VARIOUS ARTISTS: Mama Kangaroos: Women of Philly Sing Captain Beefheart

Various Artists

Mama Kangaroos: Women of Philly Sing Captain Beefheart

© 2005 Genus Records (837101048644)

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Mama Kangaroos is a genre-hopping tribute to the music of sixties legend Captain Beefheart - it covers songs from the entire span of his career, in just about every style you can think of, from modern drum and bass to jazz, rock, and old timey folk.

tracks

1 Where There's Woman
2 The Past Sure Is Tense
3 The Witch Doctor Life
4 Run Paint Run Run
5 Apes-ma
6 Abba Zaba
7 Sugar Bowl
8 Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles
9 My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains
10 Crazy Little Thing
11 Lick My Decals Off, Baby
12 Party of Special Things To Do
13 Safe As Milk (Take 3)
14 When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy
15 I'm Glad
16 Ashtray Heart
17 Frying Pan
18 Plastic Factory
19 Orange Claw Hammer
20 Well

notes

Mama Kangaroos features twenty emerging and established female artists from Philadelphia performing the songs of painter Don Van Vliet, the man better known as the legendary Captain Beefheart. The set covers material spanning the entirety of the Captain's storied career, while showcasing a diversity of talent and style that once again proves Philly to be one of the country's most vital music centers. Whatever kind of music you like, you'll find it on Mama Kangaroos.

Notably, reviews are in from some of those who know the Captain's music best: Beefheart.com calls Mama Kangaroos "The best collection of covers of Don's songs yet released", while former Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas calls it "A really wonderful record that gets better and better on repeated listenings". The Wire says Mama Kangaroos "Tackles Beefheart's music imaginatively, assertively, and in a way well deserving of our attention."

reviews

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  • Very nice, and essential for Capt Beefheart fans
    author: Sam Frantz

    It's so nice to hear these songs performed so well with different arrangements and female voices. Very enjoyable, and better with repeated listenings, just like the originals :)

  • A really interesting take on a wide range of Captain Beefheart songs
    author: Steve Richardson

    The mix of songs and interpretations is really interesting. Some work better than others, but overall if you are a Beefheart/Magic Band fan you will enjoy this. The way the lyrics are interpreted and presented especially makes some of the tracks really strong, Lick My Decals Off Baby, and Orange Claw Hammer particularly. Abba Zaba is fantastic, in fact every track brings something different, worth listening to. The production and sound is great, well worth a try.

  • wheres the beef??
    author: snotty dick

    this is one great tribute to the beef. very different. just like captain beefheart. buy this!

  • the way to do a tribute
    author: maarten van steen

    having read some other (lenghty) reviews, i'll keep this one short. where other tributes seem to be systematic attempts at imitating beefheart, these women have found the right way to do it: you give new life to songs through your own interpretation. being original, just like the captain, is the best tribute you can give. get this CD - you'll love it.

  • A fitting tribute to one of rock music's most original artists.
    author: Weirdomusic.com

    The music of some artists is so unique that it's hard to imagine that an album of cover versions can be any good. Captain Beefheart is such an artist: unique, iconoclastic, a true genius. So of course Mama Kangaroos, Philly women sing Captain Beefheart can't be any good, right? Wrong! The world's only all female Captain Beefheart retrospective is a wonderful album and a fitting tribute to one of rock music's most original artists. Mama Kangaroos' song selection covers the entirety of Beefheart's career, and its stylistic range runs the gamut from a jazzy drum'n'bass version of Where there's woman to a very Cramps-y take on Frying pan. Rock, blues, jazz, folk, it's all there. Some artists stay close to the original, but most dare to take risks and make their chosen track all their own. It's hard to pick the best tracks - almost all are excellent - but some of our favorits include the pseudo-Irish folk version of Orange claw hammer by King of Siam and a beautiful "ethnic" version of Abba Zabba by a group called Voices of Africa. Oh, and Lick my decals off baby by Kiss Kiss Kill (who sound like a Philadelphia version of Charming Hostess by the way) must be the most sexy Beefheart cover yet. Like one time Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas wrote: "Hell, they're all good!". No matter if your a hardcore fan of the Captain or if you're new to his music, this is THE tribute album to get!

