Captain Beefheart dies at the age of 69

Ice Cream For Crow (1982) , Don's last studio album.
***

The american musician and painter Don Van Vliet, also known as Captain Beefheart, passed away on December 17.
Rolling Stone reports that Van Vliet died from complications from multiple sclerosis. As a teenager Van Vliet met Frank Zappa, and they used to play music and hang out together. Van Vliet recorded a dozen studio albums between 1967 and 1982, the most well known is probably Trout Mask Replica (1969) which was produced by Zappa. Van Vliet's music was truly unique and included strong elements of blues and freeform jazz. In the early 80's he gave up music in disappointment over the business, and now he could concentrate on his painting carreer which turned out to be quite successful.