History Music / CaptainBeefheart

Captain Beefheart was the stage name of American {{Blues}} singer, [[AvantGardeMusic avant-garde musician]] and painter Don Van Vliet (January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010); a friend, collaborator, and sometime-rival, of contemporary Music/FrankZappa, who he'd known since high school. As the leader of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, a band with [[RevolvingDoorBand constantly shifting membership]], he released a dozen albums to highly varied critical review; with ''Music/TroutMaskReplica'' often considered his magnum opus. His [[GenreMashup highly mutable style]] incorporated elements of {{Blues}}, PsychedelicRock, {{Jazz}}, RockAndRoll, and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental compositions]] and is sometimes seen as OutsiderMusic.

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The original, abandoned concept of ''Strictly Personal'' was one disc of blues jams credited to "25th Century Quaker" and one disc of psychedelic rock credited to "Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band". This ultimately proved too ambitious and a selection of tracks from both discs were rerecorded as the single album. The blues album can still somewhat be heard though, in the form of ''Mirror Man'' which was released by Creator/BuddahRecords after Beefheart left the label (although, the original tracklisting would have been quite different).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In his case, more like Early Installment Normalcy. His debut single "Diddy Wah Diddy" is fairly straightforward blues-rock and even managed to get a lot of Top 40 airplay on the West Coast. [[note]] and, amazingly, was very nearly used by UK electrical rental company DER as an advertising jingle - reportedly the Captain was VERY interested in the deal, and was disappointed when it fell through. [[/note]] ''Music/SafeAsMilk'' is also still fairly conventional psychedelic blues-rock. ''Music/MirrorMan'' and ''Music/StrictlyPersonal'' are a bit weirder, but still not that unusual by '60s standards. With ''Music/TroutMaskReplica'', though, the rules went out the window, and he only recorded a few albums after that point that qualify as remotely normal (and he later disowned two of them).

Captain Beefheart was the stage name of American [[AvantGardeMusic avant-garde musician]] and painter Don Van Vliet (January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010); a friend, collaborator, and sometime-rival, of contemporary Music/FrankZappa, who he'd known since high school. As the leader of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, a band with [[RevolvingDoorBand constantly shifting membership]], he released a dozen albums to highly varied critical review; with ''Music/TroutMaskReplica'' often considered his magnum opus. His [[GenreMashup highly mutable style]] incorporated elements of {{Blues}}, PsychedelicRock, {{Jazz}}, RockAndRoll, and [[AvantGardeMusic experimental compositions]] and is sometimes seen as OutsiderMusic.

[[caption-width-right:333:The Captain, wearing his [[SharpDressedMan signature 60s dress]].]]

* VocalEvolution: His voice on the last two albums are strained to the point that he's basically screaming instead of singing.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Though there were a few similarities, ''Strictly Personal'' was quite a bleak record in comparison to ''Safe As Milk''. More evidently, the original ''Bat Chain Puller'' was a deliberate attempt at this in reaction to the preceding three commercial LPs, though its replacement ''Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)'' is one of his most happy sounding albums. The following LP, ''Doc At The Radar Station'' was notably dark and angry, and the final ''Ice Cream For Crow'' only slightly lighter in tone.

* {{Defictionalization}}: Don originally wanted Clear Spot to be pressed on clear vinyl, but this was an expensive process in 1972 and the budget wouldn't allow it. By the album's 50th Anniversary Reissue in 2022, however, it was a much more common process - so this edition of the album was finally on the clear vinyl Don intended. It didn't, however, replicate his original plan of being a clear record in embossed PVC sleeve (the latter which was used on early pressings), so fans would have to recreate this themselves.

* LongTitle: Van Vliet was fond of these, and has at least one or two on nearly every album, particularly starting with ''Trout Mask Replica''. Some of the most notable are "The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back", "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish", "I Wanna Find a Woman That'll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have to Go", "The Smithsonian Institute Blues (or the Big Dig)", "The Clouds Are Full of Wine (Not Whiskey or Rye)", "There Ain't No Santa Claus on the Evenin' Stage", "Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man", "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains", "Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles", "When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy", "A Carrot Is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond", "Making Love to a Vampire with a Monkey on My Knee", and "The Thousandth and Tenth Day of the Human Totem Pole".

* WordSaladLyrics: With the exception of two "commercial" albums (which he later [[CreatorBacklash disowned]]), his music practically ''runs'' on this trope.
** WordSaladTitle: A lot of these, too, including at least half the examples under LongTitle. Hell, a lot of his ''album titles'' are also examples.
** WordSaladHorror: He manages to create several examples of this, too. See his NightmareFuel page for proof.

** "Low Yo Yo Stuff" has lyrics that seem to refer to ADateWithRosiePalms.

* Defictionalization: Don originally wanted Clear Spot to be pressed on clear vinyl, but this was an expensive process in 1972 and the budget wouldn't allow it. By the album's 50th Anniversary Reissue in 2022, however, it was a much more common process - so this edition of the album was finally on the clear vinyl Don intended. It didn't, however, replicate his original plan of being a clear record in embossed PVC sleeve (the latter which was used on early pressings), so fans would have to recreate this themselves.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Whilst much of "Orange Claw Hammer" is metaphorical nonsense, a 'cherry phosphate' is indeed a real drink (named for its use of phosphoric acid) which was popular from the late 1800s until UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The use of the even-then antiquated phrase in the song symbolises how long the seaman has been away.