File:Captain_Beefheart_in_Toronto.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Captain Beefheart
Sign in to saveAlso known as Don Van Vliet, Don Glen Vliet, Don Glen Van Vliet, Donald Vliet, Don van Vliet, Beefheart Captain, Donald Glen van Vliet, Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet)
American musician and painter (1941-2010)
OverviewAI-generated
Captain Beefheart, born Don Glen Vliet in Glendale, California, was an American singer, poet, composer, and sculptor. Active from 1964 until his death in 2010, he worked in the genres of art rock, experimental rock, progressive rock, and psychedelic rock. His musical output included works such as *Transmission impossible*, *Plastic factory*, *Electricity 1967-1968*, and *Safe as milk*. He performed with the bass clarinet, saxophone, harmonica, and voice, and was associated with the record label A&M Records.
As a visual artist, Beefheart was part of the abstract expressionism movement. His works are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Musée d'art moderne de Paris. He died of multiple sclerosis in Arcata, California.
Synthesized by Vinony from 40 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 4
Top works
- Transmission impossible
- Plastic factory
- Electricity 1967-1968
- Safe as milk
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Glendale, California, USA
Don Van Vliet, born Don Glen Vliet, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. He conducted a rotating ensemble called the Magic Band, with whom he recorded 13 studio albums between 1964 and 1982.
Known for
- Zappa — Self (archive footage) (as Captain Beefheart)2020
- Captain Beefheart: Under Review — Captain Beefheart2006
- Derailroaded — Self (archive footage)2005
- The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart — Himself1997
- Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff — Himself1994
- Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Beatclub 19721972
- Frank Zappa — Self1971
- Lick My Decals Off, Baby — Captain Beefheart1971
- Burnt Weeny Sandwich — Self1969
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Origin
- United States
- Active from
- 1941
- Active to
- 2010
Discography
- The Spotlight Kid1972
- Abba Zaba1988
- The Best Beefheart1990
- I May Be Hungry but I Sure Ain't Weird: The Alternate Captain Beefheart1992
- A Carrot Is As Close As a Rabbit Gets To a Diamond1993
- Captain Hook1993
- Crazy Little Things1993
- Pearls Before Swine Ice Cream for Crows1996
- Zig Zag Wanderer: The Best of the Buddah Years1996
- Hoboism2000
Member of
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 689,274
- Total plays
- 13,814,724
Tags
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band was an American experimental rock band formed in Lancaster, California in 1964. They made music that has occasionally been dubbed "avant garde-blues". Their music was characterized by bluesy melodies, shambolic instrumentation, idiosyncratic, unbound timings, the growls and shrieks of Beefheart's vocals and his surreal, poetic lyrics. Throughout their career, the band's musical direction was tightly controlled by Don Van Vliet (1941 - 2010) <a href="https://www
Key facts
- Also known as
- Bloodshot Rollin' Red Don Van Vliet
- Born
- Don Glen Vliet , ( 1941-01-15 ) January 15, 1941, Glendale, California , U.S.
- Died
- December 17, 2010 (2010-12-17) (aged 69), Arcata, California , U.S.
- Genres
- Blues experimental rock jazz avant-garde
- Occupations
- Singer-songwriter musician painter poet composer author record producer film director
- Instruments
- Vocals harmonica saxophone bass clarinet percussion
- Years active
- 1964–1982
- Labels
- A&M Buddah Blue Thumb ABC Reprise Straight Virgin Mercury DiscReet Warner Bros. Table of the Elements Epic Major League
- Formerly of
- The Magic Band The Mothers of Invention
- Website
- beefheart .com
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Glendale
- Place of death
- Arcata
- Occupation
- visual artist
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Notable work
- Trout Mask Replica
- Genre
- proto-punk
- Movement
- abstract expressionism
- Instrument
- piano
- Record label
- A&M Records
- Official website
- www.beefheart.com
- Image
- Don Van Vliet and Gary Lucas, 'Doc at the Radar Station' sessions (May 1980).jpg
- Work location
- California
Show 18 more facts
- Commons category
- Captain Beefheart
- date of birth
- 1941-00-00
- date of death
- 2010-00-00
- topic's main category
- Category:Captain Beefheart
- cause of death
- multiple sclerosis
- manner of death
- natural causes
- birth name
- Don Glen Vliet
- described by source
- UbuWeb
- has works in the collection
- Musée d'art moderne de Paris
- start of work period
- 1964-00-00
- topic has template
- Template:Captain Beefheart
- official blog URL
- www.beefheart.com
- significant person
- Frank Zappa
- pseudonym
- Captain Beefheart
- name in native language
- Don Van Vliet
- member of
- The Magic Band
- copyright representative
- Broadcast Music, Inc.
- end of work period
- 2010-01-01
Sources (10)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Don Van Vliet (/væn ˈvliːt/; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010), known by his stage name Captain Beefheart, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist wordplay, and Vliet's gravelly singing voice with a wide vocal range.
Known as an enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise extreme, dictatorial control over his supporting musicians. Although he achieved little commercial success, he sustained a cult following as an influence on an array of experimental rock and punk-era artists.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Captain Beefheart” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.