The Magic Band

The Magic Band was the backing band of American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Captain Beefheart between 1967 and 1982. The rotating lineup featured dozens of performers, many of whom became known by nicknames given to them by Beefheart. Ex-members of the Magic Band formed the short-lived group Mallard in 1974. The Magic Band reformed in 2003, without Beefheart. Origins The members of the original Magic Band had come together in 1964. At this time Don Van Vliet (later dubbed Captain Beefheart) was simply the lead singer of the group, which had been brought together by guitarist and former classmate Alex St. Clair. As in many emerging groups in California at the time, there were elements of psychedelia and the foundations of contemporary hippie counterculture. In this early incarnation they were a blues-rock outfit. The group was therefore promoted as "Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band", on the premise that Captain Beefheart had "magic powers" and, upon drinking a Pepsi, could summon up "His Magic Band" to appear and perform behind him. The strands of this logic emanated from Vliet's Beefheart persona having been "written in" as a character in a "teenage operetta" that friend Frank Zappa had formulated, along with Van Vliet's renowned "Pepsi moods" with his mother Willie Sue and his generally spoilt teenage demeanor. The name "His Magic Band" changed to "the Magic Band" in 1972. The group played numerous car-club dances and juke joint gigs, and won the Teenage Fair Battle of the Bands. (The Teenage Fair was an annual event held at the Hollywood Palladium in the 1960s. It was sponsored by radio stations and had rides and various merchandise booths with music- and youth-related items. Bands performed.) In late 1965, the group finally bagged a contract for recording two singles with the newly created A&M Records label with Leonard Grant as their manager. It was at this time that musical relationships had also been struck with members of Rising Sons who would later feature in the band's recordings. The A&M deal also brought some contention between members of the band, torn between a career as an experimental "pop" group and that of a purist blues band. Working with young producer David Gates also opened up horizons for Vliet's skills as a poet-cum-lyricist, with his "Who Do You Think You're Fooling" on the flipside of the band's first single, a cover of the Ellas McDaniel/Willie Dixon-penned hit, "Diddy Wah Diddy".