  • The Captains Music Lives On !
    author: Daniel Riddick / Naked Eye Productions

    For those unfamiliar with Captain Beefheart's music this is a great introduction. For those hardcore Beefheart fans that think this is sacrilege, keep in mind every generation has to translate for themselves. Mama Kangaroos is a brilliant testament to the power of Beefheart's music. The many genre's represented confirm the good Captain will live on and on... This disc gets better with every listening. From the wonderful electro beats of Sweetie's take on WHERE THERE'S WOMAN to Nancy Falkow's beautiful folk stylings on MY HEAD IS MY ONLY HOUSE UNLESS IT RAINS to the straight ahead glass finger guitar rock of Mia Johnson's version of CRAZY LITTLE THING to the energetic Thorazine's FRYING PAN to King Of Siam's absolutly brilliant sea chantey version of ORANGE CLAW HAMMER, there is not a bad tune here. The one standout track would have to be Essra Mohawk's PARTY OF SPECIAL THINGS TO DO. Her comanding voice adds an aura of authenticity. Each track flows seemlessly from genre to genre. Hat's off to Genus Records for this amibitious undertaking!

  • Every track proves that the Captain's music is timeless
    author: Peter Van Laarhoven / United-Mutations.com/July 10, 2005

    It must have been somewhere around 2002 when I first heard about "Mama Kangaroos", the all female Captain Beefheart tribute album. Winterbrief released 'The Past Sure Is Tense' as some sort of sneak preview on their "Unwrapped" 7", and then, everything became silent...Three years later, "Mama Kangaroos" finally sees the light of day and it was well worth the waiting. This is one of the most refreshing albums that I have heard in a long while. Subtitled "Philly Women Sing Captain Beefheart", the disc presents an exquisite selection of Philladelphia female artists. I really like what they do with Van Vliet's material. Having a woman (or women) sing a Beefheart track, gives it quite a different feeling, another drive. Much work has been put in the arrangements as well. Every track proves that the Captain's music is timeless, especially when it's performed by artists like Sweetie (sounds like a club remix), Global Transmission (beautiful multiple vocal lines), The Big Mess Orchestra (Chaotic Big Band sound), The Voices Of Africa (a vocal quintet that gets real close to Beefheart's powerful voice), Jane Gilday (vocals and banjo), and many, many more. This is essential listening!

  • Tackles Beefheart’s music imaginatively, and assertively
    author: Mike Barnes - The Wire - July 2005

    Captain Beefheart suggested on a number of occasions that he really wrote his music for women. This was partly because he meant it, but also because he was paranoid about it only appealing to blokes. Especailly the sort who, as Bill ‘Zoot Horn Rollo’ Harkelrod mentioned in his book Lunar Notes, would turn up to shows dressed as computers in homemade cardboard costumes. Of course, some women do like Beefheart but evidence suggests that his fanbase is still more the preserve of the male of the species. Perhaps not so much in Philadelphia. This 20 track compilation features women artists exclusively from that town, the great majority of whom tackle Beefheart’s music imaginatively, assertively, and in a way well deserving of our attention. Maybe the man was right after all. Many musicians have encountered problems covering Beefheart’s music. Most haven’t got the time or chops to play his more difficult compositions and many don’t seem to know what to do with the songs. Magazine’s late 70s cover of “I Love You, You Big Dummy” and the Membranes woeful take on “Ice Cream for Crow” were object lessons in how not to do it – a rock ordinaire that is so unlike the original in every way that it only really qualifies as a fame by association exercise. But once past the odd but considerable pleasure gained from listening to women plundering the Beefheart canon, what impresses most is the way they identify and tease out the structural threads that made so many of Beefheart’s songs great in the first place. Then, more often than not, they do something original with them. Beefheart was so averse to the disco/rock 4/4 beat that had become ubiquitous in the post-punk era he used to dismiss it as “the mama heartbeat, the beat that makes the money”. God knows, then, what he’d make of Global Transmission’s techno/break-beat driven take on “Witch Doctor Life”. It actually works a treat, as does Voices Of Africa’s wonderful version of “Abba Zaba”, which sounds like a latin percussion ensemble backing the Mahotella Queens. “Party of Special Things To Do” isn’t one of Beefheart’s best songs, but Essra Mohawk’s blowsy, bluesy cover easily eclipses the original. Kiss Kiss Kill tackle the thorny “Lick My Decals Off, Baby”. Where as the original is humorous and deliriously sexual, their version is sexy and humorous in the great liberties they have taken with the form. Just in case it all starts to sound easy, Tintinabulus demonstrate another problem – that Beefheart was often quite sketchy on melody. On their version of “When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy”, they play it fine – if a little elongated – but the singer has her work cut out trying to fashion a tune out of what was basically a series of exclamations.

