R.I.P Beef.

Where to begin?

Fallin' ditch aint gonna get your bones.

Louis, on behalf of Proper Records

I heard Safe As Milk when I was 14. It changed the way I listened to music forever. Goodnight, Captain. Thanks for the education.

rest in peace, you were the best

I am so saddened to hear of the passing of Captain Beefheart.

It's hard to sum up the words at this moment that are adequate enough to express the significance of this great artist: but one thing for sure is we have lost a true genius in the musical, poetic and visual arts.

To spend an evening listening to any of his wonderful life-affirming music is not unusual for me to do, but tonight it will take on an extra-special meaning.

Thank you Don so much for your life and legacy.

Condolences to his family, friends and associates.

RIP

Chris

My smile is stuck,
I cannot go back to your Frownland.
My spirit's made up of the ocean
And the sky 'n' the sun 'n' the moon
'n' all my eyes can see;
I cannot go back to your land of gloom.

I'm in mourning. Loved you Don, sympathies for Jan. Biggest single musical influence in my life, there's a tear on my cheek.

Strange how someone you never had a hope of meeting could have given you so much. Just got back from the pub here in snowy London and am wondering how different my life might have been had I never rescued my dad's battered old copy of Safe as Milk from the loft. There'll never be another Captain. Rest in peace old friend, you were a true original.

Goodbye Captain, you'll be forever missed!

O Captain my Captain

I bid you farewell

I was 13 years old, Spotlight Kid had just been released and my brother played it to me at his flat in Halkirk. The first chord, the first disharmonic jagged beat did something to my brain and I'm pleased to say that I never recovered. That is the first recording I turn to now to honour and remember him. Don Van Vliet RIP.

Jonathan

tropical hotdog night
Everything's wrong at the same time it's right


RIP DVV

gutted

RIP.

I was introduced to Captain Beefheart when I was about 15, and he completely astounded me. I never knew how amazing music could be, raised as I was on the Beatles and fairly dull 60s pop by my parents. I am genuinely sad at the loss, he was an idol of mine when I was younger - sympathy to his family and long may the zig zag wanderer spirit stay with us :)

So sad.

When listening to one of your records I always hear something different every time.

Fish pond streaks love kind
Found the child I had to find


I too found my parents battered copy of safe as milk and immediately stole it. I still listen to it often. Love ya Beefheart. Nighty night. :)

Everyone has their own Beefheart story... reading these comments, I realise just how similarly he affected so many others. When I discovered the Captain (in a small country town in Australia, 1975, believe it or not... trout mask was still available, strange though it was)I thought I was the only person in the world listening to this stuff. My friends thought of me as weird... wasn't long before I met the other Beefheart fans, though... most of them became significant musicians, if not household names. Thanks Don, for opening my ears. Happy Trails.
jon

Goodbye, Captain. I found you for the first time this year, when I was just about to give up music for good. Needless to say, you changed my mind.

I'll carry your songs with me wherever I go, whatever I do. Rest in peace. And thanks.

I'm very upset today. I just got into his music back in January. Got all his album. Rest in peace, Don.

By the way, I have a rock music blog and left my tribute on my blog. Here's the URL: http://thewalrusmusicblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/captain-beefheart-dead-at-69.html

Captain Beefheart was my Elvis. a man whose artistic vision transcended genre and even medium, with the effect that words became paintings and songs became films. I was just listening to “Trout Mask Replica” a day ago for the millionth time and heard some new things in the mix that wowed me. I expect to listen to it a million times in the future and hear even more. Rest in peace, Don.

"there's so many things to feel and see while you're awake, they're just out of reach, out of grasp, yeah out of reach. and just as many, maybe more, the minute that you sleep"

I love this music and for whatever reason I love this guy...I am very curious what he'll be up to next!!!
Love to all those who miss him most, and especially his partner in life.
I love this guy...

MAA Berkeley CA

Don,
You've shaped my entire life with your music. Had I not discovered Trout Mask Replica while I was in High School I would now be a different, and albeit more boring human being. I can't thank you enough for all you've given the world. You will be missed and you will never be replaced.
Collin

When Frank died I was overwhelmed....
How could I live in a world without FZ....
Today we learn of Beefhearts passing.
My heart goes out to his survivors.
I guess frank and the captin can start an all star band with jimmy, John mama cass etc.
God bless you my friend
RIP
MF in NZ

This is devastating. I bought my first Beefheart album, "Trout Mask" at a Milwaukee record convention in 1988, just before it was released on CD. I was 17 years old. I think I paid $30 for it. All these years later Don's work -- as well as the work of his magical bandmates -- continue to makes this life so much more bearable. His paintings are incredible. I will miss being able to think "at least Don's still out there breathing somewhere." RIP Don. You are loved.

We loved you, you big dummy!

One of the very few, one-of-a-kinders. G'nite Don

I was sitting at my computer today and I suddenly thought I wonder what's the latest with Captain Beefheart and went on the site to see. Was very sad to hear the Captain had died today. I just turned 62 this month and have been listening to his records and saw him play a number of times since his first record. I have always loved his music and his paintings. He was a true genius and will be missed by many. Phil Walsh Ca.

Thank you Don! We'll miss you

Sad news and condolences to Jan and family and friends.

My favourite music forever and a wonderful artist.

Trout Mask tonight.

Don - I have loved your music for over 40 years. The world will not be the same without you.

