Now Playing
Captain Beefheart
- LP
- Label
- Rhino Records, Warner Records
Red Transparent Vinyl
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band are the latest act to be featured in Warner's series of Now Playing greatest hits-style comps.
Born Don Vliet, Captain Beefheart was a true innovator in modern music, boasting a four-and-a-half-octave vocal range, and fused free jazz, Delta blues, classical music and rock & roll with unique rhythms and surreal lyrics. Though he never achieved mainstream success, his influence permeated punk, new wave and post-rock and this album shows why, with tracks like 'I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby' and 'Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles' showcasing his bolder moves, alongside the more introspective 'My Head Is My Only House When It Rains' and 'Clear Spot.' Vliet, a child prodigy in art, moved to the Mojave Desert in his teens, where he met Frank Zappa. They initially collaborated on a film project, but Vliet eventually formed the Magic Band. After several lineup changes, they released the seminal Trout Mask Replica in 1969. Beefheart's career spanned various experimental phases until he retired in 1982 to focus on painting, earning acclaim for his abstract outsider art.