| American musician and visual artist, best known by the pseudonym Captain Beefheart.His compositions are characterized by their odd mixtures of shifting time signatures and by their surreal lyrics, while Van Vliet himself is noted for his dictatorial approach to his musicians and for his enigmatic relationship with the public.Since the end of his musical career around 1982, Van Vliet has made few public appearances, preferring a quiet life in his northern Humboldt County, California, home where he has concentrated on a career in painting.Early life
2 Professional music career
2.Kansas and was of Dutch ancestry.His mother came from Arkansas.Van Vliet is also distantly related to Wallis Simpson, famous as the wife of Edward VIII of the United Kingdom; his maternal grandmother was Simpson's second cousin.Augustinio Rodriguez, who invited Van Vliet to sculpt with him on a weekly television show.While studying at Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster he met the teenage Frank Zappa.In both The Real Frank Zappa Book and Barry Miles' biography Zappa, Van Vliet is portrayed as a bit of a spoiled brat at this stage of his life, spending most of his time locked up in his room with Frank Zappa, listening to records and screaming at his mother "SUE!Zappa and Van Vliet began collaborating on pop song parodies and a movie script called Captain Beefheart vs.Van Vliet's stage name came from a term used by his Uncle Alan.It looks just like a big, fine beef heart."Professional music career
Van Vliet had previously worked with local groups such as The Omens and The Blackouts.Together they assembled the first Magic Band, and at this point Don Vliet became Don Van Vliet, whilst Alex Snouffer became Alex St Claire.Records and released two 1966 singles, a version of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy" followed by "Moonchild" written by David Gates.The band was by now beginning to play "underground" venues such as the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.French had the patience required to be able to translate Van Vliet's musical ideas (often expressed by whistling or banging on the piano) for the other players.Ry Cooder was asked to help.Cooder did not hang around long after the album was recorded.It is said to have been intended to be a double album called It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper with one disc recorded live (or live in the studio).What finally emerged in October 1968 was Strictly Personal, on producer Bob Krasnow's Blue Thumb Records.Jason Ankeny's All Music Guide biography.Earlier recordings of two of the Strictly Personal songs and two other songs were released by Buddah in 1971 under the title Mirror Man.The original release bore a sleeve note claiming that the material had been recorded "one night in Los Angeles in 1965".During his first trip to England in January 1968 Captain Beefheart was briefly represented by Mod icon, Peter Meaden on who was an early manager of The Who.Critically acclaimed as Van Vliet's masterpiece, Trout Mask Replica was released on June 16, 1969 on Frank Zappa's newly formed Straight Records label.The group rehearsed Van Vliet's difficult compositions for eight months, living communally in conditions drummer John French described as "cultlike".According to Vliet, the 28 songs on the album were quickly written in about 3 weeks, but it took 8 months for the band to actually mold the songs into shape.The 28 songs on Trout Mask Replica draw on delta blues music, Bo Diddley, free jazz, and sea shanties but the relentless practice blended the music into an iconoclastic whole of conflicting tempo, harsh slide guitar, loping drumming, and honking saxophone and bass clarinet.To some listeners his lyrics seem impenetrably strange and nonsensical, but others find that closer examination reveals complex poetic use of wordplay, metaphor and all manner of references: music history, American and international politics, the Holocaust, love and sexuality, Steve Reich, gospel music, conformity.Van Vliet used the ensuing publicity, particularly with a 1970 Rolling Stone interview with Langdon Winner, to promulgate a number of myths which have subsequently been quoted as fact.Critic Steve Huey writes that the album's influence "was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point.The LP sees the addition of Art Tripp III to the band, who had joined from the Mothers of Invention, playing drums and marimba.Decals was the first record on which the band were credited as "The Magic Band", rather than "His Magic Band"; journalist Irwin Chusid interprets this change as "a grudging concession of its members' at least semiautonomous humanity."The next two records, The Spotlight Kid (simply credited to "Captain Beefheart") and Clear Spot (credited to "Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band"), both released in 1972, were much more conventional.The Magic Band, which had by then coalesced around the core of John French, Art Tripp III, Bill Harkleroad and Mark Boston, decided they could no longer work with Van Vliet, who was by all accounts a severe taskmaster.The friendship between