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.
OAKVILLE: Anil Arora, Chief Statistician, Statistics Canada, highlighted the role of Canadians of Indian origin in the Canadian society and especially its economy at an exclusive Speaker Series organised by Canada India Foundation Tuesday 9 October at Oakville.
In a session that witnessed unprecedented participation, Mr. Arora also highlighted the modernisation drive undertaken by Statistics Canada in its centenary year to generate data that will enable real time policy decisions.
Indo-Canadian population
Delineating the role of Canadians of Indian origin in the Canadian economy, Mr. Arora said, their number is rising. According to the 2016 Census of Population, 8.9% of Canada’s total immigrant population was born in India. Immigrants born in India constitute Canada’s largest immigrant group by country of birth, ahead of China (8.6%) and the Philippines (7.8%).
He said, about half of immigrants who came to Canada from India between 1980 and 2016 were sponsored by a family member. Most others were admitted under economic class programs. More recently, immigrants born in India represented 12.1% of all immigrants who came to Canada between 2011 and 2016, second only to those from the Philippines (15.6%).
Indian students
Explaining the popularity of Canada as a higher education destination among international students from India, Mr. Arora said, “of the 385,000 international students who came to Canada between 2010 and 2013, 13 percent came from India. This compares to just 1% of international students who came to Canada from India in the 1990s.
Bilateral trade
On bilateral trade between Canada and India, Mr. Arora said that the total trade in goods and services between the two countries was $10 billion in 2017, up from $6 billion – or nearly 70 % – in 2012. Nearly 2,000 businesses operating in Canada export to India, while about 15,000 import from India. Canada’s direct investment assets in India total $2.6 billion, generating about 15,000 jobs in Canadian affiliates operating in that country. India’s direct investment assets in Canada total $3.1 billion, generating nearly 18,000 jobs in Indian-owned affiliates operating in Canada.
Data revolution
The third part of Mr. Arora’s presentation pertained to the data revolution that is changing Canada’s society and the expectations of Canadians and Canada’s economy and business environment. Statistics Canada is modernizing every step of the cycle to improve its products in support of evidence-based policy.
Ramesh Sangha, Member of Parliament for Brampton Centre, in his remarks lauded Statistics Canada’s calibrated approach to modernising its processes to enable better public policy decision making. StatCan provides information on every aspect of Canada’s society and economy, he said.
Satish Thakkar, National Convener of Canada India Foundation, in his introductory remarks, gave an overview of the Foundation’s objectives and discussed the plans. “On the bilateral relations front, CIF has advocated for a 360-degree improvement in bilateral relations i.e. politically, socially, economically, and culturally.” CIF will endeavour to influence public policy by advocating for recognition of qualified and experienced Canadians of Indian origin in public spheres, Mr. Thakkar said,
Pankaj Dave, Co-Convener of Canada India Foundation, while delivering the thank you note, lauded Mr. Arora’s effort at simplifying statistics, a subject that is often mired in confusion and controversy. He then invited all the participants to celebrate the centenary of Statistics Canada. Canada India Foundation had ordered a special centenary cake.
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Lachman: will have to check the figures though. seems like a good jump from 2016 where it stood at $4 billion bilaterally -india into canada at $2.8bn and canada into india at 1.2 billion(taken from ICCC website).
Lachman: Interesting to note that India FDI into Canada is still higher than Canada into India though many people don't believe that. Many years ago when Essar group invested into Alcoma the FDI jumped incredulously for many. I remember even well known economists from CIBC and BMO were surprised to learn India had so much money to invest.
Lachman: ok, can Anil provide a link to corroborate the $10 billion figure? According to stat canada site it is CAD 8.436 billion which is what I have heard at several symposiums, now all of a sudden I get $10 billion. What else is Anilladding that is not reflected in their site. I cannot copy a link here as it doesnt allow me to but if you google canada india bilateral trade 2017 and look under the international.gc.ca link you willfind it. you have to scroll down that page towards the end.
shows all the countries. India is no 10 in bilateral trade in 2017.
Lachman Balani: wasnt india Canada trade at 8 billion in 2016?good jump in a year. 
