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.
News East West TORONTO: Fake astrologers and soothsayers from India are thriving in Canada. With fancy titles and superlatives tagged to their names, these charlatans are mushrooming in major Canadian cities. In Toronto and its surrounding cities, you could find these thugs making ludicrous claims in bold advertisements in desi papers. Now they advertising in the mainstream papers as well. Thumb through Toronto’s free morning dailies and you will find tons of these charlatans in classified columns. One claims himself to be the ``unique Indian astrologer’’ who solves all your problems instantly with ``100% protection.’’ Another proclaims himself to be ``the most powerful spiritualist from India’ who gives ``100% guarantee to remove black magic & evil spirits.’’ Then there is one who says he is ``the most powerful tantric master’’ from India to whom ``your one phone call can change your total future.’’ Yet another one claims: ``I am Master in removing and destroying jadoo, voodoo, bad luck...’’ The list goes on. Shockingly, you won’t find such ridiculous ads in any newspaper in a major Indian city! But you find them here in Toronto - which is Canada’s largest city! What a shock! And one wonders how these papers running these ads without even an iota of evidence in favour of the claims made in these advertisements. On the other hand, when people read these ads by Indian charlatans making godly claims they must be laughing up their sleeve. These crooks and their ads are inflicting a major damage on Brand India. The imagery they use in their ads only reinforces the impression that Indians are still snake charmers, that India is a country of obscure cults and pagan practices. They nullify that India is actually the land of the Infosyses, the Wipros and the Tatas of the world. The modus operandi of these charlatans is simple: prey upon new immigrants whose new life in this country is full of uncertainties. They prey upon people’s uncertainties about success, businesses, jobs and their family life. New immigrants - or even long-settled ones - fall for these thugs because people are looking for answers and certainty in their lives. And these charlatans calm their nerves by their ready-made answers! This is out-and-out spiritual merchandising. Any sensible person knows this, but what can anyone do to stop it? This is a cultural and social problem in the Indian context, and a grey area in the context of Canadian laws. So exploitation of the gullible by these charlatans continues. And Brand India keeps eroding as these crooks mushroom. One wonders under what category these crooks were admitted into Canada!
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Amruthapal: Good vedic astrologer Dr.Gurudeva,USA
www.luckygemfinder.com
Difficult to get direct appointment.
wicky: I conducted a survey on several Indian astrologers and so far i have not succeeded in finding a good one. Many are here to fool innocent believers in order to make money. Some use computer programs while others tell you the most common things that make you happy. At the same time, they mention negative aspects in your life that need to be fixed as if you were "cursed". Thus, having you spend more money to remove these problems. In the end, its all a big business and be cautious of who you go to. If i do find someone, i will respond back.
Ashok: So who is a genuine astrologer? Can you recommend someone? I am looking for one.
Lachman Balani: yes all over in metro 