Frank Zappa and Van Vliet over the years was sometimes indistinguishable from rivalry (Zappa had called Beefheart, a year before their collaboration on Bongo Fury, "an asshole") as musicians drifted back and forth between Van Vliet and Zappa's groups.Their collaborative work can be found on the 1975 album Bongo Fury, along with Zappa rarity collections The Lost Episodes (1996) and Mystery Disc (1996).Particularly notable is Beefheart's vocal on "Willie the Pimp" from Zappa's otherwise instrumental album Hot Rats (1969).From 1975 to 1977 there were no new records (the original version of Bat Chain Puller was recorded in 1976 but has never been released).In 1978 a completely new band was formed (consisting of Richard Redus, Jeff Moris Tepper, Bruce Fowler, Eric Drew Feldman and Robert Williams).Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978) was largely regarded as a return to form, featuring once again the innovative and eccentric style of the earlier albums.In this period, Van Vliet made two appearances on David Letterman's television program and also performed on Saturday Night Live.The final Beefheart record, Ice Cream for Crow (1982), was recorded with Gary Lucas (who was also Van Vliet's manager), Jeff Moris Tepper, Richard Snyder and Cliff Martinez.MTV for being "too weird."Recently, he appeared on a compilation, singing a profane version of "Happy Birthday" entitled "Happy Earthday" in 2003.Legacy
Beefheart has been the subject of at least one documentary: the BBC's 1994 The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart.There also exists a DVD of a short 10 minute film entitled "Some Yo Yo Stuff: An Observation of the Observations of Don Van Vliet."Some of his recent sounds and noises were captured on his guitarist Moris Tepper's 2002 album Moth to Mouth and on 2004's Head Off.This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Please improve this article if you can.I'll hear more echoes in records that I listen to this week."Many artists have cited Beefheart as an influence, beginning with the Edgar Broughton Band, who covered 'Dropout Boogie' (mixed with The Shadows' 'Apache') as early as 1970.More notable were those emerging during the early punk movement such as the Clash and John Lydon of the Sex Pistols.Tribute to Captain Beefheart in 1988, featuring the likes of Sonic Youth, The Membranes and XTC.More recently, Franz Ferdinand cited Beefheart's 1980 album Doc At The Radar Station as a strong influence on their second LP, You Could Have It So Much Better.Erase Errata and Lambsbread.Michael Azerrad describes early Minutemen as "highly caffeinated Captain Beefheart running down James Brown tunes" (Azerrad, p.Beefheart was the group's "idol" (Azerras, p.Since Beefheart left the music business, Eric Drew Feldman has played with Snakefinger, Pere Ubu, PJ Harvey, dEUS and Frank Black.Gary Lucas has played guitar and collaborated with Jeff Buckley.Moris Tepper has also worked with PJ Harvey, and has collaborated with Tom Waits and Frank Black.Sub Pop records' Singles Club.The disc, Party of Special Things to Do contained covers of three Captain Beefheart songs: "Party of Special Things to Do", "China Pig", and "Ashtray Heart".In a 1997 Radio 1 interview Noel Gallagher, the guitarist for Oasis requested numerous Captain Beefheart tracks to be played during the now famous interview with his brother Liam Gallagher.Soundgarden covered "Dropout Boogie" frequently during their early career.In 2005, The Mama Kangaroos: Philly Women Sing Captain Beefheart was released on the Genus Records label featuring twenty female artists from the Philadelphia, PA region covering a wide range of the Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band song list.John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist) was and still is heavily influenced by the music of Captain Beefheart.He would spend days listening to Captain Beefheart while painting and under the influence of marijuana, heroin, and cocaine.His Influence can be heard on Chili pepper songs such as Give It Away, Around the World and on Frusciante's first two solo albums, which feature very sparse and bizarre guitar playing.The Kills' 2002 Black Rooster EP contains a cover of "Dropout Boogie".Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band.Cowley, Julian (July 2000).Captain Beefheart by Mike Barnes.Rogers, John (June 22, 1995).Winner, Langdon (May 14, 1970)."The Odyssey of Captain Beefheart".The Captain Beefheart Radar Station.Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music, pp.URL accessed on February 28, 2006.Crossover of a Different Color".Barnes, Mike (August 17, 1997).Simmons, Sylvie (October 2004).Further reading
Van Vliet, Don (Captain Beefheart), 'Skeleton Breath, Scorpion Blush' (all poems in English, preface in German and English).Little Brown, 2001
Barnes, Mike (2000).Lunar Notes: Zoot Horn Rollo's Captain Beefheart Experience.Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Secret History of Maximalism.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.Your search did not match any products.Too many keywords can constrain your search.Track your recent orders.Visit our Help department.Rick McGrath interview , 1971.Up Sifter weblog updated: constantly
