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Gary Lucas
Biography
When he was nine, Gary Lucas' dad suggested he take up playing the guitar. Although he followed his dad's suggestion, Lucas focused more on the French horn that he played for his elementary school band and continued to play, until getting kicked out of his high school's band. Lucas then focused wholly on the guitar, and played in various groups throughout the '60s. While a campus station music director during his second year at Yale, Lucas saw Captain Beefheart in concert and immediately wanted to play with Beefheart's unique band more than anything. Shortly thereafter, he interviewed and got to know Beefheart.

Gary Lucas soon performed as a soloist in the European premiere of Bernstein's Mass (From the Liturgy of the Roman Mass) (1973), and after graduating from college, moved to Taipei for two years. During that time, he led a locally popular group, the O-Bay-Gone-Band, until a chaotic 1976 show broke out into a brawl that seriously injured many people. Upset, Lucas promptly returned to the States, hooked back up with Beefheart and was finally invited to join the band. He appears on Doc at the Radar Station, and was a full member of the group by the Ice Cream for Crow album.
Selected Discography