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: On 13 September 2010, filmmakers Bedabrata Pain and Shonali Bose lost their elder son Ishan to a freak electrical accident. The boy was only 16. Back after his shocking defeat in LA , the bereaved and aggrieved father now prepares for a memorial screening of his film Chiitagong for son on October 3. The couple fought a long and difficult court battle in a court in Los Angeles against the razor company whom the bereaved parents hold responsible accident. Says Pain whose name seems rather prophetic, “Yes, we lost the case. The jury couldn’t come to the conclusion that the shaver was at fault. It was a shocking decision. But that’s life. For me it changes nothing. In going through the trial, and having had to review the evidence within the last two years I was even more convinced that the razor had produced the spark that caused the fire claiming Ishan’s life.” While Bedo, as his friends call him, has come to terms with the LA court’s decision, his wife filmmaker Shonali Bose is very angry. The couple has moved to India temporarily with their younger son Vivan. Says Bedo, “In some ways I’ve made peace with the court verdict, though I am more convinced than ever that it was the razor that killed my son. But then now I ask myself, what would happen even if we won the case? It wouldn’t bring Ishan back. I am going through very complicated emotions. I can’t really express it. However the callousness of the razor company just makes me so sad. Even after we informed them of the tragedy they didn’t make even one attempt at investigation. Instead, they started making all kinds of allegations against Ishan.” Apparently, it was alleged in the American court that Ishan was on drugs and had deliberately set himself on fire!! Says the father, “See, Ishan was a fantastic student and a really good boy. He never touched alcohol or cigarettes. They alleged that my boy was on drugs and set himself on fire. Can you believe this? Apparently kids in the US set themselves on fire after consuming some kinds of drugs. And this, mind you, when there was no evidence in the bathroom(where Ishan got burnt while shaving) of any fire-producing element anywhere.” There was worse to come. The defence in the court actually insinuated that Bedo and his wife were better off now since they didn’t have to pay Ishan’s school fees. With a mirthless laugh Bedo says, “They asked during the trial how much was my son’s annual school fees. Then they said, ‘Okay, so during the last two years you didn’t have to pay 58,000 dollars, right?’ Believe it or not, they were saying we’re better off since Ishan is not there. This is all on-record. These were the questions that my wife Shonali and I were asked. They then asked, “How much did you spend on your son’s clothes?…How much have your grocery bills come down by?’ Choking back his emotions, Bedo recalls, “Ishan was really really close to me. When he was born Shonali went to college for a course. So I had to be both a father and mother to Ishan. More than my second son Vivan , Ishan was very close to me. I dropped him to school every day. I made his dinner.We spoke about everything under the sun.In my heart I don’t think I’ve accepted his going. I feel he has gone away somewhere with his friends and will come back. Even when I was shooting Chittagong in the remote jungles I spoke to Ishan every single day on Skype because at that time he was doing his Chemistry course.” Ishan’s mother is very angry. Says Bedo,“She is campaigning for the product to be taken off the market. I understand her indignance. But I can’t share it. Even if we had won the case what value could they’ve put on our boy’s life? She is in Delhi with my son Vivan who is now studying there. It was getting very difficult for my wife and son to stay in LA. So we’re now in India for the next two years.” Bedo has still not come to terms with the tragedy. “I am still trying to figure out what to do with my life. How will I spend the rest of my life without my boy? For the last two years I’ve been focusing on the film. Whenever I’ve a free moment I’ve to fight back the guilt of knowing that I couldn’t save my son. If I wasn’t making the film then I’d have been in LA and maybe this tragedy wouldn’t have have happened.” Bedo looks back on the journey since the bereavement with amazement. “I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have Chittagong to make.I’ve dedicated Chittagong to Ishan. Shonali and I wanted to cast Ishan as the main protagonist in Chittagong. The character suited him. Finally he didn’t play the role. But he was the film’s biggest supporter. No one could dare say anything bad about the film when he was around. The film ends with him. At the end I’ve sung a song titled ‘Ishan’ which Prasoon Joshi wrote.I had to sing for my boy.It fits in beautifully with the theme. Ishan in Bengali means that first storm in the summer that takes away all the decay and stagnancy.That’s what my film is about.When Prasoon sent us the lines I immediately decided to sing it. My composers Shankar Mahadevan encouraged me. He said no one had the right to sing it as much I did. I agree.” Now there is a memorial screening of Chittagong for Ishan on October 3. “We wanted to do it on 13 September on Ishan’s death anniversary. But we aren’t ready. I’d like Mr Amitabh Bachchan , Jaya-di , Abhishek and Aishwarya to be present. When I had decided to make Chittagong I had gone to Jaya-di to seek her blessings. I am trying to live my life the way Ishan would have wanted me to. But it isn’t easy. Someone up there decided to take my surname (Pain) too seriously.” READ ALSO: `The Sky is Pink' film has been emotionally healing for Priyanka Chopra, says director Shonali Bose
