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.
Nargis Fakhri also explains why she called Ranbir Kapoor a 'gossip queen' on Coffee With Karan
By Subhash K Jha BOLLYWOOD: The spirited stunning Nargis Fakhri in conversation with Subhash K Jha: Congrats for being on Karan Johar’s first x-rated talk-show episode? Was that what I’ve done? Well,thank you. I am finally in an x-rated work. Why do you say that? Well, the episode has been shifted from the usual 9 pm to a safer to 11 pm? Well, I’ve to admit I’ve never heard of a chat show being postponed to a later slot. I don’t think I’ve said anything that sensational...Oh man, now I am scared. I hope I didn’t go too far. I hope people laugh about what I say and not take it too seriously. Why have you called Ranbir Kapoor a ‘gossip queen’ on Coffee With Karan? Isn’t it self-explanatory? But when people say a lot of bad things about others, I am very uncomfortable. And they smile at those very people they are bitch about. Madras Café got you good reviews? Did it get you good roles ? The offers did come in. But at the moment after Main Tera Hero I am only doing Shaukeen. I did receive many compliments for that role. From Rockstar to Main Tera Hero. What has your journey been like so far? I’ve learnt a lot about the ways of Mumbai’s entertainment industry. But not enough yet. The one thing that I’ve sadly realized is when people are working with you they are your best friends. Once a film is over, the friendship is also over. This is a painful process for someone who thinks friendships for a lifetime. How much at-home do you feel now when you are 3 years old in Bollywood? Shall I be honest? I am still a fish out of water. I don’t understand a lot of things here. I am still trying to find my way around this place, trying to ‘belong’. Like I am told that if you working in Bollywood you have to use accessories like wigs, false eye lashes and lots of make-up. So I do that although, I am totally anti-accessory. You don’t have to do what everyone does? You do! If you don’t everyone will accuse you of being difficult. It’s very tough to create a balance between what I am comfortable with and what people expect from me. If I have to survive I’ve be try to be a conformist. But I’ve to admit there are lots of things I still don’t understand. What hurts the most is that people here are so friendly when they are working with you and then they become like strangers. For someone like me who is very picky about friends that’s very painful. But a friend told me. ‘You got schooled, not fooled.’ You feel stupid when you are conned by people. But eventually you come out wiser. I never want to get bitter about experiences, no matter how bad. Do you miss your family in Mumbai? I’ve to tell you, my mother visited me in Mumbai in January for the first time since I came here. She had a great time. She was with me for a couple of days in Mumbai. Then I sent her off on her own journey through North India. Regrettably I couldn’t spend more time with her because I had to promote my new film. But I am glad she saw how I lived. This was your mother’s first visit? Yes, though people wrote earlier that Mom visited ,and I was living in with Shahid.Ha ha. So did you have to hide boyfriends and beer bottles when your mother visited? Not at all. I talk about everything under the sun with my mom. I am a lot like my mom. We’re very close. I take care of her financially and emotionally. She is my best friend. We talk about drugs, alcohol, and sex. I don’t see you doing drugs. The rest I wouldn’t know? I am not doing much of anything else either right now except working. So it’s a depressing life for me. Has your mother seen your films? I hope she didn’t see Phata Poster Nikla Hero? She loved Madras Café. And yes, she did see Phata Poster and loved my dancing. She found it cool and entertaining. I enjoyed my dancing in the film. I didn’t think much of your dancing in Phata Poster? Are you better at the dancing in Main Tera Hero? You know I am not sure I am. When they give you the movements 40 minutes before they are shot and then you’ve to learn the steps and then lip-sync you have to be a seasoned dancer to get a hang of it, which I am not. It’s very difficult for my mind and body to be in sync because I have learnt western dancing. Bollywood dancing is very different. Was Main Tera Hero a pleasant experience? It was great fun. Most of the time I had a good time. It was like working with my family. Ileana and Varun were very helpful. I pray I get to work with such people every day. Ileana d’Cruz and I are so similar she thinks the way I do. We both have a good head on our shoulders, although I am a lot crazier than her. Varun is your generation? We hit it off immediately. Varun went to college abroad. We had a lot in common. I will not be politically incorrect. I’ll say he’s my most favourite co-star.He’s a very smart young man. And very caring. I saw how kindly and generously he treats his staff. For me that’s a sure sign of a good human being. I hope and pray he remains the same even when I am long gone. What do you mean by long gone? We all have to go, right? Oh, I am just being a drama queen. If there was a television camera following me around I’d make a very entertaining reality show.But seriously, I don’t hold on to things and people. I’ve seen so many people’s dreams and expectations fall apart. Expectations mean disappointment.You’ve to try my formula for loving. It’s cool. How is your Hindi now? It’s still in the learning stage. But I dubbed all my own lines in Main Tera Hero. It was really tough. I needed help in the dubbing theatre to get it right. Everyone helped. But it was difficult. I have a lot of more Hindi to learn. The major obstacle is that people around me all speak English. So how do I become fluent in Hindi? I don’t think I can be fluent in Hindi. My environment doesn’t allow me. What other films are you on to? Only Shaukeen. Other projects are happening. But unless they do I don’t want to talk about it. There are a lot of negative vibes around. We are starting Shaukeen in April. No, I haven’t seen the original Shaukeen. The entire script has been redone. But I am aware of Rati Agnihotri who played my part in the original. Apparently, she was wonderful. You are paired with Akshay Kumar? Yes, for the first time. It’s a nice bouquet of co-stars from Ranbir to Shahid to John, don’t you think? READ NEXT: Nargis Fakhri laughs about her 'butt cheeks' remarks
