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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCAPTAIN BEEFHEART and his MAGIC BANDUS avant-garde rock group, formed '64 by Beefheart (b Donald Glen Vliet, 15 January 1941, Glendale CA; d 17 December 2010 in northen California, of complications of multiple sclerosis), singer and various instruments. He renamed himself Don Van Vliet '65, claiming to be descended from the Dutch painter Peter Van Vliet. One of music's great eccentrics, Beefheart was a child prodigy who appeared on TV as a juvenile sculptor. He lived in the Mojave Desert in his early teens, played in local bands there and met Frank Zappa. He went to Cucamonga with Zappa '60 to form a band; they worked on an opera to be called I Was A Teenage Malt Shop and a film Captain Beefheart Meets The Grunt People, neither finished. Zappa formed the Mothers of Invention, Beefheart formed his group and cut five heavy-duty R&B tracks for A&M, produced (somewhat incongruously) by David Gates (later of Bread). 'Diddy Wah Diddy' was a regional hit, played by John Peel, then a disc jockey at KMEN in San Bernardino; four tracks were released on EP '65 but remained obscure for years. The original lineup had Alex St Claire Snouffer (Snuffy) and Doug Moon, guitars; Jerry Handley, bass; Paul Blakely, drums. Moon and Blakely left, replaced by Ry Cooder and John French: the Beefheart classic Safe As Milk '67 on Buddah was produced by Richard Perry (whose voice is the announcer on 'Yellow Brick Road'). Cooder was replaced by Jeff Cotton; the live Mirror Man (four tracks) was released '67; the group switched to Blue Thumb for the bizarre Strictly Personal '68; then to Zappa's Straight label: Bill Harkleroad, Mark Boston replaced Snouffer and Handley for two-disc Trout Mask Replica, teetering on the edge between genius and madness with tracks like 'Hair Pie,' 'Old Fart At Play': it remains the group's masterwork. Beefheart had renamed everybody: the obscure lineup was Antennae Jimmy Semens (Cotton), Zoot Horn Rollo (Harkleroad), Rockette Morton (Boston), Drumbo (French), with The Mascara Snake on bass clarinet and Moon (briefly returned). Semens and Moon left; ex-Mother Arthur D. Tripp III (as Ed Marimba) augmented the band for Lick My Decals Off Baby '70; to the Reprise label for Clear Spot '72 on which Drumbo was replaced by ex-Mother Roy Estrada, who became Orejon (means 'Big Ear'); for The Spotlight Kid Orejon left, Drumbo returned, ex-Mother Elliot Ingber (Winged Eel Fingerling) joined on guitar; Marimba played piano, harpsichord, marimba and drums. To the Mercury label (Virgin in UK) for the less outrageous Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans And Moonbeams '74 with entirely new lineups of session players; Beefheart toured, recorded vocals with Zappa (Bongo Fury '75), the original version of Bat Chain Puller '75 (unreleased because of contract problems), a Cooder song for film soundtrack Blue Collar '78, then his own Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) '78 (on WB), Doc At The Radar Station '80 (on Virgin), and Ice Cream For Crow '82 (Virgin UK, Epic USA). He left music to concentrate on a successful career as a painter. He was a complete original, not for the fainthearted, with a 7.5 octave vocal range, ideas tumbling over each other: 'Captain Beefheart has, for 20 years, been the man at the heart of the music that has stirred and excited me; echoes of his work ... are heard in every radio programme I do' (Peel). His paintings were exhibited in a London gallery '86; Edsel UK reissued The Legendary A&M Sessions and Mirror Men '86. I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain't Weird compiled out-takes from the Strictly Personal sessions; that and '67 album tracks were compiled as Zig Zag Wanderer: The Best Of The Buddah Years '96 on Wooden Hill. |