Captain Beefheart: The Biography - Softcover

Barnes, Mike

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780380763 ISBN 13: 9781780380766

Publisher: Omnibus Press, 2011

Synopsis

Here is the real story of the cult figure known as one of modern music’s true innovators.  Following Don Van Vliet's death, Mike Barnes reassesses his legacy through new interview material and with reference to reports and eulogies that appeared in the media.  The author also puts Van Vliet's reclusiveness over the last two decades in context, now that it has been officially revealed that he was suffering from MS (his friends and representatives had always denied that he had a long term illness).  A unique in-depth look at a unique artist.

About this title

About the Author:

Mike Barnes was a regular contributor to Select magazine and his work regularly appears in Mojo and Wire. He plays the drums.

From Publishers Weekly:

Captain Beefheart was the musical persona of Don Van Vliet, the avant-garde 1960s and '70s musician (best known for the 1969 hit record Trout Mask Replica) whose inimitable psychedelic rock influenced such diverse groups as the Clash, Pulp and Sonic Youth before he abruptly ended his music career in 1982 to become a painter and notorious recluse. Barnes, a drummer and music journalist, concentrates on Van Vliet's creative life, tracing his unusual career trajectory from his childhood as a local art prodigy to his role in the '60s avant-garde California rock scene and his collaborations with Frank Zappa, Ornette Coleman and a young Ry Cooder. Barnes also includes a cursory discussion of Van Vliet's painting career. The book was written without Van Vliet's cooperation, so Barnes had to rely on previously published statements and secondary sources. He's careful not to take liberties with his subject's inner life, but while this conscientiousness is admirable, it also makes the story rather leaden. Lacking a thesis, Barnes recounts detailed episodes and long lists of events in Van Vliet's life. These give glimpses of an obsessive, paranoid, humorous artist, but never quite bring Van Vliet to life. The book reads like the work of a passionate, well-informed fan, but not necessarily that of an astute biographer. Photos.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Omnibus Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1780380763
• ISBN 13: 9781780380766
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 424