trout mask replica

i was introduced to trout mask replica a track at a time by my second college roommate/bassplayer. (he thought strictly personal was safe enough to play me all the way through, and taught me to play "kandy korn.") at first i thought the music was complete chaos, but several years of listening to live tapes by different magic band lineups, culminating in the two shows that i attended in the spring of '77, convinced me otherwise. in the fullness of time, i came to think lick my decals off, baby is a better album, but there's something about that mix of dada blues with free-jazz saxophonics, capped with surrealistic ecology-crank poetry, that makes trout mask a compelling lesson, even after you can see the strings.