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Ted Templeman produced Captain Beefheart‘s 1972 album Clear Spot. Here is an excerpt from my interview with Templeman in the 10/9/81 issue of BAM, the California Music Magazine:

Ted Templeman: Beefheart was so crazy! If he didn’t think the drummer was playing with enough soul, he’d make him wear blackface. One day he stopped and said to the bass player, “Did you eat? Did you EAT?” He said, “yeah.” Beefheart said, “What did you have?” “A taco.” “A taco,” Beefheart says, then BOOM! He threw him out of the chair. Just nutso. Q: What did this accomplish in the way of motivating his musicians? Templeman: He was a complete fascist, and he was physically intimidating. But they all lived together, and they did everything he said. He used to sing the guitar parts to the guitar player, and he came up with great beats for the drummer – who’d been with a symphony and could do anything. One time, I was trying to record a vocal, and he said, “I can’t use this microphone – I will blow this apart.” So I shock-mounted an old RCA ribbon mic and put it in front of him. Then I put another mic on the stand, a [Shure] 545, and actually recorded with that one. He stopped in the middle of the tune, threw the headphones down, and said, [menacing growl] “God dammit! I can hear the typewriter through the walls!” He made up lyrics, but he’d never figure out exactly how they’d go with the song until he actually started to sing it. He’d never have tried it before. Once, he said: “Okay, Ted. The way I’m going to get this is, I don’t want any headphones. You point to me when the track starts and I’ll start singing.” [laughs] He was serious! We tried it a couple of times. It sounded ridiculous. Q: Did Clear Spot do well? Templeman: Probably a little better than his other albums. It’s recorded well. Q: Did you ever want to work with him again? Templeman: I never wanted to see him again! Later, I became friendly with him. He’s a nice guy, but unpredictable.