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.
___________________
Patrick Moore is a freehand drawing artist and freelance music writer.
Agencies
BOLLYWOOD: As Bollywood queen Katina Kaif, 38, tied the knot with actor Vicky Kaushal, 33, at Six Senses Fort Barwara, in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan, on December 9, the British-Indian actress has been linked to many men.
Katrina Kaif was born Katrina Turquotte in Hong Kong on July 16, 1983. Her English mother Suzanne Turquotte was a Harvard educated lawyer who gave up her successful legal practice to work for an international charity.
Katrina says her British-Kashmiri father Mohammed Kaif separated from her mother when she was very young and that her mother raised her singlehandedly along with her brother Michael and six sisters – Stephanie, Christine, Natasha, Melissa, Sonia, and Isabel.
On growing up without her father, Katrina told NDTV in 2009, “We have grown up without a father. I missed it a great deal. I do feel that sense of loss.â€
Has her father tried to contact her?
“No, he is not that kind of a man. He is very decent and comes from a good family and they (her parents) went their own ways because of issues which are personal. He is an affluent person, so he is not going to come back because his daughter is now famous,†Katrina said.
Katrina won a beauty contest in Hawaii at the age of 14 and later started professional modelling in London where her mother had moved her family after her charity work finished.
While modelling in London, she met Indian filmmaker Kaizad Gustad who encouraged her to move to India. “I met Kaizad Gustad in London. He encouraged me. He said, "You must come to India. At that time I was focusing on modelling. He gave me a lot of contacts, including that of (Mumbai photographer) Farooq.â€
Katrina says she came to India with only Rs 4 lakh in her pocket in 2003.
“I told myself that if I can make it with this money, I will stay in India. If not, I will go back to London and rejoin college. I was only 17 at that time and was modelling. I bought a small apartment near a cemetery. I fear living alone and fear darkness, so I would stay up all night and wait for the sun to come up and then go to bed at five o'clock in the morning and sleep for five hours,†Katrina told NDTV in 2009.
She says she did her first photo-shoot in Mumbai with photographer Farooq. “I got very good feedback. I took my portfolio and went from one agency to another. I would go there and say, can I meet your casting director? I showed them my pictures. The casting agents started calling me.â€
Her first Bollywood film was Boom (2003), but it flopped.
Then she came in contact with super star Salman Khan. That’s where Katrina’s life changed and a string of her love affairs began.
Salman Khan introduced her to Bollywood by starring opposite her in his brother Sohail Khan’s Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya in 2005. The film was a big success.
As Salman and Katrina became a loving pair, he got her break with other top directors such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sajid Nadiadwala.
Salman is responsible for making Katrina a superstar in Bollywood – through his home production Bharat or Ek Tha Tiger, Bang Bang, and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
Salman Khan was her first love in Bollywood, followed by other affairs.
As the actress is all set to tie the knot with Vicky Kaushal, here are Katrina’s five love affairs:
1: SALMAN KHAN: Salman’s romance with Katrina began with Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya (2005). They became a pair on the Bollywood circuit, even though the two never openly admitted it.
According to Rediff.com, Salman even proposed to her. It happened at a birthday party Salman organized for Katrina on her 24th birthday. This party was attended by Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Katrina’s mother and sister.
During the party when the DJ played the song Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Salman Khan reportedly went down on his knees and proposed to Katrina.
“She didn’t know how to react with Salman’s gesture,†a guest was reported as saying.
That Salman really loved her was confirmed when during his sister Aprita Khan’s wedding he taunted Katrina – who was then dating Ranbr Kapoor – by saying, “I gave you a chance to become Katrina Khan, but you chose to be ‘Katrina Kapoor’.â€
Actually, many in Bollywood wanted to see Salman and Katrina as a real-life couple.
Salman’s friend Aamir Khan, during a press conference for his film Doom 3 with Katrina in November 2013, said in her presence that "Main chahta hun ke main unko dekhoon ek saath... real life main bhi (I want to see them (Salman and Katrina) together...in real life as well).’’
But Katrina broke up with Salman when she did a film with Ranbir Kapoor.
2: AKSHAY KUMAR: Katrina Kaif was also linked to actor Akshay Kumar after the two featured in the successful move Namaste London (2007).
