Friday, December 17, 2010

RIP Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) 1/15/1941 - 12/17/2010



One of my musical heroes has passed today. Pictured above is Don Van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart's classic album, Trout Mask Replica, which is, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums ever made. The influence of that album cannot be understated. You can hear it in so much music that came out after it, despite no one even quite attempting to replicate the eccentric brilliance of it. Van Vliet quit music in 1982 and had been struggling with MS for many years. Despite it, he continued to paint and became a very renowned artist. He finally lost his battle with it today. It's a sad day indeed. Below is a short film made about Van Vliet in 1994, entitled Some Yoyo Stuff and featuring David Lynch and Van Vliet himself. As you can see, he was already suffering from MS but it's still a fun avant garde short film.