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 Subhash K Jha
MUMBAI: The marriage of the millennium is over. The radiant bridegroom and the love of his life are just back from paradise on earth.
Sanjay Khan’s health resort in Bangalore which was the venue for the Hrithik-Suzanne marriage has become famous for all times.
Back home in Mumbai, Hrithik bashfully begs off an interview when I call the first time. “We returned yesterday and I promised Suzanne I’d spend the next three days completely with her.”
But three days later he’s ready to speak on marriage, career, controversies and Kareena Kapoor. Happy, hurt, ecstatic and bewildered, here’s Hrithik, naturally.
Q. Are you still in a daze about the marriage?
A. Not really. Three days ago it had still not sunk in. But now I’m gradually coming back to earth.
Q. Have you and your new wife had your first fight as yet?
A. Nooooo. We’ve had our share of fights. I’ve been as good as married to her for the last six years. But so far, after marriage no fights. If as you say the fights start after the honeymoon then we’re safe. We aren’t going on one.
[caption id="attachment_82768" align="alignnone" width="800"]
Hrithik-Suzanne wedding.[/caption]
Q. Now let’s talk about your marriage. The date was decided long before, wasn’t it?
A. It wasn’t really decided. We had thought of 2 tentative dates in December 2000 and January 2001. 20 December was found to be the best day for the marriage by the astrologers. I was very keen on 13 January. That’s the day I met Suzanne. Also, Kaho Na… Pyar Hai was released on that date last year. Amazingly we got married in the golden jubilee week of Kaho Na…Pyar Hai. Anyway I was okay with both 20 December and Jan 13. Karan had my dates during December while Mr Ghai had my dates in Jan. Dad was speaking to both about giving me a week off after my marriage. Karan very sweetly obliged. But we got to know only on the 14th that I could get those days in December off. So we had barely 6 days to get everything organized. Not that there was much to be organized. There were hardly any outsiders at the wedding. Even the photography and videography were done by family members. It was just Suzanne and my immediate family , her 9 friends , my 9 friends and my Dad’s close friends. By the 14th we knew the date was the 20th. But Dad decided to withhold the date until the 18th.
Q. But everyone in the industry knew the date?
A. Yeah. But unless it comes from the horse’s mouth it still remains a rumour. The main problem was regarding the security. We wanted no hoo-ha about my marriage. But still everyday the papers kept getting me married off in some part of the world—Mauritius, the Caribbean islands, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii(laughs). They took us all over the world.
Q. How did all this media speculation about your marriage make you feel?
A. I just wanted us to be left alone. And for the first time I didn’t feel bad about feeling this way. Earlier I felt guilty when I complained about the downside of my success. But on this occasion I wanted my marriage to be a completely private affair. But after the event I was shocked to see our wedding photographs in the papers.
Q. Do you mean to say you didn’t give them out?
A. Not the ones that were out in the papers. Somebody at the wedding, perhaps a waiter, had clicked those pictures. We even caught a guy in Bangalore hiding in one of the rooms and shooting pictures. I spotted a red light behind the curtains in a dark room. He was one of the staffers at the Resort. My friends went and caught him.
Q. Congratulations, you’ve introduced the paparazzi into Indian journalism, and in the same week that Madonna married.
A. (laughs) I don’t know whether I should be congratulated for that. But in one of the pictures in the papers where Suzanne and I were caught coming out of the airport, we almost looked like one of those Hollywood couples sneaking in after a secret marriage. This kind of popularity doesn’t excite me. I’m only here to do good work. And I want my life to be happy.
Q. It will be, touchwood. But what did marriage mean for you besides inquisitive mediapersons?
A. It was just a formality ,a social sanction for our relationship. To tell people officially that Suzanne belongs to me and I belong to her.
Q. Yes, but marriage also has long-term advantages, like legal rights for your children?
A. We aren’t looking at those long-term advantages. We just wanted our relationship to be socially sanctioned. And what a dream venue it was. The Resort in Bangalore has got to be the most beautiful place on this planet. People said they had never seen anything like this in life. Suzanne’s family kept telling me it was the most beautiful thing in the world. I believed them. But I thought there biased about their own creation. When I reached there I was stunned. I just died when I saw the place. I don’t need to go anywhere outside for a holiday. I’m going straight to my father-in-law’s holiday resort in Bangalore. It’s got the largest swimming pool in Asia, and we got married right in the middle of it. We signed the marriage register and took our marriage vows there. I always wanted to do that. I always wanted a little bit of a church wedding in my marriage.
Q. You mean, “I solemnly swear” and all that?
A. No no I changed the vows. I gave the lines a little twist. Now that we’ve returned from Bangalore I’m feeling empty. It was paradise on earth. It was really exciting to be there with friends and all.
Q. No one from the film industry?
A. No one except Uday Chopra. He was like the best man at the wedding. Then Fardeen who’s Suzanne’s cousin. The rest were Dad’s friends like Jeetu Uncle, Daboo Uncle, Rishi Kapoor and Prem Chopra.
Q. Don’t you think your other industry friends must be feeling left out?
A. If they are my true friends they’d understand. If we called our friends from the industry there would have been thousands of people from both sides .
Q. What did you think about the endless curiosity about your wedding details?
A. I think too much importance was given to it. I expected a certain amount of reaction to it, but not so much. I haven’t yet opened my fan mail about my marriage. But my fans have always extended their love for me to Suzanne. They address her as Didi, Bhabhi. They’re unbelievably sweet to her. I think it’s partly to do with the fact that I never hid the fact that I was in love.
Q. Simi Garewal is your greatest fan . She thinks you’re the most unaffected star she’s ever met.
A. She’s really sweet. Well, so far so good. But what’s all this about Nepal and Nepalis being furious with me? I’ve clue what this is all about. I’m supposed to have said in television interview that I dislike Nepal and its people! What nonsense ! The only television interviews. I’ve given are the ones with Simi Garewal and Karan Thapar. In neither interview have I said anything about or against Nepal.
Q. So where did this come from?
A. I’ve no idea. The press couldn’t have heard me saying anything like this. I was warned that stories against me were going to start. How much good things could they write about me? Talking positively about me is no longer hot news. That’s becoming boring. So now they’ll write negative stories just to give readers something different to chew on. ‘You know , Hrithik isn’t so nice after all. He’s doing all these nasty things.’ Tell me, why would I say something against Nepalis? I’ve so many fans that I love there. Now do you know, the political party with people of Indian origin in South Africa has gone against me?
Q. Now what have you done to them?
A. Absolutely nothing. They’ve gone against me because I’ve supposedly joined hands with the other political party in South Africa. They’ve used my face for their electoral campaigns without taking my permission. A part of the Indian population in South Africa now thinks I’m on the other side. I’ve had to issue clarifications, send out letters to the people in South Africa when in fact I’ve nothing to do with politics in India, let alone in South Africa.
