Hoboism in all its glory has been made available as part of the downloadable version of BCP on iTunes.