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: Theatre actor Rahul Bagga who plays the role of Hindi porn writer Mastram in the forthcoming bio-pic directed by Akhilesh Jaiswal answers sticky questions on the purpose of pornography.
You play the legendary porn writer Mastram. How much of his porn writing did you read as preparation for your role?
Honestly speaking, I didn't have to read anything to prepare for the role as I had already read enough of Mastram’s porn during my theatre days in Delhi. It was considered to be quite helpful for an actor as it helps to improve your visualisation and imagination. We used to have sessions during which everyone got the opportunity to read at least a page and then it was easy to make out who is a better speaker and who can engage everyone with his monologue. I also read Mastram for many years, so the words and subject were close to my life.. basically relatable. So preparation for my character has been going on for the past 10 years. By the way I’ve been crowned for the best rendition of Mastram stories many times by my friends. Ha, ha, ha.
Was there any embarrassment in accepting the role?
Actually, I think about the embarrassment now, I don't think it was there. Yes definitely there was a thought about how the script would turn out. When my director Akhilesh Jaiswal told me the idea that he wants to make a film on Mastram I was excited. Then it sunk into me that the film was about a porn writer. What kind of scenes would there be? How were they going to shoot the porn angle? Would the end-product come across as a C-grade film as it had no big name attached to it? These were the concerns which came up after the initial excitement. But embarrassment doesn't have space in an actor’s life. An actor like me cannot afford the luxury of embarrassment. I am glad the people whom I am answerable to are only my parents and couple of close ones. The rest of society and people stopped existing for me the day I started doing theatre..
Did you have to perform sex-related scenes?
Yes, I was required to perform one such scene. But it was not just sex, it was more of loving making as it was between a husband and a wife making out after marriage. I don’t think there was anything wrong with it. Though it’s a film about a porn writer, it is dealt with in a very very intelligent way. There is no vulgarity or sleaze or skin show or cleavage or bikini. During these times when a film’s USP (unique selling point) is a heroine sporting a bikini or doing an item number in skimpy clothes with her bosom and derriere highlighted and considering the fact that this film is inspired by a real-life person who revolutionised and brought out hidden emotions of a man and women in Hindi porn literature, if there are sex scenes they are an integral part of this story and not by the demand of any producer or for some commercial reasons.
Do you think Mastram influenced libidos all across North India?
Ha, ha, ha! What can I say? I think every man between 70 and 18 must have read or heard specifically about Mastram. The day the trailer was released my father called me and told me, 'Bahut acha laga trailer humne bhi bahut padhi hain yeh waali kitaabein.. humare zamaane mein 50 paise ek din ke kiraye pe milti thi' .
How pervasive is the power of porn?
Just to open up on this topic more, I think Mastram is just a metaphor for pornographic gratification. We read porn by Mastram. Young people are now reading it through the Internet in some other form. Of course, Mastram is far better than all of them as erotica has a basic fundamental requirement that is a reader should be able to instantly relate to the situation so that the first word of the story transports him to that world to the extent that he or she becomes the character and experiences the erotic pleasures of what is written. I think only Mastram can do that to us. How can a writer of English porn have that effect on a person from India? Mastram was the people's writer. I think he was a Communist at heart. Let’s not forget, during the times when he started in the 1980s there was no television, mobile, the Internet not even the radio for common people. The only affordable means of entertainment was Mastram's books.
In your growing up years how addicted were you to Mastram?
I would say I am still addicted to Mastram. It’s just that times have changed. Today also if get a copy I bet you I will finish it quicker than the time I take to finish a Chetan Bhagat novel. Addiction is addiction it never goes away, that is why it is addiction.. ha ha ha..
So you still enjoy porn?
Yes, porn images are like dreams which you always want to achieve. Everything is larger than life in porn, including the main attractions. Actually porn motivates you and when you achieve your dreams you achieve the best orgasm possible. Porn is also meditative. It helps you to be in that moment. When you are enjoying porn there no other thought. that is what meditation is.. right? So for us actors it becomes more important to watch porn and practice being in the moment..
Do you search porn websites?
Yes, don’t you? We all do. Otherwise they wont be there. And we should respect them as it is a source of employment and revenue. Funnily if you type ‘how’ on Google the suggestion is HOW TO KISS A GIRL. And when you type WHEN the suggestion is WHEN WILL I DIE. Funny, no? Such correlation between sex and mortality.
What do you think of the government’s idea to ban porn web sites?
I really don't understand why they will do that. As it is, sex is such a taboo in our society that people don’t talk about it with family or even friends. At least porn helps all those people to secretly educate themselves about sex and clear their doubts, especially for youngsters who have no real sex. It’s almost like sex education. For married people too it provides different and new excitements to overcome the monotony of routine intercourse. I think porn helps in building relations too. So porn sites are only helping society.Why ban them? Bachpan mein hum yehi sunte aaye hain jis cheez se roka jaata hai bachche wahi karte hain. So don’t force people to go against the government. What has been the benefit of banning alcohol in certain states?
Do you think porn sites have potential to prevent crime?
I think the only way to prevent crime against women and children is to provide education and equality to every human being in every which way at least in terms of opportunity, plus by strengthening our laws. As far as porn sites are concerned, they are a way of entertainment. Entertainment gives pure and constructive happiness.I don’t think a happy person will ever commit any crime. So in a way yes, porn sites prevent crimes.Porn sites have educational qualities too which again will prevent people from committing crimes.
You are also the face of the Congress’s propaganda for youth power. Are you championing porn with the party’s permission?
I will just like to say only one thing. I am not saying all of this because I am part of this film. In fact we have not made this film to titillate or create controversy.We’ve made a fictional biography of a real guy whose pen name was MASTRAM. He wrote porn. The film speaks about how our society corners and forces a non-conformist to go against his dreams.
PICTURES: Tara Alisha who plays Mastram's wife
