Jeffrey Ralph Cotton (born May 31, 1948) is an American rock guitarist, known for his work as a member of

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

's Magic Band.

Career

Cotton first came to attention as guitarist with Merrell and the Exiles, who had a few local hits in 1964 in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area. He subsequently joined Blues in a Bottle, which also featured future Magic Band members Mark Boston, Bill Harkleroad and John French. He was recruited into the Magic Band in 1967 as a replacement for

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

. Cotton contributed unique and challenging slide guitar to live performances, '' Strictly Personal'', '' Mirror Man'' and '' Trout Mask Replica''; for which he was renamed Antennae Jimmy Semens. He left the Magic Band in 1970 after being attacked by temporary drummer Jeff Burchell during a group "talk" and having ribs broken, and having experienced the reclusive 8 months of rehearsals for '' Trout Mask Replica'' during which Beefheart experimented on the group members with sleep deprivation, food deprivation, and physical violence in an attempt to break their mental state down. He renewed his professional relationship with Merrell Fankhauser (of The Exiles) in a band called MU. Despite a critically acclaimed album there was no commercial success, and he retired from the music business in 1975 to study the

Christian Ministry Christian ministry is the vocational work of living and teaching about faith, in the hopes of increasing the population of God's people done by the church, church officials, congregational members, and Jesus followers. The '' Cyclopedia of Bib ...

. In 1981, long after the group had disbanded, a second LP of unreleased MU material was issued. In 2022 a 50 year recording hiatus ended with his first solo album, ''The Fantasy of Reality''.

Personal life

He had three children.

Discography

With Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Studio albums

With MU

* ''MU'' (1971) * ''The Last Album'' (1974, released 1981) * ''Children of the Rainbow'' (1974, released 1985)

Solo

* ''The Fantasy of Reality'' (2022)

References

External links

Space Blues, an online biography
Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists 1948 births The Magic Band members 20th-century American guitarists {{US-rock-guitarist-stub People from Porterville, California Guitarists from California