Don Van Vliet (born Don Glen Vliet on January 15 1941 in Glendale, California) is a painter and retired musician, best known by the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. His musical work was mainly conducted with a rotating assembly of musicians called the Magic Band, which was active from the mid-1960s through to the early 1980s. Van Vliet was chiefly a singer, but was also a capable harmonica player, and occasionally played noisy, untrained free jazz-influenced saxophone. 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.

Van Vliet joined the newly forming Magic Band in 1965, quickly taking over as bandleader. Their early output was rooted in blues and rock music, but Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band gradually adopted a more experimental approach. 1969 saw the release of their best known album, Trout Mask Replica, which was produced by Van Vliet's former schoolmate Frank Zappa and is today regarded as a groundbreaking and influential masterpiece.Huey, Steve. Trout Mask Replica. All Music Guide. URL accessed on February 27 2006. Van Vliet released several further albums throughout the 1970s, his group beset by shifting line-ups and a lack of commercial success. Towards the end of that decade he settled with a group of younger musicians, and his three final albums, released between 1978 and 1982, all received critical acclaim. Van Vliet's legacy is one of poor record sales, despite a devoted following, but his influence on later punk and New Wave music and other genres and musicians has been described as "incalculable".Ankeny, Jason. "Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band". All Music Guide. URL accessed on February 27 2006.

Since the end of his musical career around 1982, Van Vliet has made few public appearances, preferring a quiet life in his Mojave Desert home, and he has concentrated on a career in painting. His interest in art dates back to a childhood talent for sculpting, and his work—employing what has been surmised as a "neo-primitive abstract-expressionist aesthetic"Delville & Norris, p. 22.—has received some international recognition. He is reportedly suffering from the long-term illness multiple sclerosis. Meanwhile, several of Van Vliet's former band members have reformed as a group, and since 2003 they have once again been performing and touring as The Magic Band.

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YouTube - Captain Beefheart - Abba Zaba http://ff.im/dpx1t
PoldoSbaffini (PoldoSbaffini) Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:59:44 -0000
YouTube - Captain Beefheart - Abba Zaba http://ff.im/dpx1t
Lekker veel Captain Beefheart gedraaid vanavond - http://www.last.fm/user/weirdomusic
MarcoKalnenek (MarcoKalnenek) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:22:40 -0000
Lekker veel Captain Beefheart gedraaid vanavond - http://www.last.fm/user/weirdomusic
RT @Antropolinchen: Audio: Captain Beefheart - Sweet Sweet Bulbs Tom Waits is cool, but Captain Beefheart is way cooler. Fucking... http ...
rafapimenta (Rafael Pimenta) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:47:20 -0000
RT @Antropolinchen: Audio: Captain Beefheart - Sweet Sweet Bulbs Tom Waits is cool, but Captain Beefheart is way cooler. Fucking... http ...
Audio: Captain Beefheart - Sweet Sweet Bulbs Tom Waits is cool, but Captain Beefheart is way cooler. Fucking... http://tumblr.com/xjg50gn1g
Antropolinchen (Lorean Linchen) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:44:58 -0000
Audio: Captain Beefheart - Sweet Sweet Bulbs Tom Waits is cool, but Captain Beefheart is way cooler. Fucking... http://tumblr.com/xjg50gn1g
Uh oh! Plastic Ono band on 6 music. sounds like Captain Beefheart being fed into a garden shredder.
Grumlygrimly (David Stephens) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:39:49 -0000
Uh oh! Plastic Ono band on 6 music. sounds like Captain Beefheart being fed into a garden shredder.
Love this tune, and love its retelling as "Ice Rose" on Ice Cream for Crow. ♫ Big Black Baby Shoes - Captain Beefheart http://lala.com/zJs5
bbarbot (Bill Barbot) Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:34:40 -0000
Love this tune, and love its retelling as "Ice Rose" on Ice Cream for Crow. ♫ Big Black Baby Shoes - Captain Beefheart http://lala.com/zJs5

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