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John Yamrus’ bio changes as frequently as his socks. He recently released “DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER JUST GIVE HIM A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE” and now “CAPTAIN BEEFHEART NEVER LICKED MY DECALS OFF, BABY”. Both books are published by Anxiety Press.

To introduce CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, John is sharing the masterful introduction by Sarah Hajkowski.

This memoirette John Yamrus has entitled CAPTAIN BEEFHEART NEVER LICKED MY DECALS OFF, BABY is what happens when one fiercely authentic artist reflects on and celebrates another. A varied and personal experience for the reader is done by design.

Yamrus made his peace long ago that his taste for truth-telling in art is not shared by all. The whiff of lofty principles with no substance will always catch his nose with distrust, but the ass-end-of-a-fish authenticity of real hold on tight weirdos has Yamrus’ eternal respect.

Composed by Don “Captain Beefheart” Van Vliet and his Magic Band in 1969, the controversial studio album Trout Mask Replica is the center point from which the entire narrative branches out.

The twenty-eight tracks of Trout Mask Replica are infamously some of the strangest instrumental and voiced sound gathered together in the twentieth century. But it’s in an aperture of oddness like this where John Yamrus truly shines. Rolling with humor and affecting no pretenses, Yamrus’ extemporaneous prose also reflects his relationships, perspectives, and thoughts before falling asleep.

Those familiar with the author will recognize anew the feeling of one of those conversations where the dialogue turns unexpectedly too good to rush off for coffee or get to the things we have all accepted need doing.

For those unfamiliar, John Yamrus speaks at equal leisure to the modernist art enthusiast, the student of classic Western literature, and the punk kid who thrifts a Grateful Dead tee shirt before ever hearing a track.

The author might hope said kid stays long enough to open their ears for a sample of the real thing, coming to appreciate the source material that’s trickled on down into the mainstream. Still, his is not a school of clubby in-group “you either know or you’ll never know.”

Rather, Captain Beefheart joins Yamrus’ collection of more than forty books and 4,000 publications in inviting those new to its subject matter. Over the lip of a kooky kidney bean pool bobbing with references and forgotten wonderfulness is John Yamrus warmly waving. The treasures he unpacks may have daunting names like “Lick My Decals Off,” but are largely harmless and quite a lot of fun.

Trout Mask Replica has been discussed in print before as “insanely anti-music”: disorienting in its mixture of jazz, rock, blues, and spoken word–frequently with a focus on the circumstances of its production. Yamrus has a serious investment in the Captain and his Magic Bandmates’ emergence on record, experiencing in person the group’s 1970 appearance at the Comerford in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Still beyond the musicology of which ‘flesh horn’ went where, his memoir self-professedly seeks to know the “why” of Captain Beefheart’s third and best-known studio album.

Even now puzzling over elements of the experience years later, John Yamrus wants readers to puzzle with him.

-Sarah Hajkowski

Sarah Hajkowski is a playwright and also a contributing columnist for Erato magazine. Her comprehensive article on the writing of John Yamrus has been widely praised for its accuracy, insight, and depth. For more of Sarah Hajkowski’s thoughts on the work of John Yamrus, check out her recent piece in Erato Magazine: In Favor of the Messenger: Reviewing John Yamrus

Paperback

Author Biography

John Yamrus is widely recognized as a master of minimalism and the neo-noir in modern poetry. In a career spanning more than 50 years as a working writer, he has had more than 3,500 poems published in books, magazines, and anthologies around the world. His writing is often taught in college and university courses. Three of his more than 40 books have been published in translation.  His two newest books are DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER: JUST GIVE HIM A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE and CAPTAIN BEEFHEART NEVER LICKED MY DECALS OFF, BABY.