This promotional video for their last album was the end of the road for Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. Shortly afterward the Captain turned his back on music to become the painter Don Van Vliet. That is his artwork featured on the video.
It’s impossible to define or categorize the music of Captain Beefheart, and therein lies some of its charm. Many people find it to be simply unlistenable, which helps to explain why, despite multiple albums and twenty years of trying, the Captain remained a resounding commercial failure.
Charlatan, saint, deluded megalomaniac, neglected genius, talentless huckster. Everyone who came into contact with the Captain had their own opinion about him. Ice Cream for Crow will give you a good idea why.
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Here’s a fantastic clip of Captain Beefheart on David Letterman.
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