Your first port of call for Beefheart news, trivia and vuggum of all kinds.Beefheart weblog, Up Sifter (listed as 'site news'
in the menu bar at the top and bottom of every page).Discontinuous research on Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band since June 1994.Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band on the web.Recently:
The Vanity Project sent along word that they have a interview of John
French, AKA Drumbo, now on www.John Peel, famous UK DJ and also an early and constant supporter of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, has died at 65.Chrome Dreams is releasing a recording of an interview of Captain Beefheart, by Steven Rosen, conducted in the 1970s, on Nov.United Mutations has a rather nice Beefheart page.Less recently:
I stumbled into a collection of my old news postings; it's missing a recent chunk, but it's still fine to browse.BACK
IN THE SPOTLIGHT, KID making magic with captain beefheart
is an interview
from usa 011099 STOMP AND STAMMER vol.BILL HARKLEROAD
aka zoot horn rollo and GARY LUCAS
26.BLACK
AND WHITE: DRAWINGS FOR SUMMER which includes
an UNTITLED
WORK by don
van vliet.BE WARNED
in advance for the 108 pages with 'the definitive book of text and photos
on captain beefheart and the magic band' titled
HUNGRY
BUT WEIRD....ROBERT
ELLIS has added about twenty
PICTURES
to the captain beefheart section of his REPFOTO
library since i spotted it june last
year, and more are announced!GUEST APPEARANCES WITH FRANK
ZAPPA.DISCOGRAPHY
data, added facts and pictures, or replaced some of them, and so on (just
check the russian lick
my decals off, baby counterfeits,
if you like)....Performing with the shifting lineup of musicians known as His Magic Band, Captain Beefheart produced a series of albums from the 1960s to the '80s that had limited commercial appeal but were a major influence on punk and experimental rock.Captain Beefheart , or any Britannica premium article for free, even those readers without a premium membership.For more details about this feature, visit our Webmaster and Blogger Tools page."Returned " + google_ads.For text ads, append each ad to the string.More from Britannica on "Captain Beefheart"...Performing with the shifting lineup of musicians known as His Magic Band, Captain Beefheart produced a series of albums from the 1960s to the '80s that had limited commercial appeal but were a major influence on punk and experimental rock.Zappa, FrankAmerican composer, guitarist, and satirist of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.Cooder, RyCharming melodies and seductive, throbbing rhythms, played by veteran Cuban musicians, pulsated throughout the 1999 film Buena Vista Social Club.British bands as Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Yes.The term art rock is best used to describe either classically ..."Are you sure you want to block this user?"Are you sure you want to delete this comment?"Thank you Captain Beefheart for the add.Thanks for the add, Captain.Thanks for adding me to your site.All from one sheep)Yes, all one wool.Big smooches for the "add".Stop by and say hello sometime.I'm tired of looking at that boring blond lady.Passing Trhought a million starsFalling deep, In to the groundTrying to find...Under bricks and stones, Found a ticket made of foamSending to far...In the needle, Trhought the veinIn the Blood then the brainTrying to fade...You Fucked every woman I ever Loved!Thank you so much for the add.This is not a MySpace login page, please do not enter your MySpace login information (email address or password).Get the latest Flash player.The video has been added to your playlist.Thank you for sharing your concerns.Thank you for sharing your concerns.We can only process copyright complaints submitted by authorized parties in accordance with processes defined in law.In order to process a privacy complaint we need more information from you.Please refer to our Help Center for more information and the form to submit.Thank you for sharing this video!Change this to see only comments above a certain value.Gotta be careful ya hear!I'm kinda new getting into Captain Beefheart,so I can't compare His different Phases...Is that Rick Rubin on the Les paul junior?Where the fuck are my beefheart womans at."Would you like to comment?After making your selection, copy and paste the embed code above.This video will appear on your blog shortly.Content of this nature is not necessarily prohibited on YouTube, however we will review this video and take action as appropriate.We can only process copyright complaints submitted by authorized parties in accordance with processes defined in law.There may be significant legal penalties for false notices."The truth is nothing more than one mans opinion made popular".Robert Bateman painting other than say Beefhearts abstract painting,rather listen to Albert King than this shit any day,i do like ashtray heart though,good tune.Captain Beefheart fans tend to like Albert King plus plenty of other styles of great recorded music, so does the Captain himself. |
