Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 1967

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Charlie O.
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Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 1967

Postby Charlie O. » 29 Jun 2010, 22:20

A photo collector "stumbled upon" some great photos (by an unknown photographer) of The Magic Band's brief appearance at this festival - a genuinely legendary event in Beefheart lore - and has posted them (slide-show style) on YouTube.

This was the Safe At Milk line-up's first and last live performance. They were booked to play the Monterey Pop festival the following weekend, but at this gig Beefheart had a panic attack in the middle of "Electricity" and walked off the back of the stage, prompting Ry Cooder to quit the band in disgust.



John "Drumbo" French posted a Viewer Comment on the YouTube page: "Beefheart (Van Vliet) walked off the stage right after the intro to the second song, having experienced some kind of LSD flashback. At 2:08, Ry Cooder is pictured behind Jerry Handley watching Don walk off the stage. I'm the guy in the white suit playing drums."
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Quaco » 29 Jun 2010, 22:26

Also discussed here:

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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Tactful Cactus » 29 Jun 2010, 22:30

Interesting. John Drumbo French looks very sharp for a drummer in 1967.

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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Charlie O. » 29 Jun 2010, 22:33

The whole band looks incredibly sharp. That was a good look for them!
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Geezee » 29 Jun 2010, 22:36

Charlie O. wrote:A photo collector "stumbled upon" some great photos (by an unknown photographer) of The Magic Band's brief appearance at this festival - a genuinely legendary event in Beefheart lore - and has posted them (slide-show style) on YouTube.

This was the Safe At Milk line-up's first and last live performance. They were booked to play the Monterey Pop festival the following weekend, but at this gig Beefheart had a panic attack in the middle of "Electricity" and walked off the back of the stage, prompting Ry Cooder to quit the band in disgust.



John "Drumbo" French posted a Viewer Comment on the YouTube page: "Beefheart (Van Vliet) walked off the stage right after the intro to the second song, having experienced some kind of LSD flashback. At 2:08, Ry Cooder is pictured behind Jerry Handley watching Don walk off the stage. I'm the guy in the white suit playing drums."


those are beautifully sharp photos, wonder who took them. what a find!
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Goat Boy » 29 Jun 2010, 22:45

Gorgeous.

Why don't bands dress like that these days? Make the effort for fucks sake.
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Balboa » 29 Jun 2010, 22:56

Cool! That looks like a great venue - you always picture these things in your head, but that is super cool. Looks like a nice vibe as well (well maybe not for Van Vliet if the story is to be believed!). Drumbo looks cool in his white suit. Also interesting to see Cooder playing an acoustic? I thought both him and Snouffer would be on electric. That's something to think about.

Who is that plugging the bass in at around 2.16? I can see Snouffler early on (with moustache), Cooder in shades, Jerry Handley on bass.....who is that other guy? He is really familiar!

And who is that at 2.56 with the hat on? It looks like Ken Kesey!
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Jeff K » 29 Jun 2010, 23:03

Balboa wrote:Cool! That looks like a great venue - you always picture these things in your head


True, but that's not how I pictured the Magic Band or the festival to look!

Nice find, Charlie. I really enjoyed that.
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Balboa » 29 Jun 2010, 23:05

Jeff K wrote:
Balboa wrote:Cool! That looks like a great venue - you always picture these things in your head


True, but that's not how I pictured the Magic Band or the festival to look!



They're wearing their outfits from the cover shoot for 'Safe as Milk'! They got weirder pretty quickly once Cooder left............
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Charlie O. » 29 Jun 2010, 23:09

Balboa wrote:Also interesting to see Cooder playing an acoustic? I thought both him and Snouffer would be on electric.

Yeah, especially if they're playing "Electricity"! I think that French's assertion that that one shot is of Cooder watching Van Vliet walk off might be a bit of poetic license...

Good question about the mystery bass player. Definitely not one of the Magic Band guys. And there's at least one long-range shot of the stage and crowd that looks to me like it could be from a different event entirely... maybe even Monterey.