I waited patiently for two weeks in Montana in 1969 for a copy of TMR to arrive via special order at the local music store. I had read an article in some shiny magazine that used the word "zany". I took it home in my sweaty high school freshman hands, and placed the needle and turned the go knob. A wall of bricks fell from me and on me. I was free.

on the last hour of my birthday today i heard the news i was moved to write this http://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=9688.msg129427;topicseen#new

my condolences to his nearest and dearest

Sail on, Captain! Thanks for everything! :-)

I am only 23, but from being 15, I have based my entire musical approach around the music of Don Van Vliet, and to learn of his death is nothing short of utterly devastating. I'm completely gutted that I never got to see the man who I count as a hero. It's time for a late night spin of TMR. I can't even begin to say how much he has changed me entire musical perspective. R.I.P.

rest well good captain, you were truly one of a kind

This is a toast to the most holiest ghost.

Don was a true original in every sense of the word. I met him during the Shiny Beast tour and he was so humble. A great show from a great man with a great band. Love all his work and am truly saddened by his passing.

You were the best Don.

Wishing his wife and family my deepest condolences.

The black paper between a mirror breaks my heart that I can't go...

One Winged Eel

I only met Don once. I was a hippie gate crasher at the Whiskey a Go Go, but after his band played, he came and sat at our table. We got into a long discussion about the blues and Howlin' Wolf in particular. He was intense, friendly and gregarious and treated everyone at the table as an equal, no show biz attitude at all. He never compromised his artistic vision and was always out there on the edge. I'm sure he's upstairs now, kickin' butt and takin' names. Bon Voyage old friend.

Just heard about this - damn. Dust or somethin' in my eyes. Run paint, run run.

Beefheart music has never been far from my mind - even in this past year, I've spent hours on the road poring over TroutMaskReplica. Read John French's enormous tome - despite all his imperfections, Don has left an enormous aural legacy, and those few whose palates can handle the richness are, exactly, enriched.

RIP, DVV.

I won't cry, he wouldn't want that. We lose the best! How many people could say they were "a Don and as well a Captain"?

"Hit that long, lunar note and let it float . . ." Thanks for all the sanity.

The Greatest.

After exposure to Beefheart's work, it was difficult to take most of what passes for 'original' rock music seriously.

I had the good fortune to meet him as a 16-year-old backstage at Southampton University in November 1975 (that's my schoolboy recording that circulates, complete with backstage chatter). He took time to chat about Hendrix and Miles Davis and of course how his latest band was going to “go further” than Trout Mask.

They didn't. But his return during the late 70s/early 80s was pretty damn impressive - and his influence was all over the best post-punk acts.

I've ended up writing about rock professionally, and have often been teased about managing to slip a reference to Beefheart in virtually all that I write. But, hell, he was, is and will always remain the benchmark by which all else be judged.

Mark Paytress

thank you Don (CB) for enlightening my life (and my children's) to the world of original music and art. You are one of my mentors!

I just heard about Don's passing, a phone call from a friend who says he cant listen to TMR at one sitting. Too much for his ears I guess. The sun shone through him and lit me up many times. Goodbye
Don

a hero to me. inspird me to make eal art. changedmy life with his courage. ot to go paint and crash a cymbal now. love to you don. blessings to family. er1c

An unbearable loss. I knew Don had been suffering for many years, but this is a complete blow to the soul. I discovered the Captain a year ago, aged 16, now 17, and cannot describe the extent to which his music fulfils and enthrals me today. I eventually "got" Trout Mask Replica like Matt Groening, and now hold it as one my most beloved musical works. Typical enough to his nature, I listen to the on par Lick My Decals Off, Baby newly acquired and experienced on the day of his passing, sullenly appreciating the man. The influence of his absolutely uncompromising innovation as an artist is unsurpassable. Don Van Vliet was a man who lived with an intrinsic appreciation of nature, grounded with a sense of humour, that reflected society and human nature with an incomparable profundity. His absence is that of something. But his music will help us find it always. "I'm doing a non-hypnotic music to break up the catatonic state... and I think there is one right now." You've left us at a time where that's true more than ever.

Dear Don- so many years in pain, your energies compromised, your presence a whisper in the Mojave wind... yet what a sense of loss I feel now. Your work has been a touchstone in my life for over 20 years. You helped me understand myself, helped me to embrace life's paradoxes. Even coming to terms w/ your cruel and despotic ...side was a gift for me. I will always celebrate your work; I can't thank you enough for it.

It´s a very sad night... Don Van Vliet did teach us to listen, to rethink the meaning and goals of art and music, and he did with a smile, with a unique sense of humour, with magic.
My loving Captain: thanks for give a new meaning to beauty.
And Graham, thanks for this site. A big hug!
Jesus Quintero

Mexico City

The word " genius " gets tossed around too much , but ....DON WAS A GENIUS !!!

My best to the people and animals that he loved !!

the black paper
between my mirror
breaks my heart
that i cant go

steal softly thru sunshine
steal softly thru snow

rip don

I'm sorry for his wife Jan - this must be a hard time for her.

our dear Captain, the music ,the songs ,the records are incredible -(mellodramatic part:) the live performances had that rare extra thang quality!You know, where the band is great, songs are great AND SOMETHING ELSE happens.. and it's extra great.

Don, you were my greatest artistic inspiration. I am truly upset by your passing. I'm sobbing as I write this. God damn it. You were far too young. I hope you are up to mischief with Zappa wherever you are....
Josh Shear AKA lordevilvenom

It's raining in Buenos Aires ,
my tears are running through...
Thanks for being part of my life past and future...

