Before gaining a cult with his avant-garde excursions in the late '60s,
Captain Beefheart wielded a much more traditional sort of blues-rock. That's not to say that these two obscure mid-'60s A&M singles (packaged together on this five-song EP, which adds a previously unreleased track from the same era) aren't well worth hearing. The
Captain's Howlin' Wolf-like growl led a tough outfit that ranked among the best early American blues-rock groups, and among the few that could reasonably emulate
the Rolling Stones' toughness. Produced, unbelievably enough, by future
Bread leader
David Gates, this reissue includes their regional hit cover of
Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy." The best track, though, is "Moonchild," their shameless derivation of
Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning." Featuring wailing harmonica, stomping riffs and adventurous, quasi-psychedelic production, it was actually written by
Gates himself. To think that the same man was also responsible for "If" and "Baby I'm A-Want You" blows the mind. ~ Richie Unterberger