CAPTAIN BEEFHEART — Mirror Man (review)

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART — Mirror Man album cover Album · 1971 · Jazz Related Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
Originally intended as half of a double album project, It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper (the other half was rerecorded and issued as Strictly Personal), Mirror Man was going to be the improvisational "live the studio" half of the deal. Four sprawling psych-drenched blues numbers, with the Captain taking a more restrained role when it comes to his vocals (though it's always possible that more vocals would have been added on later takes), the album opens with the almost 20 minute long Tarotplane, which is a roving improvisation that is mainly based around the blues standard You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond, and the same pattern applies for the rest of the tracks - take a classic blues track and Beefheartise it to the hilt. It's a fun insight into a side of the Safe As Milk/Strictly Personal-era Beefheart sound that didn't come across on the original studio albums, but hardly the first place you should go in exploring the Captain's work, especially considering the Captain's light vocal involvement.
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