The Mystery Man From The Magic Band

Herb Bermann was credited as co-writing eight of the songs on CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND's debut album Safe As Milk (1967); it would have been a completely different record without him. According to one observer:"[Captain Beefheart] called the guy 'The Poet.' For a while he was positively gagging us all out with it! 'The Poet said...' or 'The Poet is HEAVY, man!' I mean none of us could believe it.... You'd have thought Salvador Dali had walked in!"Yet Bermann kept silent about Captain Beefheart for almost 50 years -- so silent that some people said that Captain Beefheart had invented him. Now Bermann shares his story! Fans will be charmed by Bermann's descriptions of how his songs came to be written. They may also be surprised to learn just which songs he says he wrote. Included is a facsimile reproduction of his original lyric sheets, with dozens more songs that were never produced. Bermann's story reveals previously unpublished information about the early work of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Neil Young and Steven Spielberg. It also introduces us to an artist whose work and influence have been generally overlooked.