Locked in a Dutch Coffeeshop

Locked in a Dutch Coffeeshop was released in 1993 on Fundamental and reissued on CD-R by Eugene Chadbourne's home label, House of Chadula. It was the first album to document his collaboration with ex-Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black, billed as "The Jack and Jim Show." This material was recorded in the spring of 1993 at various live shows in Europe, with the exception of a few home sound collages and a rendition of Captain Beefheart's "Neon Meate Dream of an Octafish," coming from a 1988 concert with Don Preston, Ashwin Batish, Chris Turner, Brian Ritchie, Tony Trischka, and Murray Reams. The duo performs some of the Doctor's avant-country songs (the best ones being "Dropped Another Needle" and "B.Y.O.B. Klub"); covers of Beefheart, Lou Reed, and Black Uhuru ("Night of the Living Dread," no kidding); and comedy routines/stage craze. Fans of the Mothers of Invention will get reacquainted with Opal ("Call to Opal"), the "hot little bitch" that became one of Black's catch phrases during his days with Frank Zappa. His agile but straightforward drumming and Chadbourne's banjo can sound a bit thin at times, but what it lacks in instrumentation is made up in energy and good humor; the renditions of "Que Paso?" and "Sheriff of Hong Kong" are exemplary. ~ François Couture, Rovi