MAKING LOVE TO A VAMPIRE: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND THE MAGIC BAND AT MUDD CLUB, 1980

via Dangerous Minds:

"According to YouTube poster, bookheaven1thousand, the Captain and his band came onstage at 3:00 a.m. on the morning of December 10, 1980.

1. Hair Pie Bake 3
2. Best Batch Yet
3. Dirty Blue Gene (cut)
4. Sugar ‘n Spikes
5. Ashtray Heart
6. Doctor Dark
7. Sheriff Of Hong Kong (cut)
8. Making Love To A Vampire With A Monkey On My Knee
9. Suction Prints (cuts 20 seconds before end)
10. Big Eyed Beans From Venus

This set killed me. It’s one of the best and funkiest live performances I’ve ever heard from this band.

Some additional background from the YouTube post:

Peter Warner: Anyone ever come across a video of Captain Beefheart’s Mudd Club performance (the day [He means 2 days] after John Lennon’s death)? I was one of the handful of fans there and know it exists (Gary Lucas told me he confiscated the master: it was standard practice by the club for all performance to be taped). It was a wild night. Some girl in a big red sweater (good looking and drunk as all hell) was hangin’ all over me. She kept throwing change at the Captain telling him to shut up. I told the Cap I didn’t know who this chick was. (in hindsight, I shoulda gone for the chick.)

The Cap and I got into a stareing match—he singing away inches from my face as I growled back. What the hell, I was an obnoxious, drunk 17 year old. I actually made it to class the next morning.

Raymond Ricker: The band played there at 4 in the morning just a few hours after their Irving Plaza show concluded. I was about 1 of 30 people in attendance for that show (Don spent a good portion of the show putting up with an obnoxious girl who was drunk out her mind). If it wasn’t for Moris inviting me I would never have known there was going to be a performance there. As far as I know, this was the only time that band performed Making Love To A Vampire With A Monkey On My Back [He means “Knee”]"

Bat Chain Puller

Hey, guess what?  The original Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) album is finally being released!

"After being promised a while back, and then delayed a few times, the Zappa Family Trust have given the world the original Bat Chain Puller album by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. It’s only for sale at Zappa.com.

Stuck in the vaults due to legal limbo for some 35 years, this is the 1976 vintage Bat Chain Puller of legend (and furiously traded bootlegs of varying quality). Van Vliet re-recorded the Bat Chain Puller tracks for Warner Bros. Records in 1978 and that album was titled Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller).

This official release sounds pristine and has far less tape hiss compared to all previous versions. Apparently Beefheart himself never wanted these recordings released. There are three bonus tracks.

Don Van Vliet died on December 17th, 2010 of complications from MS.

The title number, “Bat Chain Puller,” was based upon the rhythm of Van Vliet’s car windshield wipers. "

-Dangerous Minds