There have been many mad geniuses that have graced the music scene with their magnanimous presence over the course of history, but none have been as maniacal and brilliant as Captain Beefheart. Many of you are asking, who the hell is Captain Beefheart? Not a ridiculous question, considering the sad fact that he’s not relevant by commercial standards. His fan base is fairly small but rabid, to be a female fan such as myself is an even bigger rarity. While not a household name, Beefheart is an underground icon; playing a huge influence over artists like Jack White, PJ Harvey, and John Frusciante to name a few. He had also become acquainted with some of rock and roll’s heavyweights such as The Rolling Stones and recruited fans in Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
With his prodigious voice and non-sequitur approach to songwriting, Don Van Vliet (the man behind the façade) rocked the musical door off of its hinges, forever changing the foundations of rock. His fearless attitude in his creative output laid down the building blocks for other genres such as punk and alternative. In fact John Lydon and Joe Strummer have both cited him as a major inspiration. Experimentation in music is nothing new; the Beatles were experimenting with their sound long before the Captain, and evolved over their decade span. However no one in the business before him reached the level of risk taking like Beefheart did, and very few have matched him since. His atypical concoction of blues, jazz, rock and even country fused with his strange lyrical style creates a tapestry of sound that does for the ears what the art of M.C. Escher does for the eyes.
Long before his fantastic journey into music, Van Vliet was a young artistic man struggling to grow up in the desolate yet mystifying Mohave desert. He had begun sculpting at the age of three; by his own account, his artwork garnered him several scholarships from various
art schools, but at his parents‘ insistence he declined. In high school he met Frank Zappa, developing a strange and rigid kinship that would span on and off over the course of three decades up until Zappa’s death in 1993. Their earlier times spent together consisted of listening to blues and jazz records, driving down to the nearest Dennys late at night for coffee and stealing change out of Van Vliet’s father’s bread truck. During this time, Zappa christened Van Vliet with the name Captain Beefheart in part of an idea for a film; Captain Beefheart Versus the Grunt People. With Frank’s encouragement, Van Vliet made the fateful decision to pursue a career in music under his unusual nickname. In 1964 he would find himself the front man for a group new to the rock and roll scene, The Magic Band. With his new band in tow, Don circulated the Southern California landscape, developing a small following performing at various clubs and venues.In 1966, the British Invasion had the world in its iron grip and record executives were looking for an American band to compete with the heavy hitters across the pond. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band were seen as the potential act to reinstate America as the leading country for straight up rock and roll. The band was signed to A&M records and released a string of singles including a cover of Bo Diddley’s “Diddy Wah Diddy“, which became a huge regional hit. In 1967, Beefheart and his band released their debut album, Safe as Milk; while the album was not a commercial success, it did give Van Vliet and his band credibility as a promising act. So promising, that the Captain and His Magic Band were offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform at the infamous Monterey Pop Festival. Sadly, that opportunity fizzled out due to a botched show at the Mount Tamalpais Festival -- Van Vliet, who was prone to panic attacks at that time, had taken something in the hopes of easing his anxiety that instead caused him to hallucinate and flee offstage. Inching toward the end of the free love era, Beefheart released a second album Strictly Personal and garnered some newfound attention from the European crowd, playing several venues across the continent. However it was the year 1969 that Beefheart would unleash his most enigmatic and profound creation upon the world. He and his line up of Magic Band members were living in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, under near poverty conditions, when Don’s old friend Frank Zappa offered to produce their next album -- and give him complete creative control over the music. Beefheart threw his band into a grueling eight months of non-stop rehearsing (and arguing).
The result -- recorded in the
studio in a single blistering five-hour session -- was Trout Mask Replica, Beefheart’s most groundbreaking and influential work. The album contained some of Van Vliet’s most bizarre lyrics and paid no more than lip service to any conventional notion of “rock” or “blues” melodies and rhythms, and is therefore a love-it-or-hate-it thing to this day; renowned Beefheart fan Matt Groening says that he had to listen to it six or seven times through before it finally made sense to him. Since it’s release more than forty years ago, Trout Mask Replica remains a favorite among critics today, placing it on a pedestal as an absolute gem riddled with complex edge. Rolling Stone magazine would label it as one of the Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Times and appear on many critics “Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,” list. Even though the album never achieved mainstream success, Trout Mask Replica opened the flood gates, encouraging artists to get creative with their sound and words, forever altering the musical landscape.One other thing that made
Beefheart such an intriguing figure was his overall image. He was one of the first rock and roll chameleons, changing his appearance along with his sound. From donning mod fashion sense with pin striped suits for Safe As Milk to dressing in a felt top hat and overcoat for Trout Mask Replica. Each album he’s released sounds completely different from one another and he had a specific image to fit each era. His personality was just as captivating as his image. His lyrics were a bizarre work of art but the way he conducted himself in interviews was just as peculiar. His eloquence in the way he spoke was haunting yet hypnotic at the same time. Langdon Winner, a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, summed it up best about what it was like to engage in a conversation with Beefheart: “I have seen several occasions in which visitors to Beefheart’s home have totally freaked because of this manner of talking. Not many people, after all, feel comfortable listening to the English language collapse before their very ears.” It is no wonder that numerous critics, fans and journalists are so curious about this man.From the 70s and into the early 80s, Beefheart would add seven more albums to his body of work, not including the several collaborations he did with Zappa. Growing tiresome of the business, Beefheart released his 8th and final album Ice Cream for Crow in 1982 before retiring indefinitely. After his sudden departure from the music industry, Van Vliet returned to the visual arts, his first passion since childhood; he achieved great success the second time around as an accomplished painter.
There have been very little sightings of the man behind the
unforgettable moniker. After his retirement from music, Don Van Vliet cut most ties with the people he knew and declined any requested interviews. However in 1993, he was approached by acclaimed music video director Anton Corbijn with a proposal for a short film about himself, a request which he accepted. Some Lo Yo Yo Stuff was a short yet thought-provoking insight into the mind of a mad genius. While the film itself was a beautiful tribute to a legend, it was also sad due to the state that Van Vliet was in. In the wake of a once husky and handsome young man with a golden voice sat the shell of a person, old and frail to the eyes, barely able to put together a coherent sentence without seemingly strenuous effort. People had been speculating about Van Vliet’s health for some time; shortly before his own death, Frank Zappa stated in an interview that Don was having difficulty in his motor functions and had lost his ability to drive a car. It just so happens that during the time he was working with Corbijn on the film, Van Vliet was suffering the early stages of multiple sclerosis. In the end, it would be this debilitating disease that would claim his life.
Despite never achieving mainstream status, Captain Beefheart is an icon in his own right. Even after his death, people still continue to discuss his ingenious body of work in both music and visual arts. His substantial presence and creativity revolutionized the rock industry, forever altering future musicians’ perception on their craft. You can hear his influence in the bands and artists of this generation. It still speaks to all those artists who, in the man’s own words, are running to find a clear spot.
