Tin Teardrops for Captain Beefheart
“If you want to be a different fish, you gotta jump out of the school.”
— Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart.
Born January 15, 1941. Died December 17, 2010.
Photo by Anton Corbijn, 1980.
He was one of the most singularly strange, goading, galvanizing musicians of the 20th century. We were very lucky to have him. From AllMusic:
…Captain Beefheart was one of modern music’s true innovators. The owner of a remarkable four-and-one-half octave vocal range, he employed idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist lyrics and an unholy alliance of free jazz, Delta blues, latter-day classical music and rock & roll to create a singular body of work virtually unrivaled in its daring and fluid creativity. While he never came even remotely close to mainstream success, Beefheart’s impact was incalculable, and his fingerprints were all over punk, new wave and post-rock.
Rest in peace.
December 17th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
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December 17th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica is one of the best albums ever. The music that came out of Don van Vliet’s head was sui generis, there was nothing like it.
I am sorry that Vliet’s medical problems caused him to leave music many years ago but just the knowledge he was still around seemed to make the world a more interesting place, and now we don’t even have that.
I wish the Captain the best in any further journey he may find himself in.
December 28th, 2010 at 11:31 am
[…] as Captain Beefheart, passed away recently. He was a complete original, a rare being in any era. Coilhouse described him as “one of the most singularly strange, goading, galvanizing musicians of the […]