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Obituaries
Captain Beefheart dies
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 20 December 2010
American musician and painter Don Van Vliet, better known to the music world as Captain Beefheart, died last week aged 69, after succumbing to complications caused by the multiple sclerosis he had suffered from for many years.
Van Vliet began making his distinctive, eclectic and experimental brand of music using the Captain Beefheart moniker in 1964, joining with The Magic Band the following year. He garnered much critical acclaim with his debut album ‘Safe As Milk’ in 1967, though label issues followed and he was dropped by two record companies in as many years, and it was thanks to his school friend Frank Zappa, who signed Van Vliet to his Straight Records label, that one of the most acclaimed and most influential Captain Beefheart albums – ‘Trout Mask Replica’ – was released in 1969.
A falling out with his Magic Band and a brief flirtation with more conventional rock music saw Van Vliet’s music career take a wobble in the mid-seventies, but the recruitment of a new supporting band resulted in a return to form for the final three Captain Beefheart albums between 1978 and 1982. Then Van Vliet decided to quit music and concentrate on his other passion, painting. It’s said that art gallery owner Michael Werner told Van Vliet he’d never be taken seriously as an artist while he continued to make music.
Despite having been known for his distinct public persona at the height of his music career, Van Vliet kept a low profile after 1982, though there were regular exhibitions of his artwork. By the 1990s it was known the now full time visual artist was suffering from health problems, though there were differing reports as to the extent to which his MS affected Van Vliet’s day-to-day life.
Confirming his death, a spokesman for Werner’s New York gallery, an organisation with which Van Vliet enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship, told reporters this weekend: “Don Van Vliet was a complex and influential figure in the visual and performing arts. He is perhaps best known as the incomparable Captain Beefheart who, together with his Magic Band, rose to prominence in the 1960s with a totally unique style of blues-inspired, experimental rock n roll. This would ultimately secure Van Vliet’s place in music history as one of the most original recording artists of his time”.
He continued: “After two decades in the spotlight as an avant-garde composer and performer, Van Vliet retired from performing to devote himself wholeheartedly to painting and drawing. Like his music, Van Vliet’s lush paintings are the product of a truly rare and unique vision”.
Van Vliet is survived by his wife of more than 40 years, Jan.
