by Richie Unterberger (AMG)
Beefheart's first proper studio album is a much more accessible, pop-inflected
brand of blues-rock than the efforts that followed in the late '60s --
which isn't to say that it's exactly normal and straightforward. Featuring
Ry Cooder on guitar, this is blues-rock gone slightly askew, with jagged,
fractured rhythms, soulful, twisting vocals from Van Vliet, and more doo
wop, soul, straight blues, and folk-rock influences than he would employ
on his more avant-garde outings. "Zig Zag Wanderer," "Call
on Me," and "Yellow Brick Road" are some of his most enduring
and riff-driven songs, although there's plenty of weirdness on tracks
like "Electricity" and "Abba Zaba."
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