Gary Lucas
Gary Lucas (born in Syracuse, New York, June 20, 1952) is an American rock guitarist, who was a member of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band between 1980 and 1982, right before the singer left the music industry for good. During this period, Lucas also served as his manager.
After leaving Beefheart, Lucas went on playing with his group Gods & Monsters and collaborated with several big names in the rock industry, such as Jeff Buckley, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nick Cave, John Zorn, Bryan Ferry, Patti Smith, DJ Spooky, Damo Suzuki, Iggy Pop, Dr. John, Allen Ginsberg, Adrian Sherwood,...
Co de Kloet once let Lucas compose an instrumental based on a 1993 recording of an interview he had with Captain Beefheart. They titled this composition I Have A Cat.
Gary Lucas and Frank Zappa
Gary Lucas covered King Kong on his album Skeleton at the Feast (1991) and Gods and Monsters (1992). He also performed with Project/Object (The Band) and during the 2011 Zappanale he played together with Sandy Hurvitz, The Plastic People Of The Universe and the Magic Band. [1]
"When Frank Zappa died, it occurred to me that I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd actually been "disappeared" by some official agency, not unlike other overly outspoken youth-friendly leaders. Zappa's one of the great seminal figures of both iconoclastic music and social commentary. He took up the mantel of contrarian naysayers like Lenny Bruce and continued, as Jimi Hendrix put it, to wave his freak flag high. He was scathingly honest about everything from government to consumerism, skewering sacred cows and generally getting up people's noses. Frank's musical genius was his ability to integrate his compositions into diverse arrangements, turning on a dime from the highest of high art to the dirtiest doo-wop, always with an amazing sense of humor."[2]
In a 2011 interview about Captain Beefheart Lucas tells that he actually bought Trout Mask Replica because he saw that it was produced by Frank Zappa, whom he loved. When Zappa and Beefheart starting touring together in 1975 he was surprised since he assumed that they hated each other.[3]
