Peter's music has been heard on hundreds of radio stations and has been on SiriusXM rotation for over a decade. As a multi-award winning artist, Peter's music has also topped Billboard's Classical and Crossover charts.
For Captain Beefheart, a maverick-artist-musician, who was not just a complicated man but highly demanding and by most accounts very difficult to deal with. It was appropriate that Beefheart's Magic Band was to prominently feature a bassist as accomplished, bold and adventurous as Mark Boston, a.k.a Rockette Morton.
Born on July 14, 1949, Mark began life in the small town of Salem, Illinois before his family moved out to Lancaster, California when he was 13. With a bassist and steel player for a father, Mark gained a great appreciation for country and bluegrass along with the R&B and rock’n’roll that was on the rise. Within a year of the Boston clan moving out to Lancaster, Mark befriended a young guitarist by the name of Bill Harkleroad.
At a time when the bass guitar was seen as the dummy’s instrument, Mark left quite an impression on Bill with his talent and equipment, leading to the two joining forces to form BC And The Cavemen. With Mark’s mother sewing some outfits for them, the band developed a decent reputation, and the two would also play in a band with Jeff Cotton and John French known as Blues In A Bottle. And then a local hero came calling. Or perhaps screaming and howling!
In that same Lancaster scene, Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band were making a big splash as a top flight blues rock outfit, with 'Safe As Milk' having made a strong impression and 'Strictly Personal' being a strong record as well. But even with a sound that was speaking to people, one that perhaps would have been a more pragmatic one as far as a career goes, Don Van Vliet just wasn’t meant for conventional norms.
The Captain had all these ideas, ideas far too out for many, including early members. He needed new musicians, younger and more impressionable ones that wouldn’t object to his ideas. Already having John and Jeff in the band, now 'Drumbo' and Antennae Jimmy Semens, he then recruited Bill, dubbed Zoot Horn Rollo. And on bass, he found Mark Boston, who took the name Rockette Morton due to his love of outer space. And the classic Magic Band was born.
Trout Mask Replica (TMR) wasn’t an easy album to make. Yet even with all the bizarre ideas and the difficulty in preparing those ideas into music, Mark was a total champ through it all. The Beefheart sound is one of great dichotomy, and Mark can capture all of it. He’s so tight and precise, and yet there’s this raw grit and dirt. He’s highly intelligent and sophisticated in his playing, and yet there remains this childlike sense of wonder and curiosity.
He takes after all the great traditional American music, yet out into a whole other realm of time and space. The bass traditionally serves the role of grounding the harmony while locking in with the drums to provide a foundation, yet Mark’s playing often serves as another melody line in the music. In a lot of ways, he’s like a third guitarist that just happens to be playing bass.
The TMR on its own is a legacy few can compete with, and yet Mark contributed to more classic records like "Lick My Decals Off, Baby", "The Spotlight Kid", and "Clear Spot". There on Decals, you get the equivalent of Godfather II. With Mother Art Tripp on marimba and drums rather Jeff on guitar, you get an album that captures a great deal of TMR's brilliance while being brilliant in its own unique way.
Then you get to 'The Spotlight Kid', with bass godliness on cuts like “When It Blows Its Stack”, resulting in a bass solo that often opened shows, yet Mark proves himself just as talented on traditional in-the-pocket styles as demonstrated on cuts like “I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby”. And that thing about bassists being failed guitarists? In the 'Clear Spot', with Mark taking guitar and the rhythm section now being a mini Mothers reunion of Art and Roy Estrada, yet nobody missed a beat. Throughout the record, Bill and Mark’s kinship really shines, their weaving right there with what Bill and Jeff had done, or what was done with Alex St Clair early on.
Of course, dealing with Don was quite a task of its own, so it’s inevitable that Mark and the others would all end up departing by 1974. He and Bill soon formed a group of their own called Mallard. For two albums, the first with Art and having some writing help from John French 'Drumbo', Mallard showed itself a pretty decent blues rock outfit. And giving that it was Mark who finally had a chance to create something that was truly his own rather than helping some achieve their vision, it’s understandably the work that he takes pride in. And over time, he’d end up making a solo record and create some cool artwork of his own, as well as performing with 'Drumbo' in the reformed Magic Band, allowing the music to live and breathe on stage again.
If you’re a Beefheart fan, how can you not love Rockette Morton? Not only a uniquely talented bass player but such a great stage presence full of joy, along with a lovably quirky personality and such a sweet guy. Easily one of my favorites from Magic Band members, you can’t help but smile when thinking about Mark. He’s been through some rough weather, including his health scares, and yet he’s still the same Mark we’ve known and loved all the years.
Happy birthday Mark! Thank you for all you have given us and look forward to more.
___________________
Patrick Moore is a freehand drawing artist and freelance music writer.
By Nawab Heer
CHANDIGARH: Being in Punjab after a gap of four years, I cannot help but compare the situation prevailing in the state then (in 2019) and now in 2023.
The Aam Aadmi Party came to power in March 2022. Like all NRI well-wishers of Punjab, I too wished that the new governing party would put an end to years of misgovernance, curb corruption and end various mafias.
