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Don Van Vliet ( / væn ˈvliːt /; born Don Glen Vliet; [2] January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982.
- Electricity (1967) Legend has it that A&M boss Jerry Moss ditched plans to sign Beefheart and his Magic Band after hearing Electricity and declaring it too negative for impressionable young teens.
- Big Eyed Beans From Venus (1973) The Magic Band are at their magnificent best on this not-quite-metal racket, with Art Tripp’s staccato drums forming a backdrop to gnashing twin guitarists Mark Boston and Bill Harkleroad.
- Moonlight On Vermont (1969) Its title a sly rejoinder to the popular ‘40s standard Moonlight In Vermont, this song from Beefheart’s most iconic album the Frank Zappa-produced Trout Mask Replica, is a corrosive bastardisation of swamp-blues.
- Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970) The title track from the album that Van Vliet once proclaimed his own personal favourite, this atonal beauty is fired by a trebly guitar line and impossibly itchy percussion.
- Metal Man Has Won His Wings
- Diddy Wah Diddy
- Pachuco Cadaver
- Ella Guru
- Neon Meate Dream of An Octafish
- Pena
- Hair Pie Bake 1 & 2.
- Moonlight on Vermont
- Smithsonian Institute Blues
- Click Clack
Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappawere in a band called the Soots in 1963 and 1964. During that time, they recorded the blues shuffle “Metal Man Has Won His Wings.” The lyrics were derived from a comic book pinned to a bulletin board. The Captain just rattled them off as the band played this live in another room.
This is a pretty straight but heavy distorted bass rock cover of Bo Diddley’s classic released in 1966; the recording of which still sounds quite current. A&M Records who signed The Magic Band at the time wanted to make the Captain into some sort of Mick Jagger. It didn’t work. Selected tracks from the album Trout Mask Replica (1969):
I remember hearing this abstract song on a radio show Zappa and Beefheart syndicated in 1975. I laughed my ass off. Its rhythmic drive is so bizarrely funky and the lyrics so twisted. I was immediately a fan.
This bizarre tune with the bouncy rhythm and cartoon sounding vocals is actually pretty catchy. I don’t know who Ella is but she sure sounds young. XTCdid an amazing replica of this piece in a tribute album to the Van Vliet.
What can I say? This is what it might sound like if you lived in a pool vacuum hose. Amazing and it doesn’t have that stale after taste.
Music from the insane asylum. You need to hear it just so you can say you heard it. Somehow The Captain taught the band to pull this off. “Fast ‘n bulbous. Bulbous also tapered… That’s right.”
One of the few instrumentals found on T.M.R. and a rewarding listen. Zoot Horn Rollo a gifted guitarist, capable bass player Rocket Morton and the virtuoso drummer Drumbo really shine here as they tackle the Captain’s intricate rhythms and microscopic melodies along with Beefheart’s Ornette Coleman type sax playing. There is a clear form here but i...
This swampy blues with heavy distorted guitar spouts lyrics are typical of Van Vliet’s talent for surreal imagery and nonsequiturs. He sings it with the religious fervor of a mad evangelist. The phrase “Gimme dat old time religion” takes on a whole other meaning here. From the album Lick My Decals Off Me Baby (1970):
Clever wordplay surrounds this short piece that is a deconstruction of the blues form. In spots the marimba is reminiscent of Frank Zappa but is rendered even more idiosyncratic with Beefheart’s Howling Wolfvocals. From the album Spotlight Kid (1972):
This is a straight-ahead blues piece that sounds like its rhythm is derived from a train. Mesmerizing. The basic intervals of the groove always remind me of Led Zeppelin’s “Misty Mountain Hop.”
- “Diddy Wah Diddy” (single, 1966) The Captain’s debut single takes Bo Diddley’s strolling 1956 Willie Dixon cover and attaches battery cables to its nipples.
- “Electricity” (Safe As Milk, 1967) The intro sounds like the Summer of Love, but then Beefheart comes in like a bad trip, his voice between Howlin’ Wolf and a cartoon witch-cackle.
- “Beatle Bones ‘N Smokin’ Stones” (Strictly Personal, 1968) John Lennon and Paul McCartney were reportedly Beefheart fans. But that didn’t deter Van Vliet from tweaking the Beatles on this psychedelic blues incantation.
- “Moonlight on Vermont” (Trout Mask Replica, 1969) With a reconstituted band and free creative reign from childhood pal-turned-label chief Frank Zappa, Beefheart’s electric blues go abstract expressionist, and his verbal collages get denser: “Vermont” quotes both the 19th-century spiritual “Old-Time Religion” and experimental composer Steve Reich’s 1966 piece Come Out – while tossing in Beefheart’s own bent poetry.
May 12, 2011 · Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) retired from the music industry after 1982’s Ice Cream For Crow album to concentrate on his primary love – paint. The Radar Station is a purely fan-run site which aims to document every twist and turn in the tale of this unique individual.
Jun 16, 2024 · Captain Beefheart was an eccentric but hugely influential artist tortured by his failure to break into the mainstream. These are his best albums (Image credit: Richard McCaffrey via Getty Images)
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Captain Beefheart (born January 15, 1941, Glendale, California, U.S.—died December 17, 2010, Arcata, California) was an innovative American avant-garde rock and blues singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist.
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