Song 489: This week on the playlist you’ll find New Electric Ride by Captain Beefheart, written by Don Van Vliet, Jan Van Vliet and Andy DiMartino, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I had only heard bits and pieces of the Captain's music before Sugar Bowl (Song 148) came out of my car radio speakers on a sunny June day back in 1974, but that cut really grabbed my attention, and moved me to add Unconditionally Guaranteed to my collection soon after. The LP spent a lot of time on my turntable, and I liked it so much, this marks the 5th appearance of a UG track on this list: Upon the My-O-My is Song 265, Magic Be is Song 350 and Lazy Music is Song 427. It surprised me to learn recently that after releasing the followup Bluejeans & Moonbeams (which I also acquired and appreciated), at the end of 1974, when Mr. Van Vliet's contract with Mercury Records expired, he disowned both albums, calling them horrible and vulgar while urging his fans to take copies back for a refund. Had someone told me about this at the time, I would have ignored the suggestion while I continued playing the records. On this one, when the guitar starts playing, the listeners might find themselves watching the shooting stars, being under love's blue sky, twisting and turning over on their side, and going around the curve where they're really going to swerve. Once they’ve taken it for a spin, anyone might enjoy the New Electric Ride as much as I do.
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