Lick My Decals Off, Baby
| Lick My Decals Off, Baby | ||||
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| Studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band | ||||
| Released | December 1970 | |||
| Recorded | May 1970, United Recording Corporation, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Experimental rock, psychedelic rock, blues-rock, avant-garde, free jazz | |||
| Length | 39:38 | |||
| Label | Straight, Reprise | |||
| Producer | Don Van Vliet | |||
| Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | A− |
| Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992) | (4/5) |
Lick My Decals Off, Baby is the fourth album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in 1970 on Frank Zappa's Straight Records label. The follow-up to Trout Mask Replica (1969), it is regarded by some critics and listeners as superior, and was Van Vliet's favorite. Don Van Vliet said that the title is an encouragement to "get rid of the labels", and to evaluate things according to their merits rather than according to superficial labels (or "decals").
Musicians on the album were Don Van Vliet, vocals, harmonica, and woodwinds; Bill Harkleroad, guitar; Mark Boston, bass; Art Tripp, marimba, drums, and percussion; and John French, drums. French had been arranger and musical director on Trout Mask Replica. Van Vliet ejected French from the group—both figuratively and literally, by allegedly throwing him down a flight of stairs—shortly after Trout Mask Replica was completed, and these roles passed to guitarist Bill Harkleroad. French returned to the group shortly before recording began.
Most of the songs began as piano improvisations by Van Vliet. He would record extended improvisation sessions on a cassette recorder. Harkleroad then listened to these improvisations, picked out the best parts, and pieced them into compositions. The musical lines on Decals tend to be longer and more intricate than the assemblage of short fragments that characterized much of Trout Mask Replica.
The record contains some of Captain Beefheart's most experimental music and remains memorable for both the marimba playing of Art Tripp and for its concise instrumental work. An early promotional music video was made of its title song, and a bizarre television commercial was also filmed that included excerpts from "Woe-Is-uh-Me-Bop", silent footage of masked Magic Band members using kitchen utensils as musical instruments, and Beefheart kicking over a bowl of what appears to be porridge onto a dividing stripe in the middle of a road. The video was rarely played but was accepted into the Museum of Modern Art, where it has been used in several programs.
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