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Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
Yesterday one of my music heroes died !!! Don Van Vliet, better-known as Captain Beefheart, has died from multiple sclerosis in California, aged 69. He leaves behind his wife of more than 40 years.
The first time when I heard of him was in Osaka,Japan in 1976 when my French buddy had a cassette of Trout Mask Replica which was released in 1969 on Frank Zappa’s newly formed Straight Records label. Some time later, when I toured California for the first time I bought the album in LA, which I gave as a present to my Japanese girlfriend. Listening to Capatain Beefheart in Japan was like a foreigner eating umeboshi for the first time. It was satori!!!
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Captain Beefheart was one of the most influential American musicians of the 1960s and 1970s and avant-garde frontman of the Magic Band. He was a close friend of the late Frank Zappa. They played in the same group as teenagers. Later when they grew up they had a love-hate relationship. Nevertheless they would play together later in life. Their were times when Zappa often supported him financially, and gave him a recording contract when other labels would not touch him.
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Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band were active between 1965 and 1982. He recorded 12 studio albums with them. Famous for his powerful bluesy singing voice and often humorously surreal lyrics, he also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments. His music mixed rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental. Besides doing music he drew and painted throughout his recording career despite having no formal training.
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His original name was Don Glen Vliet which he changed later to Don Van Vliet and again later, on the suggestion of Zappa, to the stage name Captain Beefheart.
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In the past years he has become internationally known and got commercial success by his art mainly doing large abstracts in oils. His first exhibition was in Liverpool at the Bluecoat Gallery in April 1972, while he was touring in England. In 1982 Beefheart turned seriously to art. Eventually he established himself as a serious artist and was able to demand high prices for his work. He was also known for his love to fast cars and owned cars, such as a Hudson, a Corvette and a Jaguar.
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Beefheart the painter
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