Bat Chain Puller

This album is Mastered for iTunes. Recorded in 1976 but unreleased until 2012, Bat Chain Puller restores a missing chapter in the legendary career of Captain Beefheart (a.k.a. Don Van Vliet). The album’s tracks were cut under the auspices of Frank Zappa and then shelved due to legal entanglements. Though most of these songs were rerecorded for the Captain’s final three albums, the versions here have a freewheeling energy all their own. Tracks like “Floppy Boot Stomp,” “Owed T’Alex,” and “Brick Bats” crackle with a kinetic weirdness that ranges across Delta blues, free jazz, and primal rock. From the old-timey swing of “Harry Irene” to the tumbling sparkle of “Candle Mambo” and the brooding surrealism of “Human Totem Pole,” Beefheart shows off his full creative range. Spoken-word pieces like “81 Poop Hatch” and “Apes-Ma” capture the Captain’s inspired poetic spew, while “Flavor Bud Living” and “Ah Carrot Is As Close As Ah Rabbit Gets to Ah Diamond” display his odd grace as a composer. Of special interest are such rarities as “Seam Crooked Sam,” “Odd Jobs,” and “Hobo-ism.”