The origin of the first Captain Beefheart album Safe As Milk is shrouded in mystery. The result is clear, however: a record on which blues, rhythm and blues, avant-garde rock and Westcoastpop come together in a unique mix that cannot be compared with anything in the Captain's oeuvre. Later music would magnify the strange content of Beefheart and his Magic Band, here it is especially striking that
… songs like Yellow Brick Road, Sure Nuff 'N Yes I Do and Abba Zabba still sound so fresh and accessible now. With (unnamed) guest appearances by Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder, the mood on Safe As Milk is adventurous, the music is free but with an underlying discipline that Beefheart would later lose. There is even an attempt at doowop harmonies in I'm So Glad. Beefheart would never sound so conventional again or,more
