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 Ashok Bhargava
VANCOUVER:
Mother’s Day is a day for many people to show their appreciation towards mothers and mother figures worldwide. It is an annual event but is held at different dates in the country.
It is a celebration honoring the motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is the day when we acknowledge our mothers’ contribution in our lives and pay a tribute to them, often with flowers, chocolates and gifts.
The traditional practice of honoring of motherhood is rooted in antiquity. Ancient rites had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones, as societies tended to celebrate goddesses and symbols of motherhood, rather than actual mothers. Objects of adoration ranged from mythological female deity, to a holy river like the Ganges, a holy temple or a church.
[caption id="attachment_90341" align="alignnone" width="641"]
Ashok Bhargava's parents.[/caption]
For thousands of years, Hindus have been celebrating a ten-day festival called Durga Puja by honouring and worshipping the divine mother in early October. Durga is a personification of feminine supremacy as well as creative energy and she represents strength, valour, gallantry and courage. She is the divine mother who protects people from evil. Hindu scriptures credit mother as a goddess, the very essence of human race. Honouring Durga Mata is also an occasion for family reunion and rejuvenation, and a celebration of traditional culture and customs.
Like Hinduism, Buddhism also honours mother dearly. The Buddha said, "Even at the risk of her own life, a mother always loves and protects her child. So let all men cultivate love without measure towards their mothers."
Mothers occupy a very special place in the Sikh faith too. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, said, “We must honor the women who gave birth to the prophets, the gurus, and devotees of all faiths.”
Ancient Egyptians celebrated a mother deity of Goddess Isis during spring time annually. Cybele from Phrygia in ancient Anatolia (modern Turkey) and Rhea from Greece were worshipped and celebrated mother goddesses.
By the 16th century, ancient Roman religious and cultural traditions in Europe gave way to the spread of Christianity. In the 17th century, a clerical decree in England broadened the celebration from one focused on the church and the Virgin Mary (mother of Christ) to the real mothers referring to the occasion as “Mothering Day” held on the fourth Sunday of Lent.
In our times, Mother’s Day - as we know it - came about due to efforts of Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia in the US. She campaigned for the observance of Mother’s Day as a remembrance of her mother, who died in 1905 and who had, in the late 19th century, tried to establish "Mother's Friendship Days" as a way to heal the scars of the Civil War.
It was in 1910, West Virginia became the first state to recognize Mother's Day. A year later, nearly every state officially marked the day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed Mother's Day as a national holiday to be held on the second Sunday of May.
Now Mother’s Day is celebrated in India as a time to reflect on the importance of mothers in their life. It is a time to acknowledge the pain, hardship and sacrifice a mother has to go through to raise a child. It is a day to say a big thank you to mothers for being a selfless guide and an inspiration to us.
In India, some people make a meal for their mothers so that she can have a day of rest from the kitchen. Some people send cards or give gifts to appreciate their mothers. The whole idea of celebrating is to make her feel important on that day.
My mother passed away many years ago, but I still remember her on Mother’s Day and that day to reflect on the stories she told and the lessons she taught us. To me, she is as important as Durga, Isis, Cybele, Rhea or the Virgin Mary have ever been. Here is a short poem to pay tribute to the memories of my mother:
Early morning,
the cow’s moo was
a wake-up call for her to get up.
Early morning, she reignited
dormant embers in the charcoal ashes,
churned the milk-curd in a clay pot,
separated cream and buttermilk
for the family breakfast.
Early morning, she smelled
the fresh air of dawn
mixed with aroma of cow-chip fire
burning with thick smoke
offering incense to gods.
Early morning, she walked
on the cool green grass
covered with dew drops,
whispered devotional songs on her way to the temple.
Early morning, she sat cross-legged
within warmth of a coal stove Chulla,
for she was happy and waiting for her children
to wake up to the smell of pan fried parantha-bread
and fresh home-made buttermilk
to fill the house with noise, love and joy.
I have missed you so much Beeji
since you were taken away.
I remember everything about you
and wish you were here today.
If I could see you one last time,
you know what I would do: release all my emotions
and say mom, I LOVE YOU!
[Ashok Bhargava is president of Writers International Network (WIN) Canada]
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pd bhargava: Late comment but deep from the heart.I often wonder as to why do i get tears in my eyes when ever I think of Beeji,my dear mother.Is it because she spent the evening of her life with me and my dear wife Ashi?She even honoured us by starting her last journey from my house,where all the brothers and sisters had gathered with their life parteners.What a wonderful mother who made everyone feel that she was closest to him\her!keeping this delicate balance between 8 brothers and their wives,two sisters and their husbands is a feat which only A GREAT MOTHER could do
yogesh bhargava: A very emotional rememberance of our dearest mother.It is not possible to forget the sacrifice, love and affection of our beloved MOTHER.
J K Bhargava: Very well expressed sentiments filled with love & attachment to our respected mom.It is so emotional that it took me back to so many years.
Thanks .We all pay our respect to a great mom who was so special to all of us.In the morning itself,Neena was telling Mrinal that she has learnt every thing from our Beeji. 
