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.
Tamil Canadians remember Black July 1983 victims when Sinhala mobs killed hundreds of Tamils to revenge the killing of 13 soldiers by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
News East-West TORONTO: Standing by the Canadian Tamil community, Canadian political leaders on Sunday paid tributes to the victims of Black July 30 years ago. Among the Tamils around the world, July of 1983 is remembered as Black July in memory of hundreds and hundreds of Tamils who were massacred and their properties destroyed in week-long attacks by Sinhalese mobs in revenge for the killing of 13 soldiers by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. That was the beginning of the ethnic war in Sri Lanka triggered by the denial of rights to the Tamil minority. Remembering the victims of the 1983 anti-Tamil riots, the Canadian Tamil Congress said, “Between July 24 and 29 of that year, Tamils were systematically targeted with violence in Colombo and many other parts of the island. During this period, an estimated 3,000 Tamils were killed and thousands of Tamil homes and businesses were destroyed. More than one million Tamils have fled Sri Lanka since July 1983 fearing for their safety, while over a million more Tamils have been internally displaced within the island. ” Canadian Tamil Congress national spokesperson David Poopalapillai said, “Black July is a poignant anniversary for Tamil Canadians to remember. There is not one single Tamil family living in Canada that hasn’t been affected somehow by the 1983 anti-Tamil riots and its aftermath.” He said though the armed conflict ended four years ago, Tamils in the northeast Sri Lanka are still suffering immense hardship. [caption id="attachment_88062" align="alignnone" width="800"]
Mobs killing Tamils in Sri Lanka in July 1983.[/caption]
“As we remember the events of the past 30 years, it’s also equally important to recognize that not much has really changed for Tamils currently living in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka. While the bombs have stopped dropping and the guns may be silenced, the Tamil people are still living under a militarized occupation in the North and East, continue to fear for their safety and are subjected to persecution because of their ethnicity,” the Tamil leader said.
Sympathizing with the Tamil community, Canadian employment and social development minister Jason Kenney said, “Thirty years ago today in Sri Lanka, violent mobs of armed extremists began carrying out attacks against the country’s Tamil population. Hundreds of Tamils were killed and thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed in the ensuing riots.’’
Kenney said, “In the years since the Black July pogrom, July 23 has become a day of mourning and remembrance for members of Sri Lankan Tamil communities around the world, including the 200,000-strong Tamil community in Canada. As we reflect on the violence that began on this day in 1983 across Sri Lanka, I take the opportunity to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to promote and uphold our fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.’’
The federal minister said, “I stand with the Tamil-Canadian community in commemorating the senseless destruction and tragic loss of life during Black July.”
Tom Mulcair, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, called upon the Harper government to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka in November for its treatment of the Tamil minority.
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He said the NDP joins Tamils across Canada and around the world as “we mark the 30th anniversary of the Black July Porgroms with great sadness.”
Mulcair said, “The repercussions of these brutal actions and heartbreaking loss can still be felt by Tamils living in Sri Lanka as well as the Tamil diaspora. That is why New Democrats remain concerned about the treatment of minority communities in Sri Lanka and will continue defending the interests of Tamil Canadians in the House of Commons.”
The NDP leader said his party urged “the Canadian government to remember this tragedy by taking firm diplomatic action and boycotting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in November.”
Canada, the NDP leader said, must take a firm and principled stand against Sri Lanka for its human right abuses and refusal to allow independent investigations into alleged war crimes by its forces.
In a statement in Kelowna British, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau too paid tributes to the victims of the terrible events of 30 years ago in Sri Lanka.
“Today, we solemnly remember the terrible events and attacks thirty years ago that were directed at Tamils beginning on July 23, 1983. Divisions gave way to racially-targeted riots that saw countless people attacked, killed, and rendered homeless, and resulted in the widespread destruction of property,’’ Trudeau said.
“Across our country, Tamil Canadians mourn and remember the many murders of Black July, but also the thousands of deaths that ensued in the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war, of which we still lack closure to this day. We must achieve accountability and justice for the untold innocents who died or had their lives irrevocably changed.’’
The Liberal Party leader said, “To date, no serious effort has been made by the Sri Lankan government to reconcile with all actors in Sri Lankan society. There is little clarity or resolution after the end of the civil war. Ethnic and religious discrimination is growing, not decreasing.
“After the events of 1983, Canada welcomed those Tamils seeking asylum, and we continue to accept refugees and immigrants from Sri Lanka. Today, Canada’s voice must be clearly heard insisting for truth, reconciliation, and an independent and transparent international investigation of alleged war crimes during the Sri Lankan civil war.”
Canada is home to more than 300,000 Tamils of Sri Lankan origin, most of whom came here as refugees fleeing from northern Sri Lanka.
In the Toronto area of Scarborough, the Sri Lankan Tamils have become a powerful community.
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