Captain Beefheart Died.

Captain Beefheart

Captain Beefheart  aka Don Van Vliet, died Friday  due to complications from multiple sclerosis at a hospital in Northern California this morning. He was 69.

He was a avant-garde rock legend and a visual artist. A representative of New York City’s ‘Michael Werner Gallery’, which showed his paintings, confirms the sad news.

He is remembered today as an icon from a certain time and place in American history. He had command over an impressive four-and-a-half octave range. And while he had a vast working knowledge of a seemingly incongruous mix of genres -- from acid jazz to modern classical -- which he employed in his own blend of rock 'n' roll, truth be told, his unique fusion is best remembered as being, simply, true psychedelia.


Born in California in 1941, Van Vliet dubbed himself Captain Beefheart and began experimenting with eccentric rock’n'roll sounds in the mid-1960s. His first two releases with the Magic Band drew positive notice from some connoisseurs but failed to connect with the wider public.


In 1982, Beefheart retired from making music permanently, despite having attained near-mythical status among a certain demographic of music fans.

He left the music business for good 28 years ago to paint, spent most of the 1980s focused on his artwork, which was his original talent and love as a child. In this field he also won more acclaim. Earlier this month, one of Van Vliet’s paintings was reportedly being offered at an asking price of  $40,000.