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 Jagpal Singh Tiwana HALIFAX: Khushwant Singh's best writings collected in the form of this book — Punjab, Punjabis & Punjabiyat — are just rivetting. His daughter Mala Dayal, who has edited the book, says in the Introduction, ``The pieces collected in this book are my father's best writings on Punjab, its land and people..." The book contains 31 articles in his trenchant style, loaded with sarcasm and humour. Khushwant knew too much about people and incidents, and this book clearly brings it out. Most articles in the book consist of three or four pages. His column "With Malice towards One and All" was most widely read in India. As usual, he doesn't spare friends or foes alike. His article on Maharaja Ranjit Singh gives a peek into the Sikh ruler's queerness, governing style, and secularism. He calls Bhagat Puran Singh a crackpot when the latter threw a few questions at him during his very first meeting with him. But then he goes on to praise Bhagat Puran Singh in the same article. "It was impossible to meet Bhagat ji and not feel inspired to contribute towards his mission in some manner, however modest…'' and he did contribute. Through his columns, Khushwant Singh persuaded many people to donate to the Pingalwara. He even talked to his siblings to make a substantial donation to the Pingalwara from the Sir Sobha Singh Charitable Trust. "In living memory, Punjab has not produced as great a man as Bhagat Puran Singh,'' says Khushwant Singh. In fact, he knew who are genuine humanitarians. That's why he has kind words for Veer ji Tarlochan Singh of Delhi, Mother Teresa and Bhagat Puran Singh. Among politicians he likes Baba Kharak Singhj and Manmohan Singh. Though Khushwant was a professed agnostic, his attachment to Sikhism and Gurbani is pretty obvious in the book which is divided into three parts. Part 1 on 'Punjab and Punjabiyat' has 17 articles, 11 of which are on Sikhs. Part 2 is on 'My Bleeding Punjab.' Four articles out of six relate to the incidents about 1984. Part 3 on 'Punjabis' contains eight articles, with six of them focussed on important Sikh Punjabis. His simple flowing prose and easy-to-read style keeps the reader glued to the book. His description of various events with great accuracy about places and dates brings great value to the students of history. Most of the events are eyewitness' accounts where he is personally involved. Khushwant was born at Hadali, a small village west of the Jhelum river, now in Pakistan. He grew up under the care and influence of his grandmother who was a deeply religious lady. "My grandmother spent her afternoons plying the charkha while mumbling Guru Arjan's Sukhmani..." he remembers. This exposure to sacred hymns in his childhood had a lasting impression on him. When Khushwant visited Hadali for the first time after moving to Delhi in his childhood, he was initiated into reading the Granth Sahib and advised to recite Japji Sahib daily. Later, he translated Gurbani into English which won him the admiration of the Sikhs. The translation Bara Maha of Guru Nanak is one of the articles in this book. To write Sikh history was his ultimate desire. He said, "To write on Sikh religion and history was my life's ambition. Having done that I felt like one living on borrowed time, at peace with myself and the world. It would not bother me if I wrote nothing else.'' His well-researched two volumes of `A History of the Sikhs', written in 1963, was acclaimed as the best work on Sikhism in English. He was the first historian to introduce the Sikh religion to the western world. Khushwant believed that Sikhism is an offshoot of Hinduism and he was worried that Sikhism would lose its distinctiveness as a faith and be absorbed by Hinduism. His description of Akali politics is quite critical and forthright. He remarks that the Anandpur Resolution of 1973, drafted by Kapur Singh, is couched in most intemperate language and a product of confused thinking. He is at his best when he describes the events of the 1980s and his views on those events are unmatched for their honesty and bluntness. Despite his dislike for the Anandpur Resolution, he justifies the demands of Akalis. He says Chandigarh should be the exclusive capital of Punjab, waters of Punjab rivers along with dams and hydroelectric works belong to Punjab, and so do Abohar and Fazilka. Punjab needs heavy industry. In one of his pre-June 1984 articles, he writes that if the legitimate demands of the Akalis are conceded with sincerity and grace, it will strengthen the hands of moderates and isolated Bhindranwale. Moderate Akalis should also show their loyalty to India. Separate nationhood will be suicidal for Sikhs. However, the government was playing politics and using delaying tactics. Bhindranwale became stronger and popular among the Sikhs and Akali leaders started losing ground. Arms were brought into the Golden Temple in full view of the police. Whosoever, Sikh or Hindu, spoke against Bhindranwale, was eliminated by his men. According to Khushwant Singh, up to May 1984, the government was not in favour of storming the Golden Temple to flush out terrorists, but the Akalis' decision to bloc foodgrains going out of Punjab compelled the government to launch Operation Blue Star. Khushwant is not probably right here because such an operation couldn't have been launched without a preparation of several weeks or months. The government was planning to launch the surgical strike at a suitable opportunity and the blocking the foodgrains gave it the opportunity. However, Khuswant Singh was not expecting the use of tanks and heavy artillery at the holy place. In his view, commandos in plainclothes and limited military action to occupy Guru ka Langar to deprive the terrorists of food, water and fuel was enough to force them out. This way, hundreds of innocent lives could have been saved and damage to the holy building avoided. In protest, he returned the Padma Bhushan and earned the ire of Hindus and many journalists. "The reason why I was so upset by the army action is that it created a fertile soil for sowing the seed of Khalistan...I never have, not ever will, compromise with any move to dismember my Motherland. Khalistan will be made over my dead body.” It goes to the credit of Manmohan Singh that Khushwant was honoured with the higher award of the Padma Vibhushan in 2007. As usual, the book is not free from errors and omissions. Khushwant gives the population of Sikhs in Punjab after 1966 as 52 percent, whereas it was actually about 60.22 percent. He says that Guru Gobind Singh Marg is from Anandpur to Fatehgarh Sahib, but it goes all the way to Talwandi Sabo — a 577-km highway. He writes that the Singh Sabha movement was started in the 1890s but actually it began in the 1870s. Moreover, the article on Giani Zail Singh is quite complimentary, and it does not include his role in building Bhindranwale and his rivalry with Darbara Singh. However, better figures and facts are given in the new edition of his `A History of Sikhs'. READ NEXT: Sikh Rehat Maryada needs fresh look
Jagdish Singh: Jagpal wirji, I just finished reading your review of The Sardar's (for me Khushwant is a true, unafraid Sardar) memoirs by his daughter Maya Dayal. You, in the review have captured the true essence of what made him tick. He pulled no punches, spared no one, including himself.
Any idea how I can get this book to add to my "Sardar" collection ?
Keep up the good work wirji ...jaggi 
