The Doctor meets the Captain: Ralph Stanley's 85 year-old voice is unmistakable; sung a capella, it's undeniable. "Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do" is the catcall blues opener to Captain Beefheart's debut LP, Safe As Milk. Stanley's interpretation skews far from his typically reverent, trad-bluegrass. His wizened delivery of "Hey hey young girls/ Where you at?" throws a twisted shadow on "high and lonesome." He leans on certain syllables and lingers on others, never sounding hurried. Beefheart's gruff, bombastic hustler is re-imagined as something subtle and devilish . . .
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