RIP Captain Beefheart

Sat 18th Dec, 2010 in International News

Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart, has died after suffering complications from multiple sclerosis. He was 69 years old.

His passing was announced by the New York-based Michael Werner Gallery, which represented his work as a painter:

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 & roll. This would ultimately secure Van Vliet’s place in music history as one of the most original recording artists of his time. 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 had collaborated with Frank Zappa before adopting the Captain Beefheart persona and forming the Magic Band and signing to Zappa’s record label in 1964.

Beefheart’s legendary 1969 double LP Trout Mask Replica was Number 58 on Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Following the release of 1982’s Ice Cream for Crow, Beefheart retired to the Mojave Desert to focus on his work as a visual artist.