During the last few months, I have travelled extensively in the state and interacted with all sorts of people. Most Punjabis are satisfied with the change and they do see a ray of hope in Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
I have also found that the majority of people are satisfied with the performance of the AAP government so far even though huge segments – maybe 40 to 45 percent of the population – say that nothing has changed and the AAP government is equally corrupt.
There is no doubt that Bhagwant Mann and some of his ministers are honestly trying to eradicate corruption and bring promised changes in state politics. This attitude in itself is a big change from the tenures of the Badals and Captain Amarinder Singh.
People in the state know the current AAP government inherited a big mess from the previous governments. They narrate how the last two regimes under the Badals and Captain Amarinder Singh indulged in all types of loot, promoted sand, liquor, transport and land mafias and sabotaged institutions of governance – with or without the support of government at the Centre.
Under the Badals and the Captain, there was no governance, leaving the common man at the mercy of the bureaucracy which was busy looting and filling their coffers. Things were even worse under Captain Amrinder Singh because he isolated himself in his newly-built villa near Chandigarh. He had no time to govern Punjab busy as he was enjoying the company of his Pakistani journalist friend Aroosa Alam. His cronies, bureaucrats and police officials ran the state.
However, the turning point came with the year-long agitation by Punjab farmers at Delhi’s borders. Punjabis decided to bring about a political change. Though farmers leaders could not convert their agitation victory into a political victory, the void was very smartly filled by the Aam Aadmi Party under Kejriwal. And comedian-turned-political leader, Bhagwant Mann, became the new CM of Punjab.
Frankly, Mann has done okay as chief minister so far. But major contentious issues remain his headache.
The sacrilege or `beadbi’ of the holy Sikh scripture of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in 2015 and subsequent killing of two Sikhs in police firing remain the biggest issue as the guilty have not been punished all these years.
Everybody in Punjab says that the `beadbi’ of the holy book was carried out by the followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s Dera Sacha Sauda. The then Akali Dal chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal are guilty in the public eye for ordering firing when Sikhs came out in large numbers at Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari to protest against the desecration of the holy book.
In public perception, the then Punjab Police chief Sumedh Saini has become the `General Dyer of Bargari’ (comparing him to the British general who ordered the Jallianwala massacre in 1919).
Though a number of police inquiries were conducted by the Akali Dal government and later by the Congress government under Amarinder Singh, no action was initiated.
Now there is a glimmer of hope as a charge sheet has been filed against the Badals and then police chief Sumedh Saini. People hope the Bhagwant Mann government will punish the guilty. From `Fakkre Qaum’ (pride of the community), ex-CM Parkash Singh Badal has already become `Tabahe Qaum’ (destroyer of the community) in the eyes of people in Punjab.
Speaking about the drug menace, the AAP government has managed only to control the problem at the lower level. Drugs continue to be smuggled into the state from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Pakistan. There is widespread suspicion that the seized drugs are being re-sold in the market by Punjab Police rank and file to make a quick buck.
Fingers are also being pointed at the judiciary as a detailed investigation report of drugs submitted by DGP Chatopadya in 2015, was kept under wraps by political masters and judges. There is widespread belief that even the judiciary has joined hands in making money from the lucrative drug business.
The AAP promised to eradicate corruption from Punjab. Its government has done a good job of fighting this menace so far. An open number was given to citizens where they could upload video/information on corrupt practices. It got an instant response. It is the first time that so many ex- ministers, police officers and bureaucrats have been booked for corruption. Though the majority praises the government for its fight against corruption, a huge segment of people still feel that nothing has changed.
After initial failures, the state government has finally tackled the problem of the sand mafia. People are happy now that sand is available at lower prices.
The transport mafia too has been curbed to a great extent as the state runs its own direct buses from Punjab to Delhi Airport and back. But many buses of the Badals are still on the routes legally approved.
Speaking about the gangsters and the Moosewala murder, I think there are sinister designs afoot to tarnish the image of the AAP government in particular and the Punjabis in general. Unfortunately, the Central government, the Akali Dal and the Congress are using this issue to further their narrow political ends.
I found that people generally view with suspicion the emergence of Amritpal Singh on the Punjab scene at this stage. Having experienced a long period of militant violence in the state, they suspect that political games would be played to polarise Punjabis before the 2024 general elections to gain votes in the rest of India.
Most Punjabis suspect that the Khalistan referendums, pro-Khalistan slogans, leaders such as Deep Sidhu, Amritpal Singh, the Ajnala incident, the Mohali agitation, etc., are creations of a larger gameplan to scare the rest of Indians to think that Punjabis pose a threat to India’s unity.
They feel this situation will continue till March next year and need to be careful not to provide any chance to create a 1984-like situation. It is a major challenge for all Punjabis.
Unfortunately efforts are also being made to sabotage the state government’s plans for Punjab. Only time will tell whether the politics of change and truth prevails or the politics of corruption and nepotism returns to haunt Punjab.
Signing off with the hope that better days are ahead for Punjab.
