Electricity (Captain Beefheart song)

"Electricity"
Single by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band
from the album Safe as Milk
A-side	"Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do"[1]
Released	1967, 1978
Genre	Blues rock psychedelic rock[2] garage rock[3] proto-punk[3]
Length	3:07
Label	Buddah
Songwriter(s)	Herb Bermann and Don Van Vliet
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band singles chronology
"Hard Workin' Man" (1978) "Electricity" (1967) "Ice Cream For Crow" (1982)

"Electricity" is a song by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, from their 1967 debut album Safe as Milk. Beefheart claimed that A&M Records dropped the band after co-owner Jerry Moss heard the song and declared it "too negative"^[4] for his teenage daughter to listen to; Safe as Milk would ultimately be released by Buddah Records. Beefheart's vocal performance shattered the microphone recording him.^[5][6]

"Electricity"

While Safe as Milk mostly conveyed a blues–rock sound, songs such as "Electricity" illustrated the band's unconventional instrumentation and Van Vliet's unusual vocals.

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Critics have said the song foreshadows many of Beefheart's later efforts and praised the song's distorted vocals. Magic Band member Guitarist Doug Moon described the song as "hinting of things to come." Critics also described the theremin in the song as a "ghostly theremin in the most disconcerting way."^[7] In the book Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood, "Electricity" is said to be "a very unconventional blues song".^[8]

While playing "Electricity" at the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival at Mount Tamalpais in 1967, in a warm-up performance for the Monterey International Pop Festival, Captain Beefheart abruptly stopped the song, straightened his tie, and walked off the stage, landing face-first in the grass. He later claimed that he saw a girl in the audience turn into a goldfish. This incident caused guitarist Ry Cooder, frustrated with Beefheart's erratic behavior, to immediately quit the Magic Band; Cooder's departure brought about the cancellation of their scheduled appearance at Monterey Pop.^[9]

Sonic Youth recorded a cover of "Electricity" for the tribute album Fast 'n' Bulbous – A Tribute to Captain Beefheart.^[10][11] This version would later appear on the 2007 deluxe reissue of their 1988 album Daydream Nation.^[12]

American post-hardcore band Racebannon covered the song on their 2002 album In the Grips of the Light.^{[citation needed]}

• Courrier, Kevin (2002). Dangerous kitchen: the subversive world of Zappa. ECW Press. ISBN 9781550224474.
• Barnes, Mike (2000). Captain Beefheart. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1844494128.
• Cooper, Kim and David Smay (2012). Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed. Routledge. ISBN 978-1135879211.
• Hoskyns, Barney (2009). Waiting for the Sun: A Rock and Roll History of Los Angeles. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0879309435.
• The Mojo Collection: 4th Edition. Canongate Books. 2007. ISBN 978-1847676436.
• Priore, Domenic (2007). Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock'n'roll's Last Stand in 60s Hollywood. Outline Press. ISBN 978-1906002947.
• Tyler, Steve (2006). The A to X of Alternative Music. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0826482171.