Don Van Vliet has died. Just back on Decembe 4th, I was doing my annual mourning/tribute to Frank Zappa and here we are two weeks later mourning another giant in experimental music. Captain Beefheart, as Van Vliet was known, was one of the true iconoclasts in music, unafraid to take chances and unafraid to truly explore what music was.
Beefheart was a strange man and, often, a brutal man. Read up on the stories on the creation of his masterpiece Trout Mask Replica and see what he subjected his bandmates too. Locking them up in a tiny house for 8 months, not permitting them to leave, letting them go hungry and go without sleep, forcing them to practice 14 hours a day. But, at the same time, Beefheart composed that album on the piano, an instrument he didn't know how to play. Think about that for a second. He had to teach himself how to play the piano, and with no instructor, he was able to come at the instrument with no preconceived notions on how to approach the instrument, so he came up with a completely unique take on the piano. What musician can say they had that kind of inspiration or vision to their music?
Beefheart also collaborated with Frank Zappa on his 1975 album Bongo Fury, and helped compose a few Zappa classics, like "Muffin Man". Van Vliet and Zappa were collaborations and friends for a time, but more than often, their egos and talent made them adversaries as well.
Few musicians can claim the sheer volume of left-field and non-commercial artists that Beefheart had influenced. They range from noted oddballs like Mark E. Smith of the Fall, The Residents and Tom Waits, to more mainstream acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand.
RIP Mr. Beefheart, you will be missed.
Q: Are We Not Men? A: Ant Man Bee
No comments:
Post a Comment