Rest in peace Don! You will truly live forever! My condolences Jan. He will be missed, but his music never will be.

My all time favorite musician.

R.I.P. Captain

Just got home from Zappa Plays Zappa in NYC. Dweezil announced Don's passing in the encore, and they played 'Willie the Pimp'.
Condolences to his family and friends.
Thanks for the music, Captain - the human totem pole is just a little sadder now.

"We're matter - the stars are matter - but it doesn't matter."

Safe as Milk blew my mind. Trout Mask horrified me, and then miraculously got better and better with each listen; still does to this day. Since I'm too young to've met him, I'd appreciate if you all would post more stories.

RIP Don. Your music broke my ears in a good way.

A sad day in the world, but a good day for the band in heaven, The Spotlight Kid has arrived.

RIP Don, I hope you realised what an influence you were to a lot of people.

It is with a heavy heart that this lucky world bids farewell to one of the greatest songwriters to ever grace the written word.

Good night, Don. May you find your cages always remain open.

I must have been 11 or 12 when my older brother brought home Trout Mask Replica. Ever since, I have dreamed of being fast and bulbous. We've lost a truly unique artist today and I am devastated.

After hearing the Blimp and the Old Fart at Play on a sampler record in junior high, I had to hear more. I listened so hard to the double LP (with the dubious lyrics sheet and doughy drawings) that I had dreams about not-yet-existent follow-ups. I also fantasized chance meetings--conversation could be sculpted creatures, too. What a loss, following a string of losses, and garlands of offers.

the moment i heard this news an old lyric filled my head... Woe-is-uh-Me-Bop.
i follwed your work from trout mask on and it changed me profoundly. thanks for your wonderful language play & poetry.
and it all coming true - the new dinosaur is living in the old one's shoes, and on and on and on.
thanks for getting it right.

I just feel very very sad - feels like i've lost a valuable friend.
Sam.

I know TMR is playing in many rooms right now. I just finished listening to it again. Thank you Don. G'nite. Condolences to all

So sad. David

All forms of tribute are too simple for the man. I'm burning a candle and spinning a record, because I don't know what else to do.

I'm 26 now. I stumbled upon a Trout Mask Replica LP when I was 20, and it permanently changed the way I thought about art and music.

Thank you for everything. I will miss you for the rest of my days.

There will never be another Captain.

Cameron

Met CapTAIN , he was playing at the Main Point In Pa . Some of his band memebers didnt even have winter coats on. My friends and i (14, 15,16) handed out some coats and The Captain handed out the music that night , The band played great . He is one of my life hero's thank you And be in peace, NEVER THINK ABOUT FROWNLAND AGAIN! may we meet again , traveling down that yellow brick rd. 'WANDERIN IF THE DUST . BLOWS FORWARD , N THE DUST BLOWS BACK,WITH OUR BACK TO THE WIND NOW CAPTAIN , MAY WE SAIL AHEAD IN TIME ,FOREVER . PEACE LUKE

I had Trout Mask Replica on tape, that tape didn't leave the cassette player of my car-radio for years in a row. Always inspiring, never got bored of it, and it gave a lot of discussions with the passengers. Bye Captain. Sander

I heard about this a few hours ago and wanted to post something but didn't know what to say, and still don't lol. When I think about the influence he's had on me in so many ways regarding attitude to life and music its like losing a best friend who I've known for 40 years. My hero is dead.
It's lovely to see so many people, young and old, expressing similar feelings.
My condolences to all of you that loved him. His words, music and paintings will never die.
That is something to celebrate maybe

just can't believe it. RIP my man

"We're keeping up with punk rock by playing the firehat."

The Captain was a fearless artist with a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor.

Here I Am , I Always Am
Well you came and now you're gone
But our life it will go on
I miss you so but only for your return
Please come back to me tomorrow

Thank you Don
Frans Vermeulen,
Holland (Maastricht)

I was shocked when I heard he passed away. I can still remember when I first heard Trout and I thought "WTF is this?!" But somehow, I kept listening, and listening until I started 'understanding' the music. It changed the way I listened to music forever.

The world lost a great musical and artistical influence!

This makes me incredibly sad. This man's music changed my life and I really mean that. To be a weird, awkward kid in high school and to hear his work meant so much to me. I'm so glad to have found this man and his music will live on forever.

"My smile is stuck, I cannot go back to your Frownland."

Tell everyone about Don. Bug them relentlessly until they listen. They'll thank you for it.

Get his music out to as many people as possible.

Your voice, your mind, your words grow up me. Love you, Don...

Thanks, Captain. You made this world richer in awareness and experience - that's all anyone can hope to do.

stay very much alive in his music. Thanks Don!
chinapig55

Prior to the advent of the compact disc era, legend has it that "Trout Mask Replica" had only sold 20,000 copies.

I'm wondering if anyone has real up-to-date statistics regarding "Trout Mask Replica" sales figures?

Everyone claims to have heard it and to have loved it,
but I wonder if the album has been bought in any large numbers.

Don was the greatest, on an even foot with his friend Frank Zappa - he had a great sense of interlocking rhythm and humor. I'm glad I was able to see him in early 80s performance at the Whiskey A-Go Go where he railed about "Ray-Gunism" and sang all his hits.

My sincere condolences to Jan.

