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.
Having a child with Viv Richards without marriage was a wrong decision, says Neena Gupta
By admin 30 Aug 2020
News East West
MUMBAI: Neena Gupta, who became the first celebrity unwed mother 26 years ago when she gave birth to her daughter Masaba with cricket legend Vivian Richards, says that she did it by choice.
But it was a wrong decision, she says, adding that if you want to live in India you should marry.
As she turns 60, Neena tells Bombay Times in an interview that ``it was a wrong decision, as it is very difficult to bring up a child alone. You make a child suffer due to your wish and whim. Child does not have that side of the family.’’
Neena, who married Delhi chartered accountant Vivek Mehra in 2008, says that she was warned by her friends not to go ahead with the pregnancy. ``But I was young and had the nasha, so did it,'' Neena says in the interview.
She says that though her father was deadly opposed to her decision to go ahead with her pregnancy, ``once he knew that I had decided, he stood by me like a rock.''
In the interview, Neena says, ``If you want to live in India and in society, you have to marry. Do not be this modern woman that I was, saying I don't believe in marriage. You have to marry. I told Masaba when she fell in love with Madhu Mantena, 'You are not shifting there till you marry him.' ''
Masaba, who has just married filmmaker Madhu Mantena, says she is very much attached to her father Vivian Richards whom she visits three to four times a year.
On her parents not getting married, Masaba says in the interview that in her dad's Caribbean people can have kids with multiple partners without getting married. Richards, who is separated from his wife, currently lives with a girlfriend.
But Masaba says she is grateful that her parents didn’t marry because their marriage ``would have ended in a disaster.’’
Masaba says Viv Richards looks strong only from the outside. ``But he is a puppy inside.’’
MUST READ: Neena Gupta's daughter Masaba tells trolls she is a proud Indo-Caribbean girl
All Comments
Halson: Must have sucked to have a black/African child in India.
Indians are known for being fairly conservative and proper when it comes to marriage and children. Oh well, her mistake I guess
Lucky, her daughter didn't do the same. Reply
ronnie Joseph: Fuck off. And go back to the 12 century where you belong Reply
Mansi Vyas: I believe in marriage yes but I also believe rather than abortion a child a live should get life he/she has right to be in the world and yes about tlwhat people will accept by such decisions they will just love like they want to so why not we also a chil needs a father but it take guts to be a single mother and bring up a stronger and confident child. Reply
Anshika Agarwal: I appreciate your courage of accepting the consequences of the decision you had made and fulfilling your responsibilities so proudly. Not like those women who make wrong decisions everyday and hide them behind the mask of hypocrisy. Reply
Salim: You should be ashamed rather than be proud of what you did. Reply
kj: what if you don't find a suitable partner. people do adopt kids provided they are financial secure Reply
Mohan: Its Ok now,you please look after your daughters futre.You should find find pleasure in her future!I am a just fan of yours.I adhore your beauty! Reply
The Seductiveness of Indian Women: Cricketing Stars in Love | Thuppahi's Blog: […] Pic from newseastwest.com […] Reply