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.
TORONTO: There is nothing better than curling up with a book on a cold windy fall day – only this time it was a reading from author and diplomat Vikas Swarup at the Harbourfront Center on a Sunday afternoon. Vikas Swarup is author of Q &A the novel which was adapted to film under the title of Slumdog Millionaire. The film was critically acclaimed in India and abroad and went on to win numerous awards, including 10 Oscar nominations of which it won eight, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Vikas Swarup is the perfect image of a dignified diplomat currently posted in Ottawa as India's High Commissioner. He was invited as part of the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) under the segment Safar: Journeys to South Asia curated by Meenakshi Alimchandani and hosted by Teenaz Javat (CBC). Swarup was in conversation with Anirudh Bhattacharya (himself a well-known author and journalist) .
Bhattacharya skillfully steered the interview to reveal a dignified diplomat who just loves writing his signature thrillers with a hook and twist and an iconic sense of humour.
Happy to be invited to the book festival, Swarup said, ``Toronto needs this inclusiveness in events like these. IFOA is a great place to have multicultural voices to be heard especially given that Canada is one of the most welcoming countries for people from all over the globe. You can be comfortable in your own skin in the communities here with no glass ceiling and can achieve success in all walks of life.”
The seasoned diplomat has written three novels – his first novel, Q & A (2005), about a boy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and went on to win a million in a TV game show. His second novel, Six Suspects (2008), has been translated into more than 30 languages. And the Accidental Apprentice (2013) is about a challenge given to a woman by a corporate billionaire to accomplish 7 tests from the Textbook of Life and if she is successful in all of them she will be chosen as the CEO.
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All three books have been written while Swarup has been a full time diplomatic envoy of the Government of India posted in different continents. Swarup said on being transferred to Canada “I was told that Canadians are like Americans but with no guns!” He goes on to say that he thought he would work Monday to Friday and have the entire weekends free to pursue his writing. But he was in for a rude shock as he underestimated the Indian community settled here in Canada that relentlessly sends him invites week after week to attend festivities and celebrate community events. He said jokingly, “I look forward to the snow here then maybe the relentless pace will slow down and I can actually have my weekends to pursue my writing.”
Speaking about his style of writing, he said, “I prefer having several characters and different points of perspective in my novels. That gives me the flexibility to present the complexity of India – a single narrative can’t communicate the complexity of India.”
All his books have multiple narratives through different characters to drive the story. He does not believe in “writing bland antiseptic books – I write as an insider for an insider.” He does not consider himself a social reformer. “I love India but I can also criticize (my country).You can only criticize that which you love.'' He does not “write with a hesitant pen.”
The session ended with a few questions from the audience. When asked about if his fans can expect a sequel to Q & A, he quipped: “I am not looking for a Spiderman franchise!”
Swarup’s contribution to contemporary literature cannot be overlooked. His Q & A is part of the optional literature reading list for high school students around the globe. We do hope Vikas Swarup writes a society thriller during his time here and puts Canada on the map for politeness, lots of snow and lots of festivities all through the year!
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