I hope the world will now wake up to the unique beauty that was the soul-mate you have lost.

I can't think of one artist, in every sense of the word, who can now fill the hole this has left in my heart.

Bob Stannard
A follower since 1966

Floppy boot stomps transfigured into ART.

Beefheart was AND IS the greatest artist of them all.

... and the horse compared his hooves.

Dear Don, rest in peace.

Wim Baltissen

Thanks for everything Cap.

-G.

now we really have too much time to be without you! It started with that low low growl on Booglarize and never ever stopped. The wonder will always be with me. thank you.

I think we all knew this was coming but it doesn't really help. Such a sad day. In the end though we have that marvellous sequence of recordings: Strictly Personal (and Mirror Man), Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Off, Baby. Not many can leave a legacy like that.

Exactly, BTLizard...and man, what a legacy.
RIP Don.

RIP

A sad day you will truly be missed a true individual in a world of shite

dead mask replica. the beefheart beats no more. slobbery fields forever!

Stop by to say goodbye. heard you the first time at a john peel broadcast. never forget this moment. bye

More years ago than I care to remember never having heard of the Magic Band before I caught Mirror Man on the radio and it started a lifetime's admiration. Got most of the recordings and off to play my favourite, the double Clear Spot/Spotlight Kid CD.

Now we're really on our own......
I played one of his tunes (ain't no santa claus....) at a gig tonight and an hour later,got a text message with the news....best to all who care,S.

Wow! Was just listening to Sweet, Sweet Bulbs and scrolled down to this page and was RIGHT IN TIME with the words you posted....The Good Captain may have left his physical body, but his spirit is eternal and still calling the shots.

He was a true original
Rip beef


mark
england

It's difficult to say I'll miss you Don, when I've never met or seen you. I'm too young. But I know and love your music, and tha MB have kept it well alive. Your wonderful mystery and mysterious wonder lingers, lives, kicks. Your paintings are within me. Your Art is everywhere. What an achievement. Webcore, webcore...

The captain lives forever in our hearts. R.I.P.

I've left my sentiments elsewhere here.

Just wanted to point out that those weird 2008 "Beefheart Top 10 Tips for Guitarists" are most likely not from Beefheart himself, but from someone who lacks Beefheart's cadence and poetry

I've often wondered why those guitarist tips have gone mostly unchallenged from Beefheart fans. None of them seem like they were invented by him

Any comments?

RIP Don, you've been a wonderfully massive part of my life.

The best person I never met.

Now there ain't no Santa Claus on the evening stage.

Thanks for opening our ears and giving us so much to think. Thank you for ever Don.

I willbe wearing a clothes peg and playing my Beefheart all day today. Observatory Crest, Safe as Milk and Clear Spot shallecho through my walls and cry out to everyone in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

"Men let your wallets flop out

And women open your purses."

Deep woe. The Captain is dead. Long live The Captain.

Neka mu e lesna crnata zemja

1st heard the good Captain in the very early 70's. Yes, like the rest of you guys, it permanently changes the way your ears hear music.

Saw The Magic Band, the 1st time, in 1971(?) @ The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.
And I can still run some of that gig through my head.

Hope Don looks up John Peel now they are in the same place. JP used to drive him around the UK in the early, early days and was the only DJ to play The Magic Band on the BBC.

RIP, Don & thanks

I'll be playing Glider on my next radio show.

Steve Edwards
103 The Eye
www.103theeye.co.uk

R.I.P. to one of the greats. The world already feels like a more boring place.

So much love, so much love..

He certainly played that long and looming note and it will float for evermore.

Thanks for being the soundtrack to my life.

Is it that time already?- Heartfelt condolences to all of Don's family and friends. Tears speckle my window - RIP Don thanks for being there

First Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, now the good Captain. My heroes are fading from view far too quickly. Thank you, Don for the music you made and the headaches you gave (in a good way). Rest in Peace.

A work colleague turned me on to Beefheart and Zappa about 20 years ago. I loved Beefheart's performance on Zappa's Hot Rats album, and Trout Mask Replica is a masterpiece.
I must admit neither artists feature regularly on my playlist these days, but I have nothing but fond memories and admiration for the pair of them.
Beefheart will be greatly missed, or should be. Unfortunately, in this day and age of bland formulaic pop, his passing will be ignored and his legacy forgotten, which is a great shame.

R.I.P Captain.

I've been aware of Beefheart for a few years now. My taste in music dramatically changed a few years ago when I was 16 or 17, and I became obsessed with discovering and listening to music before my time, slowly exploring the historical catologue of recorded music.
Earlier this year, I finally listened to Beefheart and realised he was alright. Then I began to enjoy it. Then my obsession with music quickly refined itself to exclusively Beefheart. I got every one of his records, I read his poetry, searched for his paintings and even downloaded the 10 minute doc from 1993, Some Yo Yo Stuff.
His work has expanded my (and others) taste in music and art undoubtedly.
My current little obsession is The Fall - offspring of Beefheart's genius - but for today atleast, I'll put that interest on hold and listen to back-to-back Beefheart. His records have never sounded better.

Thank you Don Van Vliet and may your rest in peace. Your art has expanded the minds of many people, but more importantly, it's confused & annoyed bystanders.
Under-appreciated by the majority, and may it stay that way.

I've lost my hero. RIP and thanks for all the magic.

Heard the sad news last night. For the last 10 years Don’s music has been an integral presence in my life. Though I’ve never met him, I’m deeply saddened to hear of his passing. Listening to Mirror Man right now and will be going on through the collection all day/week/year/forever!

