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.
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Patrick Moore is a freehand drawing artist and freelance music writer.
By Anita Lerche
I went to India first in the summer of 2005 for trekking in the Himalayas with a Danish group. Gunnar Mühlmann, my friend with whom I had done meditation, invited me. India was like love at first sight. We stayed at a beautiful apple orchard in the Parvati Valley near Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh. It was owned by Anurag Sood who was one of the organizers of the trekking. Sitting around the campfire, I learned some Himachali songs from the tribal people, and we all danced with them.
From Himachal Pradesh, when we were travelling to Punjab by a bus, the driver played Punjabi music. I was blown away by its rhythm and sound and decided to record some music like that.
Actually, we were going to Punjab to record a couple of Himachali songs, but I ended up being offered a record contract. My heart said `yes’ and I decided to stay back in Punjab, canceling all my shows in Denmark.
The Indian trip in 2005 changed my life forever, and I left behind my singing career in Europe.
How I learnt the Punjabi language
I learned all the basics and worked extremely hard on my pronunciation, with the guidance of my language teachers Anurag Sood and the late Rattan Singh Rajput while living in Hoshiarpur.
I have made up my own phonetic language for Punjabi so that I understand and pronounce every word properly. Singing is my ruling passion, and I want to understand every word in depth. As a singer-actor I want to convey the right emotion and story of songs to establish a truthful interaction with my audience.
Over the years, I have learned a lot about the rich Punjabi culture and heritage from the families I have lived with in Punjab, and they have always treated me like their own daughter. Indeed, Punjab has become my second home.
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Anita Lerche at concert in Himachal Pradesh. Photo by Sunil Kumar[/caption]
Initial difficulties with Punjabi
Though I had been a professional singer for many years in Europe, the rhythms and style of singing in Punjabi were completely different from what I was used to. But since I had many years of opera and musical theatre singing training and had already sung in 13 languages before coming to India, my discipline – along with great support and guidance from the people I worked with – made it possible.
My Punjabi songs so far
I have around 20 Punjabi songs that I sing. There are several others that I learned but not released.
As for the lyrics, I have worked with some great Punjabi lyricists. On my first album `Heer from Denmark,’ I worked with lyricists Chann Gorayanwala, Satwinder Bhanewala, Mohan Kheharinwala, Lal Hathauliwala, and Jaggi Singh.
My collaboration song `Aao Ji’ was written by King Gurcharan Mall of the UK. The late Dev Raj Jassal wrote my award-winning single `Maahiya’ and other songs in my album `Sadke Punjab Ton’.
Lyricist Dr. Tejinder Harjit and video director Dr. Harjit Singh have been instrumental in my deeper understanding of the rich Punjabi culture and heritage.
Thanks to them, after releasing `Sadke Punjab Ton’ and `Sammi’, I truly felt like being a Punjabi kudi (girl).
My idol
Gurdas Maan has always been my musical Ranjha. He is a wonderful and humble human being too. I have had the honour to meet and share the stage with him a few times in India and the UK. I am also a big fan of Surinder Kaur.
The best compliment I ever got
When I released my first Punjabi album `Heer from Denmark’ in November 2006, The Times of India wrote, “Anita has also rendered traditional Heer in the album and succeeded in imbuing the depth, pain and passion of the rich composition. In fact, going by her style and pronunciation, one would get the impression that she is a Punjabi only to discover that she is a white.”
Another amazing compliment was when I won the award for Best International Artist at the UK Bhangra Awards in 2017.
It was also another proud moment that I will never forget when Punjabi University at Patiala acknowledged and honoured my work.
In his documentary, Agiapal Singh Randhawa, the winner of Doordarshan Annual Award for his documentary on Surinder Kaur, has highlighted my contribution to the promotion of Punjabi music and culture across the world, calling me `Kashish Punjab Di’ (Sensation of Punjab).
My bhajans and shabads
I have also performed in temples and gurdwaras in India, the UK, Denmark, the US and Canada.
In fact, I first sang Hindu devotional songs in Jalandhar during Ram Navami celebrations in 2007. `Tere Poojan Ko Bhagwan’ was the first one I ever learned. I later made a beautiful music video of this bhajan in the largest Hindu Temple of the Midwest – the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana.
Interestingly, my first Hindu devotional album `Bhajans’ in 2016 made it to the American Billboard Music Chart as No. 5 in the New Age category and No. 6 in the World Music category.
Now I am planning to release an album of `Shabads’.
Husband is my rock
My husband and I were best friends in high school and then went our ways. But 20 years later he traced me on facebook.
He is a specialist in social media and helps manage my singing career. He is the best father for our little son Alexander, so I am grateful and couldn’t have asked for more.
Our Punjabi-style wedding
After our wedding in Denmark, the three families in Punjab with whom I have lived over the years insisted on organizing my Punjabi-style wedding. So, we travelled to Punjab to have four-day-long celebrations, going through all Punjabi wedding ceremonies in Hoshiarpur.
On that very special day, I also released my album `Sadke Punjab Ton’.
There were 500 guests and two elephants at our wedding reception. Our family and friends from Denmark, the UK, the US and Norway also joined us. Punjab Kesari Group Chief Editor Vijay Kumar Chopra was among the dignitaries who attended our wedding. It was a true Punjabi Princess dream coming true.
Next day, we went to pray at the Golden Temple.
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Anita Lerche's Indian wedding[/caption]
Punjabi movies
It would be a lot of fun and a great challenge to work in a Punjabi movie, so let’s see what the future brings.
Where I perform these days
I used to tour for about nine months a year all over the world before settling in Indianapolis in the US.
Now my concert activities are mainly in the US, Canada, Denmark, with a couple of trips to India. In Canada, I have performed at desiFEST, the Vibrant Brampton Festival, Anokhi Awards, Vancouver International Bhangra Celebrations and the Surrey Vaisakhi Parade.
I also perform at weddings and special occasions. This April, I also debuted as a host on Rukus Avenue Radio which is North America’s first mainstream South Asian radio station. Here I have a weekly show called `Heart & Soul’ which is a fusion of devotional and New Age music. (Updated: This article appeared here first on Aug 24, 2019)