  • Mama isn’t your average tribute-ary.
    author: The Next Big Thing - Lindsay Hutton

    The Next Big Thing – Lindsay Hutton - Friday, July 22, 2005 Mama Kangaroos is the latest project to come out on Mike Villers Genus imprint out of Philadelphia. A hefty labour of love with perhaps a touch of obsession, you may recall the Jim Carroll tribute ("Put Your Tongue to the Rail: The Philly Comp for Catholic Children") that the label previously put together. This one is subtitled “Philly Women sing Captain Beefheart”; MK offers a gamut of female interpretations from the songbook of Uncle Don with solid results. They might not all hit your particular spot but then you wouldn’t expect them to. The opening cut, “Where There’s Woman” by Sweetie starts off fine but went all trip hoppy on me but the clatter is over soon enough. “The Past Sure Is Tense” by Winterbrief drags things back on track and even just two songs in, it’s obvious that a broad church such as this wasn’t gonna be instant. Repeated plays uncover new aspects, as does the mood you’re in while you’re trying to digest it. Some attention is required; it doesn’t really play out as wallpaper. I can’t claim to be an expert in Beefheart but I do recognise that these readings perhaps inhabit a more conventional universe than the original versions. It’d be interesting to hear if this Captfest inspires anyone who hasn’t already heard these songs to go back to the source. There is a reverence and a bounce to the sequence that might make no sense at all on “shuffle” but I think this is programmed like an album running order. Curated even. My consistent favourites go something like this. “My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains” is given a Countrypolitan flavour by Nancy Falkow. I should mention right now that’d I’d heard of exactly nobody on this comp except for Amber DeLaurentis who plays on what for me is the standout, Janet Bressler’s “I’m Glad”. A transcendant slice of Philly Soul. Pure and simple. “When I See Mommy” by Tintinabulus sounds like a crash course in MX-80iness while Thorazine’s “Frying Pan” is a shouty, rooti’, tootin’ rabble flummoxer. So then, to sum up, Mama isn’t your average tribute-ary. Given due care and attention there are dividends to be found in these 20 tracks. Some may confound, some may drive you “aff your heid” but I doubt if you’ll be bored. The proof of the pudding and all that…

  • No doubt about it, these Philly-women have their beefhearts in the right place.
    author: Hans Hoes - Het Financieele Dagblad / Amsterdam - June 25th, 200