I remember listening to one of his interviews once, a passing comment of his stuck with me –

“Be kind, man. Don’t be mankind” – Van Vliet

Love you man!

Chris.

Don,...you will live on in every note I'll play,.......thanks for the guiding me in my music !!!

Kees

Thank you for the inspiration. See you on the other side.

R.I.P. Don Thanks for your Art

A friend said - Don Van Vliet may be dead, but the Captain lives forever.

And he will, until the last vestige of recorded music fades into static, and even then, the quasars will shake with his laughter.

Cannot imagine a world, a life without his music. Thank you, Captain, that we don't have to.

Don,...you'll live on in the music we'll play,......thanks for guiding us!!!

Vannut Padje

Thankyou My Captain.
You will live on in our hearts forever.

RIP Don...your music will never die

Don van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart was truly an inspiration, his "Opaque melodies that bug most people" forever changed the way I thought about music.I constantly played My fave albums,Mirror Man,Strictly Personal and Safe as Milk and his brilliant Blues harp playing made time stand still. We'll miss you Captain but your legacy will live on in your Music and your artwork and in our hearts.

You gave us a gift...your music. Thank You Don.

3am in New Zealand. I don't have much in the way of words. A very sad day indeed. Thank you, Don Van Vliet.

RIP Clear Spot, you changed the way I listened to music

I will never forget how I used Trout Mask Replica to get my college room mate to move out of the dorn. I thank Don for his assistance in giving me a double room for the price of a single! I think it was "WELL" or "Orange Claw Hammer" that sealed the deal!
I also remember flying from Buffalo to LA in 1981 to hear him at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. Skipped an Chemistry Lab and I think that was the day I realized I would not be a Physician!
Here is to Don...hope you find peace and soprano sax, and Madness and a party of special things to do! I will miss my daily hoping that you would do one last tour!
Now you can be in ROck and Roll Heaven! They NOW have a hell of a band!

Don, you were a magical man. Thank you for your persistence. Thank you for reminding us how beautiful the desert is. Thank you for twisting everything up and spitting it out right again. Thank you for the determination you had to become a painter. You are and were an inspiration.

The dust blows forward and the dust blows back.

Doug

A world without Don Van Vliet is no world at all.

Glenn

To preface, i'm 35. I was 12 when I heard Joe's Garage in the back listening room of my father's friend. As a kid listening to college radio and the pop metal so prevalent at the time, it was a new world. I fell for Frank completely, and yet, within a year or two I found myself mystified by the music yet bored and annoyed with the offensive lyrics (see also, my problem with the music of the era), that's when I found Don. That was a revelation, like Genesis (the book, not Phil Collins). Everything changed. Through life and changes i've carried the work of Captain Beefheart with me, while so few I knew followed. It's their loss. The music of Don and the band(s) can only be compared to learning another language, it has nothing to do with what you knew before, and you never look at anything else the same after. This morning my kids were dancing to Spotlight Kid in the kitchen, and it fills me with hope. Don the shell may be gone, but the spirit of what he gave us is here more than ever, casting a shadow that might be shaped like a poorly grown fin over everything else.

Thank you Don, gone, but not forgotten.

Friends,

I, like most of you, had the same initial reaction when someone posted the news to me on Facebook. "No!!!! WHAT???" Followed by a deep hollow feeling...sullen. And I found out just 10 mins before I had to hop in the car and drive 4 hours for our family's early holiday celebration. Bad timing.

But I got in the car, and at top volume, cranked "Shiny Beast"...still my favorite. And my feeling was amazement, joy...I laughed at the funny parts ("Tropical Hot Dog Night"!!!), headbanged to the rocking parts ("Suction Prints"!!!), got emotional at the beautiful parts ("Candle Mambo"!!!) and was awestruck, as always, at the masterpiece "Bat Chain Puller". My main expression throughout was a big smile with glistening eyes.

This was followed by "The Spotlight Kid" then "Safe as Milk" then "Trout Mask Replica"...all at ear splitting volume, rumbling the Texas countryside and the clouded night sky above with the most amazing music imaginable. I couldn't imagine playing anyone else.

Don truly did the universe a service with his existence, with his genius, with his hard work and determination to see his vision though. He will be my inspiration...always.

And my thoughts are also with Jan...wow, what an amazing lady. I hope every moment she had with Don was better than the last.

-Scott Hopkins

‎"None o' my women have tears in their eyes
You can ask 'em about me I swear"

Isabel

http://www.locutriz.es/blog/

Goodbye, my Captain. Your music accompanies every time of my life. Fortunately your art will be forever.
My condolences to Jan and family.

The sun ain't stable,the moon showed up,and it started to show,tonite there'd be ice cream,ice cream for crow.
Thanks for all the great music,and art,Don.
We'll miss you.
Mike Abramson

In early '70's you opened my ears for ever...
I will never forget that after my request during the legendary concert in 1980 in Rotterdam (Netherlands) you played my favorite 'Big Eyed Beans from Venus' for me!
Love and respect. R.I.P.

I loved you, you big dummy. For over 40 years your music and art meant so much to me. I'm glad your suffering is over, but the world is gonna be a poorer place without you. My deepest condolences your wife, family, friends and fans. With a tin teardrop in my eye I shall raise a glass to your memory. Peace Don.

