Name: Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972 by Captain Beefheart
Brand: Captain Beefheart
SKU: 603497897155
Price: 9.9 USD
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 4 (357 reviews)

ALBUM

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Finally! As of 2014, Lick My Decals Off, Baby, The Spotlight Kid, and Clear Spot had needed a proper remastering treatment for quite some time when Rhino came to the rescue, remastering all three in one fell swoop as Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972. As if that weren't enough for fans, they added an entire bonus disc of outtakes and alternates as well. The albums themselves are fairly different from each other. Lick My Decals followed directly after Trout Mask Replica and is the closest there is to Trout Mask's sonic assault. On the other side, Clear Spot's horn charts, backup singers, and Ted Templeman production were probably catchy enough for actual radio success (well, maybe in a better world). The Spotlight Kid is pitched somewhere in between. However, it's all prime Beefheart. The band is always in sync, Don's voice sounds great (as does his harmonica playing), and it's all got that unique rhythmic sense. The bonus material doesn't disappoint either. It's all from the Clear Spot and Spotlight Kid sessions and sounds fantastic. The alternates of songs that were on the albums are interesting but not revelatory, but hearing these early versions of songs that appeared on later albums is pretty fascinating. This version of "Harry Irene" predates both the Shiny Beast version and the Bat Chain Puller version. The two takes of "Dirty Blue Gene" are quite interesting as well, not just because they're significantly different than the version that ended up on Doc at the Radar Station but also because they're significantly different from each other (the third take is quite a bit more aggressive, with a really cool guitar tone at the end). "Pompadour Swamp" is a great guitar instrumental that ended up as "Suction Prints." It's hard to believe some of these cuts were left off originally, but albums were shorter back in the day. They make this set pretty close to essential for longtime fans (as if the fantastic sound weren't enough).
© Sean Westergaard /TiVo

Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972

Product information

Release options

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Volume 1

1. Lick My Decals Off, Baby

2. Doctor Dark

3. I Love You, You Big Dummy

4. Peon

5. Bellerin' Plain

6. Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop

7. Japan in a Dishpan

8. I Wanna Find a Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have to Go

9. Petrified Forest

10. One Red Rose That I Mean

11. The Buggy Boogie Woogie

12. The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or the Big Dig)

13. Space-Age Couple

14. The Clouds Are Full of Wine (Not Whiskey or Rye)

15. Flash Gordon's Ape

Volume 2

1. I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby

2. White Jam

3. Blabber 'n Smoke

4. When It Blows Its Stacks

5. Alice in Blunderland

6. The Spotlight Kid

7. Click Clack

8. Grow Fins

9. There Ain't No Santa Claus on the Evenin' Stage

10. Glider

Volume 3

1. Low Yo Yo Stuff

2. Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man

3. Too Much Time

4. Circumstances

5. My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains

6. Sun Zoom Spark

7. Clear Spot

8. Crazy Little Thing

9. Long Neck Bottles

10. Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles

11. Big Eyed Beans from Venus

12. Golden Birdies

Volume 4

1. Alice in Blunderland

2. Harry Irene

3. I Can't Do This Unless I Can Do This / Seam Crooked Sam

4. Pompadour Swamp / Suction Prints

5. The Witch Doctor Life

6. Two Rips in a Haystack / Kiss Me My Love

7. Best Batch Yet (Track)

8. Your Love Brought Me to Life

9. Dirty Blue Gene

10. Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man

11. Kiss Where I Kain't

12. Circumstances

13. Little Scratch

14. Dirty Blue Gene

Technical Specifications