clifford_thornton Posted December 17, 2010 Report Posted December 17, 2010 News just in and confirmed here. Damn. I don't know what to say - RIP. Quote
rostasi Posted December 17, 2010 Report Posted December 17, 2010 Very sad. He had a pretty difficult struggle with MS for a long time. You can see it's devastating effects as long ago as the early 90's when Anton Corbijn did that short film with the Capt. sitting in his wheelchair smoking a fat cigar. I think John French said that he noticed symptoms as long ago as the 70's. A solid group of wonderful recordings that are left for us admirers. Quote
jostber Posted December 17, 2010 Report Posted December 17, 2010 Sad to hear this, RIP. Love several of his albums. A progenitor of surrealism in rock. Interesting article on his music: http://www.popmatters.com/chapter/Issue3/beefheart.html. Quote
JSngry Posted December 17, 2010 Report Posted December 17, 2010 He'd not have existed without him. RIP, and know that you mattered. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted December 17, 2010 Report Posted December 17, 2010 Got Trout Mask the first day it was out. Thought it was a hoot. Quote
Stereojack Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 I saw Beefheart & the Magic Band three times in the early 1970's. To this day I maintain that these shows were among the greatest music I've heard during my life. RIP, Captain. Quote
thedwork Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 sad news. a truly remarkable individual and an awesome artist. RIP. Quote
7/4 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 I'm crushed. This sucks. RIP Capt. Beefheart, you mattered. Quote
Dave James Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 An American original. There will only ever be one Captain Beefheart. Quote
rostasi Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 Great BBC documentary from 1997 (Part 1 of 6) - narrated by John Peel Hit that long lunar note and let it float Captain. Quote
mjzee Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 The other shoe finally dropped. I'd been wondering about this for awhile. I actually thought there was a good chance he died years ago and his friends never told. Healthwise, something definitely happened between 1974 and say 1980. Compare photos of him, or look at his appearance on the Letterman show (available on YouTube). I think you could even see it in his paintings. I went to a show at a Manhattan gallery around 2000 that displayed paintings from the '80's & '90's, and it seemed there was far less control in his brushstrokes. So who knows. Very sad. I hero-worshipped him for many years, and still after all these years still love the music. RIP, Don. From when I saw him at Ungano's in December 1970. Quote
7/4 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 I probably went to the same gallery show. I still have the catalog of paintings. Quote
mjzee Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 NY Times obit: NY TimesAnd a mention in the Journal: WSJ Quote
mjzee Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 Oh, and check out the comments in Clifford's initial post! Quote
BFrank Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 (edited) I saw this exhibit at Mary Boone's. Attached is a handout from the show - includes 5 glossy images. The old fart was smart! RIP Edited December 18, 2010 by BFrank Quote
kinuta Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 Sad news. My link I'll dig out Safe As Milk and Trout Mask Replica for a requiem. Quote
BFrank Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 At Keystone Korner, SF (from the Rolling Stone website) - probably 12/4/75. I was honored to be there. Quote
Head Man Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 (edited) I saw him live once, at The London School of Economics in May, 1968. One of the best nights of music...EVER! A true 'one-off'. Edited December 18, 2010 by Head Man Quote
BillF Posted December 18, 2010 Report Posted December 18, 2010 A Don Van Vliet painting: another: and another: Quote
mjzee Posted December 19, 2010 Report Posted December 19, 2010 Golden BirdiesIn the mid-90's Beefheart gave band member Moris Tepper a list called The Ten Commandments of Guitar Playing which was replicated in John McCormick's book Rolling Stone's Alt-Rock-A Rama: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GUITAR PLAYING as given to moris tepper by captain beefheart. they are not arranged hierarchically - each commandment has equal import. also, to help clarify their intent, each commandment is followed by an exegesis. LISTEN TO THE BIRDS that's where all the music comes from. birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. and watch humming-birds. they fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere. YOUR GUITAR IS NOT REALLY A GUITAR your guitar is a divining rod. use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. a guitar is also a fishing rod. if you're good, you'll land a big one. PRACTICE IN FRONT OF A BUSH wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. if the bush doesn't shake, eat another piece of bread. WALK WITH THE DEVIL old delta blues players referred to amplifiers as 'the devil box'. and they were right. you have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. electricity attracts devils and demons. [so now you know what you are, dear visitor of this page!] other instruments attract other spirits. an acoustic guitar attracts caspar, the ghost. a mandolin attracts wendy. but an electric guitar attracts beelzebub. IF YOU'RE GUILTY OF THINKING, YOU'RE OUT if your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. you should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. if you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing. NEVER POINT YOUR GUITAR AT ANYONE your instrument has more clout than lightning. just hit a big chord, then run outside to hear it. but make sure you are not standing in an open field. ALWAYS CARRY A CHURCH KEY that's your key-man clause. like one string sam. he's one! he was a detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. his song "i need a hundred dollars" is warm pie. another key to the church is hubert sumlin, howlin' wolf's guitar player. he just stands there like the statue of liberty - making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he's doing it. DON'T WIPE THE SWEAT OFF YOUR INSTRUMENT you need that stink on there. then you have to get that stink onto your music. KEEP YOUR GUITAR IN A DARK PLACE when you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. if you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it. YOU GOTTA HAVE A HOOD FOR YOUR ENGINE keep that hat on. a hat is a pressure cooker. if you have a roof on your house, the hot air can't escape. even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow. Quote
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