Why I like the Captain's stuff: Beefheart is the first abstract artist that made sense to me, and in fact, he unlocked to door for me to begin to understand abstract art in general. Using beatnik poetry style lyrics, disjointed and abstract, but loosely related in such a way as to paint a real picture underneath, his music takes the same form as his paintings - abstract paintings that contain barely recognizable visual images, but arranged in such a way that an actual thought is conveyed, a real picture lies beneath, but not just a picture, a picture with aura and emotion conveyed by the collection of the abstract but recognizable images.

And that cohesiveness separates abstract art created from genius and abstract art without genius which only mimics the noise of the collection of images without having an underlying purpose; possessing a form of chaos by imitating the chaos alone; a superficial and pretentious imitation, unable to see or create an unseen depth.

bye captain,
send us a moonbeam!
pyrx, vienna

The day the music died.

Bad day for my hero's, only got a drunk Brit with the last name Smith left.

farewell don and thank you so much for everything – the planet was definitely nicer with you on it. i wish janet isn't suffering too much. martin

There's one less genius in the world now. R.I.P. Don Van Vliet.

Don the Beef meant so much to me. his influence absolutely hangs over me and my close group of longtime friends..we can't be around each other without lopsing off into the speak. So much to say but so little say..just wonderful.

Don van Vliet was one of the greatest and (for those who know) most influential musicians who ever lived. Nearly all rock-music which is worth to hear to refers to him. His influence on free jazz cannot be overestimated. His music is so outstanding and inspiring i cannot tell. i am very sad.

Last night I dreamed I was on a rockin' boat on an insurgent sea and there was no Captain on it...

than today I read about the news of his passing away ...
RIP Don and thanks for the tremendous legacy

Everytime Don performed in NYC, I would hang out with him. I will never forget those times. True Magic. Thanks Don.

There's just so much - music, lyrics, art - to make you think, to make you laugh out loud, to just appreciate. I wouldn't know music if it wasn't for Captain Beefheart.

I'm glad your suffering is over, this should be a happy time to remember the difference you made. And what a difference - thank you.

In 1969 I was living in a suburban community with a square family going to a square school with a head full of desire and creativity. I stumbled upon Trout Mask at a local drug store. It was a power greater than I that both intrigued and frightened. I wanted what he had but realized he would have hated a copy cat so I became compelled to discover my own "beefheart". I love all his albums and paintings and words. I'm sure he could be a real pain at times. Me too. But there is love and playfulness and joy. You can't make that up. Fierce individualism/genius. Love him.

Thank you Captain, you gave me so much.

Tom

so unique - RIP

Woe is-a-me-bop...

Thanks for EVERYTHING, Don Van Vliet. You changed me for good as a young boy and have been a constant companion ever since. Your work (PLAY) has never dimmed, the excitement of hearing/seeing it for the first time simply increases at each exposure. That is one amazing feat. My condolences to Jan and Don's family & friends. I love ya! You were my favorite person in the world that I didn't know. peter brainpang

Well, here is a small song I made this morning when I got the news.
It´s sad but it´s also beautiful that he passed away.
http://wtfmusic.org/#music/206/1158

"My head is my only house" and Don has shared it since I was kid. Bon voyage.
Cliff

Farewell Don Van Vliet a fair forward voyager!

Love you, always will.

The Spotlight Kid has sown his last sweet potato...
Thank you so much for everything.
RIP

What can one say?
I found out last night and I was so upset. Today I've been listening to Beefheart all day, and guess what - I ain't blue no more - it's like heaven, ah said.
RIP Don, you helped make me who I am today.

Scott, Brighton UK

I was so sorry to hear he'd died. I'd been dreading this moment for so long. I don't admire many people, artistically, but I admired CB.

I just liked the guy. Everyone is unique, I know, but he is irreplaceable. Something about him made people love him. I'm sure he pissed off Ry Cooder and FZ......but there was an innocence.....a vulnerability. And this incredible brilliance which stood out at a time when there seemed to be brilliant people everywhere.

King Ludd, Devon

I wish I knew what time DVV left mere earth. I was listening to Doc At The Radar Station most of Friday. Some of it made me laugh out loud and other parts made me cry. Today I read the tiny obit in the paper. It's raining here. But I'm glad it's raining hard.

14 years old in boarding school in Switzerland. Still wired in my brain. Made me realize how shallow music has become.

i learned music through your ears.
compassionate revolution
j4zz!t

Firs heard on John Peel's radio 1 slot in 1967. TroutMask Replica a revelation and still revealing its treasures 40 years on.
So grateful I heard of him so early and for the gifts he and the band/s left us.

i feel like my true father has died. this is going to be really hard to get through. at least now you can really get into our dreams.

