Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band – Safe as Milk (1967) & Trout Mask Replica (1969)

[Albums 715 & 716 / 1001]

Are you familiar with the Diffusion of innovations theory?

According to the theory (developed by E.M. Rogers), a new technology or idea goes through five different stages of adoption by consumers.

The first category, Innovators, represents about 2.5% of the population. Innovators are the consumers that are keen to take risks & explore new ideas. Therefore, they will be the first to roll the dice & try a new product.

They are then followed by a trio of larger population segments: early adopters, the early majority, and the late majority.

Finally, once a new idea/technology has been widely embraced by the mainstream, the risk-averse laggards eventually join in as well.

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“The first time I heard Trout Mask, when I was 15 years old, I thought it was the worst thing I’d ever heard…About the sixth or seventh time, it clicked in, and I thought it was the greatest album I’d ever heard.”
– Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons)

How long did it take you to “get” Captain Beefheart?

I propose that the Diffusion of innovations theory applies when it comes to “getting” Captain Beefheart.

Is it fair to estimate that only about 2.5% of the population in 1969 “got” Trout Mask Replica on the first listen?

But then for larger segments of the population, the brilliance gradually started to reveal itself on subsequent listens, as it did for Matt Groening?

And finally, once it was clear how influential the album was on a variety of artists, even if the laggards still derived no enjoyment from the music, would they have to concede that they at least appreciated its experimental importance?

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With Safe as Milk, I would probably put myself in the Early Adopter category, as it didn’t take very long to see the album’s appeal.

It was bluesier than I expected and considerably more accessible than I anticipated.

It was nice to hear the theremin make a couple of appearances & I now have another layer of appreciation for The Hip’s 100th Meridian lyric sheet (as Ry Cooder does a nice job multi-tasking here as a member of the Magic Band).

Though as is sometimes the case with records that resonate right away, sometimes repeated listens don’t necessarily enhance the experience.

Trout Mask Replica, on the other hand, requires a bit more of a time investment.

In part, due to the fact that it is a double LP, more time is needed to get through the running order.

But mostly, because it requires significant time/energy/attention to find the melodies buried in the cacophonies.

As a result, it probably took me longer to ‘get’ the appeal of this album.

But like Matt Groening’s experience with the album, I’m finding the more I listen, the more I really like it.

With each subsequent re-listen, additional layers are revealed; I imagine I’ve only scratched the surface of those layers so far.

Which would mean I’m probably not anywhere close to actually “getting” Captain Beefheart.

But based on these albums, especially the latter, I now definitely get the appeal.

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Verbalize the Positive

I enjoyed this new-to-me Simpsons episode recently, where Milhouse attempts to woo Lisa with a theremin!