Excerpt – Captain Beefheart On Track -There were a number of young kids getting into the blues and, just like in England, these musicians tended to find each other and form blues bands. All the members of the Trout Mask Replica era band had previously played together at Lancaster in a band called Blues in a Bottle.
In 1965, a short while after Don’s return from Frank’s, Alex Snouffer, a local R&B guitar player, approached Don with the intent of putting together an R&B band. I’m sure Alex didn’t know what he was letting himself in for.
Don added the Van to his name, thinking that it sounded cool, and the first Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band was spawned. As Captain Beefheart was the ‘magic man’ in those early Frank Zappa collaborations it was only natural that he should have ownership of the magic band. This was also the start of Don giving the band members their alternative names. For some reason Alex Snouffer became Alex St. Clair. Could that have had something to do with Taj Mahal’s real name being Henry St Claire Fredericks? A mysterious piece of coincidence? Or was it to sound more English? The British invasion was certainly having an impact.
That first band comprised Don on vocals and blues harp, Alex St. Clair on guitar, Doug Moon on second guitar, Jerry Handley (really an American but reported as being English– probably as a publicity stunt) on bass and Vic Mortensen on drums. Vic was soon replaced by Paul Blakely and the band immediately started to make an impact in their area. Their English R&B sound captured the zeitgeist of the moment.