She serves me flowers 'n yams
'N in the night when i'm full
She brings me white jam
'N I don't know where I am
In the meadow she brings me
Like ah bee she stings me
'N I don't know where I am
Clouds clingin' to us
'N the sun lookin' through us
'N in the night when I'm full
She brings me white jam
'N I don't know where I am

xx, darko

Like so many, I was and am inspired, influenced, enticed, pushed, provoked and delighted by his music, art, words and ways -- but the impact on me has also been especially literal. I lose track of time, but I suppose it was in the late '70s that someone who worked with me set me up on a blind date with a longtime friend of hers because, she said, we were the only two people she knew who liked Captain Beefheart. Neither Renee nor I had ever been on a blind date before: we would go out that night, first for Thai food at a now-gone restaurant in Hollywood and then to the Golden Bear in, where is/was it, Huntington or Redondo Beach? -- to see Beefheart (I found out much later that this show was recorded and would surface as a two-album bootleg). Soon thereafter, Renee and I were living together, and about a decade later would get married. We have had a daughter, Gabrielle, who is about to turn 21 -- and while hopefully all parents are justly proud and and while all kids and young adults might be able to do great things, Gabrielle is one of those marvelously creative, astute, gentle, patient, dedicated, diversely talented, individualistic yet generous and extraordinarily principled persons that I think any of us wouldn't mind betting the future on. (fyi, she also saw the Magic Band reunion show at the Long Beach "All Tomorrow's Parties" festival.) So my family thanks Don and everyone who was a part of his life for all kinds of reasons and all kinds of gifts bestowed upon us, due to who he was and is, and what he meant and means to us.

too much for my mirror.
part of me has died,
my constant companion for forty years.
music, music, music.
art,art,art.
bickershawe, free trade hall.
thanks, Don.
friend to all animals.
bye Don, bye...

R.I.P. Don,

You changed so many people's lives with your wonderful art. There's no way to put in words how profoundly important you and your work was to me and so many other people. I hope you and Frank are having a good laugh now. My deepest condolences to Jan and all of Don's other family and close friends.

Doc at the Radar Station was very influential to me during my teen years - maybe more so than any other single album. Later I discovered other works, and could appreciate even more of Beefheart's vision, I but will always have a deep connection with DATRS. Someone definitely had too much to think.

Rest in peace Don.
I found myself playing all your romantic songs today and getting all soppy and sad.


"My arms are just two things in the way until I can wrap them around you..."

"Two lips in a haystack
And the moon up above
It's dark and you're blushing
Aren't you my love..."

And of course you will live forever through your music and art.

The Captain was one the few true great artists. The world is poorer for his passing.

Jim

When I heared the news,I reached for my copy of Trout Mask(wich is never far from reach) & danced around the room...until "the dust blows..." came on,at which point I had to sit down & reflect....a great,great artist had gone onto the next part of his journey & it made me shed a tear or two that he is no longer with us in THIS place & time. God bless you Don & a safe journey to the other side. jarrod.

Those of us who heard that voice and those words were never the same again. He was a monster influence and the world is a better place for his time here.

Thank you fer everything, and rest in peace. Love from ofap.

1969, aged 14, illicitly listening to John Peel on transistor under the covers I first heard something that has irrevocably changed my life. Gimme dat harp boy and the next week I bought my first super vamper. Been playing ever since but always fell a little short of the incredible tone and intonation created by the Captain. What a loss! My condolences to all he left behind. The music, art and poetry however will live forever.
Harp cry, harp smiling.

the dust blows forward and the dust blows back
and the wind blows black through the sky...

what a loss, he was a brilliant artist, and he will be missed-

Good to connect with so many 'Distant Cousins' on such a day. Difficult to say more than has already been said.

I can only admire and celebrate such eccentricity and creativity in a world which nowadays seem to promote political correctness and channeled thinking. Maybe I'm getting old and out of touch but where are the new genuinely innovate creators in music who can compare?

Favourite quote: "Everybody's coloured or else you wouldn't be able to see them".

Best wishes to all in Beefheart Land - and to those nearest the good Captain.

ML

PS. Just found out while clicking around CB tributes today that Jimmy Carl Black died a couple of years ago (I know, I know....). That's a double does of bad news.

So sorry for your loss, Jan.

Thank you for your music. That buggy boogie woogie really sweeps me off my feet.

I first saw the Captain back in the early 70s at Newcastle City Hall and he blew me away. My taste in music was changed forever and I will be eternally grateful to him for all the enjoyment he gave me. Sleep tight good captain.

Yer in our guts and in our head,
now Cap'n rest in earthly bed.

RIP you beautiful nut,
DK

Yesterday when I got home from work I played TMR and Safe as Milk and they really cheered me. Later that night I felt really worried about something and even started trembling for no apparent reason. When later I heard the news I cried. Not sure why but I did. Thank you.

Ivan, Bulgaria

What I suddenly realised when he died was that every person who hears a creative musical work has a different nostalgia. So his music means something different to all the millions of listeners. So if you create really essential and creative music then the fruit is endless. What a legacy..

He helped me find a place to call my own.

RIP

Oliver

I'm gonna buy me a cherry phosphate.

A sad day, indeed.....from the moment I heard him on Z's Hot Rats, I was hooked. Genius is a tough tag to throw around, but he borders on it. Just ain't nobody more original.

Sympathies to Jan. I've been listening to Don all day and every song sounds as magnificent as ever. A true giant.

from my facebook status..."am absolutely devastated just finding out don van vliet aka captain beefheart passed away today...i first discovered the captain's music/ art at musicland at the maine mall back in 1987...buying the trout mask cd based on the cover art without ever hearing a note...needless to say i found my savior that da y..."

I'm so saddened.. What a great loss. He made such an impact on me, I was never the same after hearing Doc at the Radar Station and Trout Mask...

I feel fatherless.

RIP DVV - sooner or later the radar station claims us all.

When I was 11 or 12 I heard Safe As Milk. That was my introduction to Beefheart. I credit his music for my greater appreciation of all art and teaching me just because I don't like something initially doesn't me I won't come around to it. I'll probably wind up loving it.

Farewell maestro. Thank you for bringing your music and art into my life.

