Pachuco Cadaver / Wild Life

Last updated

"Pachuco Cadaver"
Single by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
A-side "Pachuco Cadaver"
B-side "Wild Life"
Released1970
Recorded1969
Studio Whitney Recording Studio, Glendale; Sunset Sound, Los Angeles
Genre Experimental rock; avant-blues
Length4:37 (A-side) • 3:07 (B-side)
Label Straight (France: 2C 006-91200; Pathé-Marconi/EMI distribution)
Songwriter Don Van Vliet
Producer Frank Zappa
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band singles chronology
"Yellow Brick Road"
(1967)		"Pachuco Cadaver"
(1970)		"Too Much Time"
(1972)

"Pachuco Cadaver" / "Wild Life" is a 7-inch single by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, issued exclusively in France in 1970 through Straight Records. The two tracks originate from the 1969 album Trout Mask Replica . According to the Captain Beefheart Radar Station discography, it was the only contemporary single taken from that album and was not issued in any other territory. [1]

Contents

The single is known for its distinctive French picture sleeve,[ citation needed ] featuring a photograph of Don Van Vliet at the Amougies Festival in October 1969.

Background

Both songs were recorded as part of Trout Mask Replica, produced by Frank Zappa and tracked at Whitney Studios in Glendale following months of highly regimented rehearsals. AllMusic highlights the album's construction as rooted in "meticulously drilled, interlocking rhythms" realized by the Magic Band from Van Vliet's sketches. [2]

Mike Barnes notes that the band rehearsed intensively under Van Vliet's direction for up to 14 hours a day, solidifying the rhythmic language later heard on both tracks. [3]

Release

The French single was issued in 1970 by Pathé-Marconi under licence from Straight Records. It was the only 7-inch derived from Trout Mask Replica at the time of release. [1]

In 2018, Third Man Records reissued the single as part of its Vault Package #36, reproducing the French sleeve and issuing the tracks on a collector's 7-inch. [4] [5]

Musical style

Pachuco Cadaver

"Pachuco Cadaver" is identified by AllMusic as one of the album's most rhythmically energetic tracks, driven by "interlocking guitar lines executed with mechanical precision." [2] Barnes describes the piece as built from angular, staccato guitar lines transcribed by drummer John "Drumbo" French from Van Vliet's piano sketches. [3]

Pitchfork characterizes the song as "cubist blues", where fragments of boogie riffs are broken and reshaped into asymmetrical rhythmic structures. [6]

Rolling Stone notes the "mathematically precise" drum figures and independent bass movement, creating a polyrhythmic, non-unison texture uncommon in rock music. [7]

The New Yorker describes Van Vliet's vocal delivery as "playfully aggressive, percussive speech-singing", matching the jagged instrumental movements. [8]

Wild Life

"Wild Life" stands in contrast as one of the album's gentlest and most spacious pieces. AllMusic describes it as "unexpectedly soft" and defined by open intervals and sparse instrumentation. [2]

Barnes notes that the track served as a moment of "exhalation", presenting a slow, modal blues rather than the album's typical rhythmic density. [3] Rolling Stone describes it as an example of the album's "quiet surrealism", blending pastoral Americana with avant-garde inflection. [7]

The New Yorker characterizes the track as "dreamlike and pastoral", with Van Vliet singing in a more linear, melodic style. [8]

Track listing

7" single (Straight/Pathé-Marconi – 2C 006-91200, France, 1970)
No.TitleWriter(s)LengthLength
1."Pachuco Cadaver"Don Van Vliet4:37 
2."Wild Life"Don Van Vliet3:07 

Personnel

Credits adapted from professional discographies and album documentation. [2] [9]

Release history

CountryDateLabel / Cat. no.FormatNotes
France1970Straight / Pathé-Marconi 2C 006-912007"Original issue; picture sleeve. [1] [10]
United States2018Third Man Records TMR-5597"Vault Package reissue; replica French sleeve. [4] [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Official singles". Captain Beefheart Radar Station. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Captain Beefheart – Trout Mask Replica". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Barnes, Mike (2000). Captain Beefheart: The Biography. Omnibus Press.
  4. 1 2 "My Human Gets Me Blues: Third Man Readies Vault Package for Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica". The Second Disc. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Captain Beefheart – Pachuco Cadaver / Wild Life (TMR-559)". Discogs. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "Captain Beefheart: Trout Mask Replica Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  7. 1 2 Greene, Andy (15 June 2019). "Why Captain Beefheart's 'Trout Mask Replica' Still Sounds Like the Future". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Trout Mask Replica at 50: A Playlist of Van Vliet's Worlds". The New Yorker. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Trout Mask Replica – Discography & musician credits". beefheart.com. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "Captain Beefheart – Pachuco Cadaver / Wild Life (France, 1970)". Discogs. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.