Captain Beefheart discography

Captain Beefheart discography
Studio albums13
EPs1
Live albums3
Compilation albums22
Singles23

The following is a list of official releases by American musician Captain Beefheart. With various line-ups of musicians called The Magic Band, Beefheart released a total of 13 studio albums recorded between 1967 and 1982, after which he left music to concentrate on a career in painting, as Don Van Vliet. His catalogue has since been augmented with extra releases including an EP and various compilations of live material, studio outtakes and greatest hits releases.

In addition to his work with the Magic Band over this period, Beefheart also collaborated with several other musicians, most notably Frank Zappa, a friend from his teenage years with whom he worked intermittently during his musical career.

Albums and EPs

Studio albums

Year Title Notes Magic Band personnel Charts
US
 UK
1967 Safe as Milk
  • Released on June 29, 1967
  • Label: Buddah (US), Pye (UK)
  • John French
  • Ry Cooder
  • Alex St. Clair
  • Jerry Handley
 — —
1968 Strictly Personal
  • Released in October 1968
  • Label: Blue Thumb (US), Liberty (UK)
  • John French
  • Alex St. Clair
  • Jeff Cotton
  • Jerry Handley
 — —
1969 Trout Mask Replica
  • Released on June 16, 1969
  • Label: Straight
  • John French
  • Jeff Cotton
  • Bill Harkleroad
  • Mark Boston
  • Victor Hayden
 — 21
1970 Lick My Decals Off, Baby
  • Released in December 1970
  • Label: Straight
  • John French
  • Bill Harkleroad
  • Mark Boston
  • Art Tripp
 203 20
1971 Mirror Man
  • Released in April 1971 (recorded 1967)
  • Label: Buddah
  • John French
  • Alex St. Clair
  • Jeff Cotton
  • Jerry Handley
 — 49
1972 The Spotlight Kid
  • Released in January 1972
  • Label: Reprise
  • John French
  • Bill Harkleroad
  • Mark Boston
  • Art Tripp
  • Elliot Ingber
 131 44
1972 Clear Spot
  • Released in October 1972
  • Label: Reprise
  • Bill Harkleroad
  • Mark Boston
  • Art Tripp
  • Roy Estrada
 191 —
1974 Unconditionally Guaranteed
  • Released in April 1974
  • Label: Mercury (US), Virgin (UK)
  • Bill Harkleroad
  • Mark Boston
  • Alex St. Clair
  • Mark Marcellino
  • Art Tripp
 192 —
1974 Bluejeans & Moonbeams
  • Released in November 1974
  • Label: Mercury (US), Virgin (UK)
  • Ira Ingber
  • Gene Pello
  • Mark Gibbons
  • Michael Smotherman
  • Jimmy Caravan
  • Ty Grimes
  • Dean Smith
 — —
1978 Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)
  • Released in October 1978
  • Label: Warner (US), Virgin (UK)
  • Jeff Moris Tepper
  • Bruce Lambourne Fowler
  • Eric Drew Feldman
  • Richard Redus
  • Robert Arthur Williams
 — —
1980 Doc at the Radar Station
  • Released in August 1980
  • Label: Virgin
  • John French
  • Jeff Moris Tepper
  • Eric Drew Feldman
  • Bruce Lambourne Fowler
  • Robert Arthur Williams
 203 —
1982 Ice Cream for Crow
  • Released in September 1982
  • Label: Virgin
  • Jeff Moris Tepper
  • Gary Lucas
  • Richard Snyder
  • Cliff R. Martinez
 — 90
2012 Bat Chain Puller
  • Recorded in 1976
  • Label: Zappa
  • John French
  • John Thomas
  • Jeff Moris Tepper
  • Denny Walley
 — —

EPs

Year Title Notes Magic Band personnel
1984 The Legendary A&M Sessions
  • Released in October 1984
  • Label: A&M
  • Features four tracks taken from the band's earliest singles in 1966, and a fifth track recorded in the same year

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Year Single Peak positions Album
UK
1966 "Diddy Wah Diddy" / "Who Do You Think You're Fooling" — The Legendary A&M Sessions
"Moonchild" / "Frying Pan" —
1967 "Yellow Brick Road" / "Abba Zaba" 57 Safe as Milk
1968 "Moonchild" / "Who Do You Think You're Fooling" 61 The Legendary A&M Sessions
"Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do" / "Yellow Brick Road" — Safe as Milk
"Zig Zag Wanderer" / "Abba Zaba" —
1970 "Pachuco Cadaver" / "Wild Life" — Trout Mask Replica
1972 "Too Much Time" / "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains" — Clear Spot
1974 "Upon the My-O-My" / "Magic Be" — Unconditionally Guaranteed
1978 "Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do" / "Electricity" — Safe as Milk
"Hard Workin' Man" — Blue Collar Soundtrack
1982 "Ice Cream for Crow" / "Light Reflected Off the Oceands of the Moon" — Ice Cream for Crow

Promotional singles

Year Single Album
1969 "Plastic Factory" / "Where There's Woman" Safe as Milk
1972 "Click Clack" / "Glider" The Spotlight Kid

Other appearances

with Frank Zappa

Beefheart may also have performed uncredited (for contractual reasons) on other Zappa albums, including Freak Out! (1966) where he can be detected playing harmonica and singing.

Other collaborations

Films

Notes

  1. 1 2 Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List".

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top LPs, 1955–1972. Record Research. p. 26. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  2. ↑ Everyhit.com — UK Top 40 hit database
  3. ↑ "Don van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff". IMDb.