{"product_id":"mirror-man-1","title":"Mirror Man","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded in November 1967 (an odd misprint on the sleeve claims it was recorded in 1965, when the band barely existed), the four lengthy tracks on \u003ci\u003eMirror Man\u003c\/i\u003e are even more simplistic and primal than those on \u003ci\u003eStrictly Personal\u003c\/i\u003e. All four are worthwhile, but the key tracks are \"Tarotplane Blues,\" a free-form jam in which Beefheart jumbles together the lyrics of at least half a dozen blues standards into a stream-of-consciousness ramble (adding musette and harmonica for good measure) as the Magic Band vamps on a slide guitar-based, two-chord groove for over 19 minutes, and the similarly expansive \"Mirror Man,\" one of the key tracks of Beefheart's entire career. Probably the catchiest tune Beefheart ever wrote, \"Mirror Man\" has an almost funky, hip-swaying groove, and there's a playful lightness to the way Beefheart chants the simplistic lyrics that prefigures the flights of fancy on Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals off, Baby. The remaining two tracks, \"25th Century Quaker\" and \"Kandy Korn,\" are less essential but interesting enough. The revitalized and properly spelled Buddha Records reissued an expanded version of this album in 1999 as The Mirror Man Sessions, adding five alternate takes of songs that later appeared on Strictly Personal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally, Captain Beefheart \u0026amp; the Magic Band's second album was intended to be a double-album set called \"It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper.\" Although 1968's \u003ci\u003eStrictly Personal\u003c\/i\u003e has the same artwork that was mooted for the double album, it's a single disc. As part of the same post-\u003ci\u003eTrout Mask Replica\u003c\/i\u003e closet-cleaning that led to Buddah (the parent company of Blue Thumb Records, which released Strictly Personal) reissuing \u003ci\u003eSafe As Milk\u003c\/i\u003e as \u003ci\u003eDropout Boogie\u003c\/i\u003e in the U.K. in 1970, the label released \u003ci\u003eMirror Man\u003c\/i\u003e, the second disc that was intended for the Plain Brown Wrapper release. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Buddha Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50448870932811,"sku":"1007031","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/image_4848925d_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727096785","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/products\/mirror-man-1","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}