When Twinkle Khanna got wind of the alleged affair, she warned her husband of the consequences. And that was the end of Akshay’s infatuation with Chikni Chameli (Katrina).
Since Akshay was a married man, Katrina also preferred to remain with Salman Khan.
3: RANBIR KAPOOR: It is rumoured that Katrina broke up with Salman Khan because of their huge age gap and also because she wanted to work with his arch-rival Shah Rukh Khan.
Katrina and Ranbir fell in love with each other during the filming of Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani (2009) in Ooty.
Pinkvilla quoted a friend of Katrina as saying, “She was shooting in Ooty with Ranbir when this happened. She didn't want to wait until she got back home. So she texted him (Salman) that it was over from her side, but they could still remain friends.â€
Ranbir was still in a relationship with Deepika Padukone when he fell in love with Katrina.
Deepika reportedly caught Katrina and Ranbir red-handed and broke off her two-year relationship with Ranbir.
Speaking about Ranbir’s cheating, Deepika later told Verve magazine, â€For me, sex is not just about physicality; there are emotions involved. I have never cheated or strayed when I'm in a relationship. If I'm going to be fooling around, why would I be in a relationship? It's better to be single and have fun. But not everyone thinks like that. Maybe that's why I've been hurt in the past. I was foolish enough to give him a second chance because he begged and pleaded, despite the fact that everyone around me said he was still straying. Then I actually caught him red-handed. It took me a while to get out. But having done that, nothing can make me go back. That ship has sailed.â€
After his break-up with Deepika, Ranbir Kapoor made his relationship with Katrina official. They were seen on holidays together.
The couple moved in together and shared a penthouse in Silver Sands on a monthly rent of Rs 15 lakh. Ranbir reportedly paid a security deposit of Rs 21 crore on the penthouse.
They decorated their penthouse with the artefacts brought from around the world.
However, their six-year affair ended in 2016 and Ranbir Kapoor moved out of the penthouse into his new apartment in Bandra.
Interestingly, after the end of her six-year affair with Ranbir, Katrina went back to mentor Salman Khan who always stood by her.
4: SIDDHARTH MALLYA: There were rumours of Katrina’s affair with Siddharth Mallya when she was the brand ambassador for his IPL team Royal Challenger Bangalore from 2007 to 2010.
If this affair happened, it happened after she broke up with Salman Khan and her relationship with Ranbir Kapoor had not yet started.
Siddharth and Katrina were seen watching IPL matches together.
In one of their embarrassing pictures together, Siddharth was seen approaching Katrina and putting his right hand under her top even as the actress smiled sheepishly.
5: VICKY KAUSHAL: Appearing on the show Koffee with Karan in 2019, Katrina Kaif was asked whom she would love to pair with in her next movie. Katrina named Vicky as her choice.
Later when Vicky appeared on the same show, host Karan Johar told him how Katrina had expressed her desire to pair with him in her next film. Vicky was floored, saying only ''really?".
When he was asked how he would react if he came to know that the actress wished to date him, Vicky said he liked Katrina Kaif.
Perhaps it was after this interview that Vicky and Katrina started dating. They were photographed together at parties though they never came together to these events.
When both tested positive for coronavirus, it was rumoured that they were staying together.
The rumours remained only rumours for some time as both of them refused to say anything about it.
In fact, in a 2020 interview when Vicky was asked whether he was dating Katrina, he said, "I hope you respect this. I really want to guard my personal life to some extent because if you open up, it leads to discussions and interpretations and misinterpretations. That is something I am not inviting.â€
However, the rumours were confirmed in June 2021 by Anil Kapoor’s son Harshvardhan Kapoor in an interview.
Participating in Zoom's By Invite Only, Harshvardhan was asked about any rumoured Bollywood relationship that was true. He said, "Vicky and Katrina are together, that's true. Am I going to get in trouble for saying this? I don't know. I think they're quite open about it."
Katrina didn’t kindly to the interview, with one of her close friends telling film writer Subhash K. Jha, “He (Harshvardhan Kapoor) had no business discussing her love life on a chat show. She barely knows him. And even if she did know him well, he should have asked her before going public with her personal life. She has been badly hurt in her earlier relationship (with Ranbir Kapoor). She wants to keep this (her current relationship) as quiet as possible.â€
That was then.
Now Katrina is all set to become Mrs Kaushal.
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