Captain Beefheart - The Second Disc

Review: Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and The Mothers, “Bongo Fury: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition”

April 6, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

The earliest known recordings of Frank Zappa and Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, are one in the same. The pair’s “Lost in a Whirlpool,” recorded at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California circa 1958, is hardly auspicious but points the way towards the future musical activities of both men: Zappa, for its humorous lyrics (“about a person who was…skindiving in the San Diego sewer system, and talking about encountering brown, blind fish…It was kind of like the Cousteau expedition of its era,” per Zappa in 1989) and Beefheart, for its blues…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock

Tags:

Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, George Duke

Advance Romance: Zappa and Beefheart’s “Bongo Fury” Returns as 50th Anniversary Box Set

January 28, 2026 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Zappa Records is rolling out its first archival release of 2026, and in doing so, is belatedly celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of Frank Zappa’s landmark releases. Bongo Fury, The Mothers of Invention’s 1975 collaboration with fellow iconoclast Don Van Vliet a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, is returning on March 20 in a variety of formats including a 5CD/1Blu-ray box; 2LP expanded edition; and 1LP original album. Bongo Fury is notable not only as the final original album to be released by Zappa and The Mothers but also as a transitional album featuring…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock

Tags:

Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa

The Weekend Stream: August 2, 2025

August 2, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 3 Comments

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week brings new (and vintage) tracks from some of pop’s greatest women, rarities from Captain Beefheart, even more Billy Joel (in a slightly different way) and a tribute to one of the greatest discographies you can download for free. Chappell Roan, “The Subway” (Island) (Apple / Amazon) Does last year’s biggest pop star have a new album coming out? After dropping country-flavored “The Giver” earlier this year, the “Pink…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Classic Rock, Electronic, Everything Else, Latin, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock

Tags:

Billy Joel, Captain Beefheart, Chappell Roan, Coolio, Elton John, Fania All-Stars, Groove Armada, Hayley Williams, Lauren Christy, Maren Morris, Natalie Cole, Spinal Tap

The Weekend Stream: July 10, 2021

July 10, 2021 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it’s no secret that listening audiences are also digital – catalogue music lovers, too – and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we’ve introduced a new feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Trout Mask Replica (Zappa) (Qobuz) The biggest…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Disco/Dance, Electronic, Everything Else, Jazz, Pop, Rock

Tags:

808 State, Captain Beefheart, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Frank Zappa, George Benson, New Order, Randy Edelman, Richard Barone, Soul Asylum, Spice Girls, Sylvester, The Art of Noise, The Bongos

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Captain Beefheart, “SUN ZOOM SPARK 1970 to 1972”

December 24, 2014 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

“Art is rearranging and grouping mistakes.” So the late Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, is quoted on the cover of the fourth disc of Rhino’s new box set SUN ZOOM SPARK: 1970 to 1972. It’s appropriate and ironic that the aphorism is featured on the sleeve of that disc, a collection of never-before-heard outtakes from the Captain and his Magic Band. But the tracks are far from mistakes; instead, they offer a window onto the process with which Van Vliet created his unmistakable brand of art. In addition to that disc,…

Categories:

Holiday Gift Guide, Reviews

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Classic Rock

Tags:

Captain Beefheart

Release Round-Up: Week of November 17

November 17, 2014 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Henry Mancini, The Classic Soundtrack Collection (RCA/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The Classic Soundtrack Collection features 18 of Mancini’s most memorable soundtrack albums for RCA, Columbia and Epic Records on nine CDs, spanning the period between 1960’s High Time and 1978’s Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, and adds bonus material from vocalists including Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams and, on a previously unreleased track, Julie Andrews. Johnny Mathis, The Global Albums Collection (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) A Columbia artist since 1956, Johnny Mathis departed his label home just once –…

Categories:

News, Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, DVD, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Bruce Springsteen, Captain Beefheart, David Bowie, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mathis, Joni Mitchell, King Crimson, Old 97's, Paul McCartney, Peter Paul and Mary, The Rolling Stones, Wilco

Rhino Makes Magic: New Box Set Features Remastered and Expanded Albums From Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

September 4, 2014 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

On November 11, Rhino Records will celebrate the music of avant-garde iconoclast Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, with a new four-CD box set. SUN ZOOM SPARK: 1970 to1972 focuses on the period following the release of his career-defining 1969 album Trout Mask Replica. During that creatively fertile patch, Beefheart released three albums that have long lingered in the shadow of Trout Mask and even of Beefheart’s Richard Perry-produced debut Safe as Milk. SUN ZOOM SPARK revisits these three albums – Lick My Decals Off, Baby, The Spotlight Kid, and Clear Spot–…

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