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.
Toronto Vaisakhi parade has now become the third biggest event in Canada's largest city
Web desk TORONTO: Top Canadian political leaders, including federal minister Bal Gosal, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Tom Mulcair, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak, Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Brampton mayor Susan Fennell joined over 80,000 Sikhs in celebrating the 28th annual Toronto Vaisakhi parade here on Sunday. Organized by the Ontario Sikh and Gurdwara Council (OSGC), the Toronto Vaisakhi parade started with prayers from Toronto’s CNE Grounds at about 1pm. Led by the traditional Panj Piaras (or Five Beloved Ones who symbolize the five Sikhs who were baptized into the Khalsa on this day in 1699 by the last and tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh), the parade wound its way through major city thoroughfares before entering Nathan Phillips Square. [caption id="attachment_86227" align="alignnone" width="640"]
It is all saffron.[/caption]
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Over the years, the Vaisakhi parade has become the third biggest parade in Toronto.[/caption]
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The stage at Nathan Phillips Square before the Vaisakhi proceedings began.
A brief show of Sikh martial arts at the Toronto Vaisakhi Parade.[/caption]
Proceedings at Nathan Phillips Square began with the singing of Deh Shiva Var Mohe (written by Guru Gobind Singh) and the Canadian national anthem by school children, followed by a brief show of Sikh martial arts.
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Dr Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) in Washington DC, addressing the huge Vaisakhi gathering.[/caption]
Speeches began with Dr Rajwant Singh, chairman of Washington-based Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE), highlighting the historical parallel journey of Sikhs in Canada and the US. He urged the gathering to dedicate themselves to working for the welfare of their adopted country and their homeland of Punjab.
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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne addressing the gathering. To her right is her Indo-Canadian minister Harinder Takhar. MPP Amrit Mangat is on the extreme right.[/caption]
In the day’s first political speech, federal minister Bal Gosal, accompanied by fellow Indo-Canadian MP Parm Gill, delivered the messages of congratulations to the Sikh community from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
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Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne addressing the gathering. To her right is her Indo-Canadian minister Harinder Takhar. MPP Amrit Mangat is on the extreme right.[/caption]
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, accompanied by her Indo-Canadian minister Harinder Takhar and MPPs, said her government was ready to work with the Sikh community on issues concerning them as she lauded the role of the community in Canada and Ontario.
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Opposition leader Tom Mulcair of the NDP addressing the gathering. To his right is Olivia Chow. Martin Singh is on the extreme right.[/caption]
Then came Tom Muclair, leader of the Canadian opposition New Democratic Party (NDP). Wrapped in a shawl and accompanied by Olivia Chow, Martin Singh and other prominent leaders of his party, he listed what his party has done for the Sikh community, including the recognition of the five Sikh symbols and the issue of kirpan, and supported April as Sikh Heritage Month in Canada. He said his party will seek a formal apology by Canada in the nation’s parliament to coincide with the 100th anniversary next year of the Komagata Maru tragedy in 1914.
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Trudeau addresses the Toronto Vaisakhi gathering.[/caption]
Newly elected Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, who wore a flowing Punjabi dress, highlighted the Sikh code of Khalsa and its similarity to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and praised the contribution made by the Sikhs to Canadian society.
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Tim Hudak and his team.[/caption]
Greeting the Sikh community, Tim Hudak, leader of the Ontario Conservative Party, said the Sikhs have become an integral part of the Canadian mosaic and made accomplishments in many fields.
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NDP leader Andrea Horwath and her deputy Jagmeet Singh.[/caption]
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath said her party has always sought feedback from the Sikh community on issues impacting them.
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Brampton mayor Susan Fennel.[/caption]
And as usual, Susan Fennell, mayor of Brampton which is the city with the largest concentration of the Sikh community in Canada, highlighted how the Sikhs have enriched her city in various fields. She was welcomed with cries of Bole So Nihal when she said that she never misses the annual Toronto Vaisakhi parade.
READ NEXT: Over 85,000 joins Toronto Vaisakhi parade 2014
