If you only have time for one Fairport song, as a Thompson fan, it should be the epic guitar workout, Sloth. I'm not sure whether he's ever bettered this, for all the good music he's put out since.

Fairport Convention
It's a shame you didn't get to comment about Fairport, as they've been rather neglected, at least in the US. I was thinking the other day about great "ensemble" bands and albums, and What We Did on Our Holidays, with Denny, Thompson and Matthews, is up there with The Band, Deja Vu, and Notorious…

If you have time to check out other Beefheart, I'd recommend Shiny Beast, Clear Spot, and Doc at the Radar Station, which I think are better listening than Trout Mask, which I admire more than enjoy. He's a good candidate for a career spanning playlist.

Don Van Vliet
Just found out about this project. Love it. Discovering some artists I missed along the way, and the clips are very useful. But just to go back a week or two, how is it possible that someone with such an awesomely deep playlist doesn't have at least something by Captain Beefheart? He didn't even show…