narrated by John Peel

Curated by Markus Fiedler

Total Runtime: 0:49:53

Narrated by John Peel, featuring Beefheart himself, Frank Zappa, Ry Cooder. with Matt Groening, Frank Zappa, the Magic Bands.

Don Van Vliet, born Don Glen Vliet (January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12 studio albums. Noted for his powerful singing voice with its widerange, Van Vliet also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments. His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-gardeand contemporary experimental composition. Beefheart was also known for exercising an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians, and for often constructing myths about his life.

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". Although he achieved little commercial or mainstream critical success, he sustained a cult following as a "highly significant" and "incalculable" influence on an array of New Wave,punk, post-punk, experimental and alternative rock musicians. 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. He pursued a career in art, an interest that originated in his childhood talent for sculpture. Hisexpressionist paintings and drawings command high prices, and have been exhibited in art galleries and museums across the world. Van Vliet died in 2010 after many years of suffering from multiple sclerosis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Beefheart

The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart

By Nathaniel Hoyt

Trout Mask Replica first insinuated into my earholes with all the coyness of a street brawl. It still sits in my music library (and looks like it intends to stay) like a lump of undigested aural bulk in my music digestive tract. And I don't mean that as a bad thing. The album invites confusion and curiosity, and triggers endless questions, but also repeated listenings. The opener, “Frownland”, seems to start incorrectly, as if the musicians are playing different songs, or the same song at different times. Or are they playing in different keys? And time signatures? I reach for something to hold onto. I focus on a single voice, the rhythm guitar, or the drums, and try to exclude everything else. I like it – I am liking it – for all of four measures, before it's snatched away. There's no place to stand at all; one must take it all in, or none. I assume it's a joke. Nothing could be this self-consciously ugly without some subversive ulterior motive, right? Where is it going, and where is it taking me? Who is Captain Beefheart, and why does he want me to dislike him so much?...

Doc - Captain Beefheart

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