Zoot Horn Rollo

Born in Hawthorne, California, Harkleroad was trained as an accordionist as a child but changed to guitar in his teens.

In nearby Lancaster, California, he became involved in local bands. With a future member of the Magic Band, Mark Boston, he joined a band named B.C. & The Cavemen (with Ernie Wood, vocals/guitar and Bruce Newkirk, drums). The two later played in the group Blues in a Bottle along with the future Magic Band guitarist Jeff Cotton. He joined the Magic Band in 1968 after the departure of Alex St. Clair. In March 2005, Q placed "Big Eyed Beans from Venus" from Clear Spot at number 53 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.^[3]

After recording Trout Mask Replica and several further albums, he left in 1974, with several other band members, to form Mallard. His book, Lunar Notes, describes some of the tensions that contributed to the split between Captain Beefheart and the other band members.

After the break up of Mallard, Harkleroad had a limited involvement with the music community as a performer. He continued his involvement in another capacity, however, as a record store manager and guitar instructor in Eugene, Oregon.

On November 27, 2001, he released We Saw a Bozo Under the Sea. In 2008, John French (a.k.a. Drumbo) released an album City of Refuge on which Harkleroad played guitar on all twelve tracks.

In 2003, he was ranked No. 62 in a Rolling Stone magazine list of "the 100 greatest guitarists of all time".^[2]

In 2013, Harkleroad contributed lead guitar to a psychobilly track on the Eugene-based band Cherry Poppin' Daddies' album White Teeth, Black Thoughts.

• Harkleroad, Bill (1998). Lunar Notes: Zoot Horn Rollo's Captain Beefheart Experience. Interlink Publishing. ISBN 0-946719-21-7.