© Glyn Hazelden, as printed in “Mole Express”, June 1974.

Glyn Hazelden

When the band gave you five days to find new musicians for this tour, how did you feel, did you think the new band would tighten up as much as they have?

Beefheart

I sure didn’t, it concerned and frightened me a little at first. Isn’t than funny, being frightened after being in this business for 8 years? It sounds really corny but that’s the way it is. I guess I was taking things for granted, thinking that a band could stay together for four years.

GH

Some of the music press gave clouds of warning as to whether the tour would actually take place.

B

I couldn’t do that to the people who are buying my records, I couldn’t do that because it’s not ethical.

GH

I saw the Manchester gig last week and I thought it may have been a better gig, better hall.

B

Just let me say this, the acoustics at that place (Liverpool Stadium) are definitely for one thing only – wrestling. But I dug the people they were really nice.

GH

How did you persuade someone like Del Simmons to come on the tour?

B

I didn’t have to do any persuading, Del wanted to play rock sax. Just that no one would accept him, but they have now. It’s dual purpose really, he’s doing what he wants to do, and I enjoy hearing him play.

GH

Do you enjoy playing rock after some of the things you have graduated from?

B

I would consider that my whole music has moved in this direction, from “As Safe as Milk” and just evolved through to ”Clear Spot”.

GH

Will you digress back to older styles of your music?

B

I know I will, my next album will be a collage of all the kinds of things I’ve done. Every time I do an album, I have about 86 things written, you can’t get enough out. I had thousands of things written at the time of “Trout Mask Replica”, and I did that album in 8½ hours, whereas the music was 28 songs.

GH

How much did Jan (wife) and Andy (producer) figure in the writing of your latest album?
B

My wife was definitely involved, and Andy di Martino played a great partin it, he wrote some of the lyrics, especially “Full Moon – Hot Sun”.

GH

One of the music papers mentioned you would use this tour to finance your time for painting.

B

My actual words were that I wanted to paint more and I needed money, so I though that at the end of this tour I buy some canvasses and do some painting, becaiuse this current album is doing a lot better than any other album I’ve done. People keep telling me to do “Trout Mask” over again, now that album can’t have sold more than 40,000 copies, of which I haven’t seen one cent in royalties, due to some crooks named Straight Records. I can’t afford a staff of lawyers to fight that sort of deal, which is why it’s so hard to compete with the big record companies and all their lawyers.

GH

If the record is doing well, what has the tour been like?

B

Very good, a lot better that any tour I’ve ever gone on. If people are still standing after 40 minutes after we’ve left, still shouting for us, then I know they enjoyed it, if they enjoyed it, so do I. There’s a lot of satisfaction playing for people. My last band couldn’t have had any social conscience, pulling out like they did; they therefore were not playing for the people, they were playing for themselves.

GH

Will the present band stay together after this tour?

B

Some of them will, but I intend adding a fellow named Elliott Klinger on guitar, have you heard of him? He wrote ”Don’t Bogart that Joint”. He’s really good, but of course I’m biased.

GH

What is your impression of the whole tour?

B

Well after three months of one-nighters, I’m tired, but one thing tugged me in that direction was the report of our New York, Town Hall show, in which 20 or so people walked out, after shouting about my writing of abstract poetry. Now the rest of the audience dug it, but reports filtered into Britain that  I’d been given the bird, but that wasn’t exactly so, another instance of slanted journalism. Del Simmons at that same show drew good reactions, and his playing stands out, but the same journalist neber mentioned him at all, just blasted the show, zeroing in on a few people who wanted to hear my old stuff. When I got here, everyone had gotten reports of bad gigs I’d done, it’s absurd.

GH

Does the fact that even 20 people want to hear old music affect you?

B

The trouble is you’re dealing with the memory and what they heard in the past, no-one can deal with the memory. I paint, write, compose and I’m changing all aspects of my art. How do you follow my albums like “Trout Mask”? only by doing something completely different and that’s what I’m doing.

© Glyn Hazelden, as printed in “Mole Express”, June 1974.