Captain Beefheart Dies Aged 69

Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart has sadly passed away aged 69.

Brilliant, eccentic, indefinable, difficult – Captain Beefheart’s musical career was often seemingly impenetrable, but his true genius was in his experimentation that, along with the work of his mentor Frank Zappa, helped pave the way for a generation of creative musicians and break the boundaries between art and rock.

His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition. His body of work is never an easy listen but over the 12 studio records that he created with The Magic Band there are moments of brilliance – no more so than on 1969’s superb Trout Mask Replica, produced by his friend Frank Zappa who allowed Van Vliet full creative control over the music.

Van Vliet has been described as "one of modern music's true innovators" with "a singular body of work virtually unrivalled in its daring and fluid creativity".5 Although he achieved little commercial or mainstream critical success,9 he sustained a cult following as a "highly significant" and "incalculable" influence on an array of New Wave, punk,10 post-punk, experimental and alternative rock musicians.8 Known for his enigmatic personality and relationship with the public, Van Vliet made few public appearances after his retirement from music (and from his Beefheart persona) in 1982 to pursue a career in art, an interest that originated in his childhood talent for sculpture. His expressionist paintings and drawings command high prices, and have been exhibited in several countries.

Sadly on 17 December Van Vliet died due to complications related to multiple sclerosis, an illness which prevented him from working at all for the last few years of his life.

RIP Captain Beefheart, 1941-2010