Don Van Vliet, better known to the world as Captain Beefheart, has passed away in California. It has been reported that he was suffering complications associated with Multiple Sclerosis. A teenage friend of Frank Zappa, whom he played in a band with, he went on to be one of the most influential avant garde rock musicians of his time.
Changing his name to Captain Beefheart at the suggestion of Zappa, he went on to release a dozen albums, most notably 1969’s classic Trout Mask Replica which is considered one of the most influential albums of all time. An outspoken figure often regarded as a loose cannon, he sacked his band (or they all quit on him) in the early 1980s and he went on to forge a successful career as an artist.
His gallery, the Michael Werner Gallery, said in a statement “Don Van Vliet was a complex and influential figure in the visual and performing arts.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.”
