The following is a list of official releases by American musician Captain Beefheart. With various line-ups of musicians called The Magic Band, Beefheart released a total of 13 studio albums recorded between 1967 and 1982, after which he left music to concentrate on a career in painting, as Don Van Vliet. His catalogue has since been augmented with extra releases including an EP and various compilations of live material, studio outtakes and greatest hits releases.
In addition to his work with the Magic Band over this period, Beefheart also collaborated with several other musicians, most notably Frank Zappa, a friend from his teenage years with whom he worked intermittently during his musical career.
Albums and EPs Studio albums Year Title Notes Magic Band personnel Charts US UKEveryhit.com — UK Top 40 hit database1967 Safe as Milk Released on June 29, 1967 Label: Buddah (US), Pye (UK) John French Ry Cooder Alex St. Clair Jerry Handley — —1968 Strictly Personal Released in October 1968 Label: Blue Thumb (US), Liberty (UK) John French Alex St. Clair Jeff Cotton Jerry Handley — —1969 Trout Mask Replica Released on June 16, 1969 Label: Straight John French Jeff Cotton Bill Harkleroad Mark Boston Victor Hayden — 211970 Lick My Decals Off, Baby Released in December 1970 Label: Straight John French Bill Harkleroad Mark Boston Art Tripp 203 201971 Mirror Man Released in April 1971 (recorded 1967) Label: Buddah John French Alex St. Clair Jeff Cotton Jerry Handley — 491972 The Spotlight Kid Released in January 1972 Label: Reprise John French Bill Harkleroad Mark Boston Art Tripp Elliot Ingber 131 441972 Clear Spot Released in October 1972 Label: Reprise Bill Harkleroad Mark Boston Art Tripp Roy Estrada 191 —1974 Unconditionally Guaranteed Released in April 1974 Label: Mercury (US), Virgin (UK) Bill Harkleroad Mark Boston Alex St. Clair Mark Marcellino Art Tripp 192 —1974 Bluejeans & Moonbeams Released in November 1974 Label: Mercury (US), Virgin (UK) Ira Ingber Gene Pello Mark Gibbons Michael Smotherman Jimmy Caravan Ty Grimes Dean Smith — —1978 Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) Released in October 1978 Label: Warner (US), Virgin (UK) Jeff Moris Tepper Bruce Lambourne Fowler Eric Drew Feldman Richard Redus Robert Arthur Williams — —1980 Doc at the Radar Station Released in August 1980 Label: Virgin John French Jeff Moris Tepper Eric Drew Feldman Bruce Lambourne Fowler Robert Arthur Williams 203 —1982 Ice Cream for Crow Released in September 1982 Label: Virgin Jeff Moris Tepper Gary Lucas Richard Snyder Cliff R. Martinez — 902012 Bat Chain Puller Recorded in 1976 Label: Zappa John French John Thomas Jeff Moris Tepper Denny Walley — —
EPs Year Title Notes Magic Band personnel1984 The Legendary A&M Sessions Released in October 1984 Label: A&M Features four tracks taken from the band's earliest singles in 1966, and a fifth track recorded in the same year Doug Moon Alex St. Clair Paul Blakely Jerry Handley
Live albums I'm Going to Do What I Wanna Do: Live at My Father's Place 1978 (2000) Live London '74 (2006) Amsterdam '80 (2006) An Ashtray Heart (2011)
Compilation albums The Spotlight Kid / Clear Spot (1972) The Spotlight Kid / Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1973) Captain Beefheart File (1977) Music in Sea Minor (1983) Top Secret (1984) Safe as Milk / Mirror Man (1988) Abba Zaba (1988) Captain Beefheart at his Best (1989) The Best Beefheart (1990) Zig Zag Wanderer: The Collection (1991) I May Be Hungry but I Sure Ain't Weird: The Alternative Captain Beefheart (1992) A Carrot Is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond (1993) Zig Zag Wanderer: The Best of the Buddah Years (1996) Electricity (1998) Grow Fins: Rarities 1965–1982 (1999) The Mirror Man Sessions (1999) The Dust Blows Forward: An Anthology (1999) The Best of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band (2002) Hot Head: Introducing Captain Beefheart (2003) The Buddah Years (2006) It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper (2008) Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972 (2014)
Singles Year Single Peak positions Album UK1966"Diddy Wah Diddy" / "Who Do You Think You're Fooling" —The Legendary A&M Sessions"Moonchild" / "Frying Pan" —1967"Yellow Brick Road" / "Abba Zaba" 57 Safe as Milk1968"Moonchild" / "Who Do You Think You're Fooling" 61 The Legendary A&M Sessions "Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do" / "Yellow Brick Road" — Safe as Milk "Zig Zag Wanderer" / "Abba Zaba" —1970 "Pachuco Cadaver" / "Wild Life" — Trout Mask Replica1972 "Too Much Time" / "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains" — Clear Spot1974 "Upon the My-O-My" / "Magic Be" — Unconditionally Guaranteed1978 "Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do" / "Electricity" — Safe as Milk "Hard Workin' Man" — Blue Collar Soundtrack1982 "Ice Cream for Crow" / "Light Reflected Off the Oceands of the Moon" — Ice Cream for Crow
Promotional singles YearSingleAlbum1969 "Plastic Factory" / "Where There's Woman" Safe as Milk1972 "Click Clack" / "Glider" The Spotlight Kid
Other appearances with Frank Zappa
Hot Rats (1969) US No. 173 One Size Fits All (1975) US No. 26 Bongo Fury (1975) US No. 66 Zoot Allures (1976) US No. 61 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 (1991) The Lost Episodes (1996) Mystery Disc (1998) Beefheart may also have performed uncredited (for contractual reasons) on other Zappa albums, including Freak Out! (1966) where he can be detected playing harmonica and singing.
Other collaborations The Tubes, Now (1977) Jack Nitzsche, "Hard Workin' Man", from the film score for Blue Collar (1978) Gary Lucas, Improve the Shining Hour (2000) Moris Tepper, Moth to Mouth (2000), Head Off "Ricochet Man" (2004) Sings "Happy Earthday" (adaptation of "Happy Birthday to You") on the compilation Where We Live: Stand For What You Stand On, a benefit album for Earthjustice
Films Ice Cream For Crow (1982) promotional video by Don Van Vliet, Ken Schreiber & Daniel Pearl Some Yo Yo Stuff (1994) Directed by Anton Corbijn The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart (1997) BBC Documentary Captain Beefheart: Under Review (2006) An Independent Critical Analysis
Notes
References
External links Full discography at the Captain Beefheart Radar Station [ allmusic Captain Beefheart Main Albums] [ allmusic Captain Beefheart Compilations] [ allmusic Captain Beefheart Singles & EPs] [ allmusic Captain Beefheart DVDs & Videos] [ allmusic Captain Beefheart Other]