Skeleton breath
Scorpion blush
I have a crush on your skeleton

R.I.P. Mr Van Vliet

I will be playing Kandy Korn on repeat today. Thank you for making such a difference to the way I view the world.

Just a few various thoughts about Beefheart's music, because as soon as I heard the news this morning I just started automatically writing random thoughts on scraps of paper.
Humungous fan. I've been listening to this stuff for 40 years now.
No need to worry about Don's musical legacy. More than any other music I know of (that's a LOT of music across all genres) this is music made to last. Truly timeless.
It's not experimental music. It is complete in its conception & execution (huge credit to the dedication of Magic Band members over the years).
Nor is this music weird. It is just creativity captured at source - rather than turning ideas & impulses into literal concepts & then refining & polishing the music to make it palatable for our expectations & in the process squeezing the life out of it. That's why Beefheart's music is always so fresh & vital.
Another reason I think his music lasts & has depth is because to me it has a three dimensional quality. Like musical sculpture. Maybe this is why "normal" music often sounds a bit flat after Beefheart. Others have mentioned this sort of thing. Are the people who find "Trout" difficult trying to listen to 3D music with 2D heads on?
One last thought I'd like to mention is that I find the words & the music in Beefheart are a perfect marriage, with equal weight, as they mesh together. Maybe we are back to the "difficult" thing again, because the music is not just some simple background accompaniment to the lyrics.
OK, sorry about the lecture. I've been wanting to get some thoughts on the music out there for quite a long time. Now seems as good a time as any.
Lastly, it's been so good to read everyone's positive comments & interesting takes. It's great to know that all you appreciative people are out there.
The Radar Station is my home page & I've been expecting this news for a long time. Even so, it was literally a physical jolt for me to see the news of Don's passing.
His recorded legacy is there to show how great music can be.

I was privileged to meet Captain Beefheart in Philadelphia in 1971 or 1972. I was 17 yrs old or so; he was touring in support of "Spotlight Kid;"
his opening act was Little Feat. After the show my friend Moose and I jumped onto the stage and pulled the curtains aside. And there he was, right there, with his piercing blue eyes. He was a perfect gentleman. And did I say that the show was one of the best I've ever seen?

From Europe - Byebye, good Captain.

You were unique.

Don was my main main since 1968. I had all his records, including all the live bootlegs. Just a week ago I sold the lot off in a fit that seems like a premonition now. But I know his music by heart, and he and his fantastic band informed my ears more than any other contemporary artist. He was a visionary whatever he did, and as the saying goes, we will not see his like again. Goodbye, Don, and thanks for the fins and the wings.

Just wanted to share my portrait of Don as a way of paying my respects:

http://thrdgll.blogspot.com/

How sad... The great Captain is gone. I saw Captain Beefheart only once, when I was 15, at the Pinkpop Festival, Weert, The Netherlands and I was completely blown away. My introduction to 'serious' pop music and I became a big fan. Thank you so much for all your works.

http://sacvs.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/lds-captain-beefheart-live-1975-and-interviews-1969-1978/

He gave me a place I could call my own.

I am saddened by the loss of the man who more than anyone else in the world convinced me it was perfectly okay to be myself. I offer love, hugs and warmth to his Janet and everyone he leaves behind, though in all of it he is still here, anytime that thought comes in your head and you go, "I love those words, man, I love those words."

I have never been so convinced of humanity by any other person. Thank you, Captain.

Love and respect--
Scott Nichols-Collier

Don Van Vliet made the world a more beautiful place.

Lately, Beefheart had been playing a lot on random iPod. It now seems that maybe the Captain was saying goodbye.
Our deepest sympathy to Jan and family, from a couple married 40years and listening to Don’s music the whole time.

In 1994 i spent at least 5 joyous hours observing Don's incredible paintings at his 'Stand Up To Be Discontinued' art exhibition in Brighton, England. To finally see his art up close was such an amazing thing for me and i was also blown away by how huge some of his canvases were - massive in fact! Remember the quote from him about painting in the desert at night? He said it was like being attacked by a great cloth werewolf!! He was the funniest, smartest, most brilliant person i think i've ever been aware of and i've loved his entire body of work, his poetry, music and art, for the bulk of my life. Nobody could touch his brilliance - and they never will.

My deepest condolences to Jan, first and foremost. I'm so terribly sorry for her loss.

I first heard the vocal stylings of Captain Beefheart through Frank Zappa's HOT RATS track, "Willie the Pimp," when I was 16. I then heard Trout Mask Replica and thought it was one of the most ingenious rearrangements of the blues that I'd ever heard.

His music and performances always had a mystique about them, rife with dichotomies and wild animal drama. His arrangements had an oddly three-dimensional quality to them with their register jumps, dissonances and rhythmic layers, and no matter how many different meters were being played by different instruments at any given time, the band still swung and the arrangement shifted shape on you until it dropped back into another pile-driving groove that pulled you through the finishing stretch.

Don's music has had a profound influence on my own, right down to the vocal-fry "hiccups", pinched-trachea bark and densley-structured compositions. Even the pseudonyms "Honky Gabacho" and "The Jugband Cannibala" that I record and perform under are the funhouse-mirror reflections of what "Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band" gave to me across some thirty-year divide, via their uncompromising vision of propulsion, mischief, menace and joy.

I only wish I could've thanked the man myself while he was still here.

Mercy and love to Don's friends, family, and partners in my artistic education.