SAFE AS MILK

I bought this record as a teen, having no idea about the artist, simply because of the cool fisheye pictures on the cover! Man, what a lucky day that was! I doubt very many people have the opportunity to come to Beefheart's music without hearing about "the legend of the crazy genius" first, so I had no expectations going into it. At the time I was a big fan of the Beatles, Who, Floyd, 60's rock kind of stuff -- this was clearly in the same vein, but hardly "psychedelic" or even particularly "old" sounding. It worked it's way into my brain and quickly became a favorite and eventually led me further into MagicBandland. I can't imagine a more perfect album to introduce a person to Don Van Vliet than this one. ("Trout Mask" is "greater" sure, but most people have a hard time hearing that one unless they're already big fans of far out avant-jazz!!)

Most of the songs are punchy blues rock numbers, with sterling slide guitar work from legend-in-his-own-right Ry Cooder. These are better than 99% of similar material from this era, mainly because Don Van Vliet is just about the best white blues singer who ever lived (even if he does sound a lot like Howlin' Wolf!!) and his band is simply GREAT. The Rolling Stones couldn't touch a ferocious rocker like "Zig Zag Wanderer" in 1967, seriously!! But even this early, there is something distinct about the strangely jumbled riffs on songs like "Abba Zaba" that just don't sound like they come from 1967 or any other era we know of. Other highlights include great lyrics on "Plastic Factory" & "Dropout Boogie", a soulful ballad "I'm Glad", and of course the most rockin' theremin EVER on "Electricity"!