I thought that one guy looked like Kesey, too! Could be.
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Charlie O. » 29 Jun 2010, 23:12

Love Alex Snouffer's sneer 'round the one-minute mark. What a badass.
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Balboa » 29 Jun 2010, 23:15

Charlie O. wrote:Love Alex Snouffer's sneer 'round the one-minute mark. What a badass.


That guy was always sneering!
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Balboa » 29 Jun 2010, 23:25

Yeah, especially if they're playing "Electricity"! I think that French's assertion that that one shot is of Cooder watching Van Vliet walk off might be a bit of poetic license...


Yeah, that doesn't make much sense in that set up.

Good question about the mystery bass player. Definitely not one of the Magic Band guys. And there's at least one long-range shot of the stage and crowd that looks to me like it could be from a different event entirely... maybe even Monterey.


That bass player is really familiar looking, it's going to drive me mad. He has nothing to do with Beefheart's band. Here is the 2 day line up -

Saturday, June 10

The 5th Dimension
Dionne Warwick
Canned Heat
Jim Kweskin Jug Band
Moby Grape
13th Floor Elevators
Spanky and Our Gang
Roger Collins
Blackburn & Snow
The Sparrow
Every Mother's Son
Kaleidoscope (US band)
The Chocolate Watchband
The Mojo Men
The Merry-Go-Round
The Doors
[edit]Sunday, June 11

Jefferson Airplane
The Byrds
P.F. Sloan
The Seeds
The Grass Roots
The Loading Zone
Tim Buckley
Every Mother's Son
Hugh Masekela
Steve Miller Blues Band
Country Joe & the Fish
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
The Sons of Champlin
The Lamp of Childhood
The Mystery Trend
Penny Nichols
The Merry-Go-Round
New Salvation Army Band

If you go here - http://hippiesrus1.blogspot.com/2009/07/doors-magic-mountain-music.html about half way down is some scratchy footage from the festival of The Doors, looks like the same stage on the pictures and stuff.

I thought that one guy looked like Kesey, too! Could be.


I reckon it is him.
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Magilla » 29 Jun 2010, 23:28

I assume this Mt Tamalpais is also in the vicinity of Tamalpais High as immortalised by David Crosby in 'Tamalpais High (At About 3)' ?
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Charlie O. » 29 Jun 2010, 23:56

Balboa wrote:If you go here - http://hippiesrus1.blogspot.com/2009/07/doors-magic-mountain-music.html about half way down is some scratchy footage from the festival of The Doors, looks like the same stage on the pictures and stuff.

Yeah, looking at it again, it's definitely not Monterey Pop - I don't know what I was thinkin'!
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Charlie O. » 29 Jun 2010, 23:57

More shots from the same festival:

[youtube]w8lRWehHRgE&feature=related[/youtube]
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Tactful Cactus » 30 Jun 2010, 14:44

Balboa wrote:Saturday, June 10

The 5th Dimension
Dionne Warwick
Canned Heat
Jim Kweskin Jug Band
Moby Grape
13th Floor Elevators
Spanky and Our Gang
Roger Collins
Blackburn & Snow
The Sparrow
Every Mother's Son
Kaleidoscope (US band)
The Chocolate Watchband
The Mojo Men
The Merry-Go-Round
The Doors
[edit]Sunday, June 11

Jefferson Airplane
The Byrds
P.F. Sloan
The Seeds
The Grass Roots
The Loading Zone
Tim Buckley
Every Mother's Son
Hugh Masekela
Steve Miller Blues Band
Country Joe & the Fish
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
The Sons of Champlin
The Lamp of Childhood
The Mystery Trend
Penny Nichols
The Merry-Go-Round
New Salvation Army Band


Phew! Thats even better than Monterey.
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Snarfyguy » 30 Jun 2010, 16:12

Balboa wrote:The Mystery Trend

I love that name. Apparently they got it by mishearing the term "mystery tramp" in Like A Rolling Stone. I don't know how anyone could mistake those words, but mystery and trend go so well together!
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Geezee » 30 Jun 2010, 16:45

Balboa wrote:
The Lamp of Childhood



that is a terrible, terrible name.
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Re: Beefheart & Magic Band at Mt. Tamalpais Fantasy Fair, 19

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 18 Dec 2010, 00:57

dropout BUMP


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