    Feminists flirt with the Captain By Hans Hoes ‘Captain Beefheart sings for women’, read the headline above a preview of Clear Spot in a 1973 issue of Rolling Stone. For lovers of avant-garde blues rock, a new album of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band was something to look forward to. And although the creator of surrealist masterpieces like Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Off, Baby for the past twenty years has been living a fragile hermit’s life as the painter Don Van Vliet, his musical heritage is still treasured. Once you’re infected by the Beefheart-virus, you never get rid of it. The reunited Magic Band, put together from various editions, still knows how to recreate the most intricate riffs, even without the Captain himself crackin’ his whip. Moreover, all kinds of tribute-cd’s are breathing new life into the Beefheart-songbook. The best and most recent of these tributes is titled Mama Kangaroos. Compared to 1973, it’s turning the tables: women sing Captain Beefheart! It’s a compilation of twenty rather obscure groups from Philadelphia, all featuring female vocalists. This project was initiated by producer Mike Villers, who had the idea of giving Beefheart’s music a boost by liberating it from the Captain’s dominating – male – personality as much as possible. It may seem like a gimmick, but this feminist’s flirt with the Captain is heart-warming. At first you’ve got to get used to it a bit, not only because of the higher-pitched female voices, but also because quite unexpectedly this cd kicks off with a couple of contemporary electro pop covers. But after a few tracks the sparks really start flying with ‘Abba Zabba’, where the jubilant Voices of America have been festooned with a twirling sitar twang. From country to punk, almost any genre proves useful. Foot-stomping rock ‘n roll adds wings to Thorazine’s merciless ‘Frying Pan’, an early single by the Magic Band. Janet Bressler’s potential chartbuster ‘I’m Glad’ takes you back to the time of beehives and petticoats. A touch of The Pogues adds flavour to King of Siam’s cheery ‘Orange Claw Hammer’. Radio Eris’s wispy-voiced ‘Apes Ma’ turns out almost better than the original. Even the limp ‘Sugar Bowl’ has magically been transformed into an ambiguous bluegrass-ditty by Jane Gilday. No doubt about it, these Philly-women have their beefhearts in the right place.

  • female voices singing Beefheart songs.....marvellous!
    author: hfnorm

    Had this shipped to darkest Tasmania and have been gloating over it ever since. Beefheart songs, female voices...what a fabulous concept...how come no one thought of this before? The different genres work well and the only reason it gets 4 stars not 5 is there's got to be some things in there I like less than others.And would I be crass enough to tell you a favourite track? Well..

  • A really wonderful record...better and better on repeated listenings.
    author: Gary Lucas / Guitarist (The Magic Band, Gods and Monsters)

    I have to say, Mama Kangaroos really knocked me out. The variety of interpretations on the cd, from drum and bass versions to old timey to camp cabaret to bloozy rawk 'n roll, is stunning, and what a pleasure to hear women's voices in all their glory ring some new changes on the already decidedly twisted Beefheartian songbook. It is a really wonderful record, with twenty different female-fronted ensembles driving the engine of difference, and it gets better and better on repeated listenings, I couldn't cite a favorite track but Sweetie's electro jungle-style version of "Where There's Woman" is a revelation; Jane Gilday's haunting "Sugarbowl" takes one deep into the dappled hills of Appalachian country; and Kiss Kiss Kill Kill's thriftshop Manhattan Transfer-esque take on "Lick My Decals Off Baby" is a hoot and a holler (not unakin to the GTO's "Captain's Fat Theresa Shoes")...would also like to mention Janet Bressler's soulful "I'm Glad", Essra Mohawk's kicking "Party of Special Things to Do", Global Transmission's mesmeric triphop "Witch Doctor Life", Thorazine's punk-thrash "Frying Pan"...hell, they're all good!

  • The best collection of covers of Don's songs yet released.
    author: Steve Froy / Beefheart.com

    I'm sure there will be people who will not be able to accept what's happened to some of these songs. Me? I love every track. I think this is the best collection of covers of Don's songs yet to be released. The Neon Meate Dream of an Octafish album was good but some of the tracks tried to 'out-weird' Beefheart and failed. Mama Kangaroos has taken a different approach to Don's music. It's obvious some thought has been put into each and every one. Instead of going for copies of the originals the bands have, in most cases, taken Don's lyrics and set them in very different musical landscapes. There's some excellent, and unusual, arrangements to the songs included in this collection.

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