Finally had a chance to check out this 2006 documentary as I am going through yet another Beefheart phase (just finished
Drumbo's book and have been listening to pretty much everything repeatedly) and thought it was pretty damn hip. While there were no real revelations in here, it does give a good overview of the man's life/career with lots of interviews with band members, some live footage (mostly from TV appearances), promo films and more. It was kind of distracting that it seemed like each band member was told to give their interviews in a "wacky" setting - Drumbo pretends to talk on a phone strung from a tree, someone on a roof, someone in a recording booth, etc. But, the info that they gave was informative and cool, with some examples of their playing styles and plenty of anecdotes.
The doc covers everything, including the albums that most people ignore, such as
Bluejeans and Moonbeams and
Unconditionally Guaranteed, but they are part of his legacy, even if they are not as "artistic" as some of the others. He truly has left behind quite a varied bit of work. The team cuts off when Vliet quits music to concentrate on his artwork and they don't really talk about that much, if at all.
Well done, with lots of hip footage and good interviews - any fans should definitely dig it and non-fans may see what the fuss is all about!
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