Frank Zappa

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 43. Chapters: Captain Beefheart, List of performers on Frank Zappa records, Dweezil Zappa, The Mothers of Invention, Cal Schenkel, Zappa Plays Zappa, Frank Zappa in popular culture, Ahmet Zappa, Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra, Diva Zappa, Moon Zappa, Ike Willis, Rykodisc, Xenochrony, Scheila Gonzalez, Herb Cohen, Bizarre Records, Gail Zappa, Straight Records, DiscReet Records, Pal Recording Studio, Val Valentin, The Real Frank Zappa Book, Jamie Kime, The Torture Never Stops, Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, The Frank Zappa Guitar Book, Pachygnatha zappa, Barking Pumpkin Records, You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore. Excerpt: Don Van Vliet ( ; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 - December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12 studio albums. Noted for his powerful singing voice with its wide range, Van Vliet also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments. His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with free jazz, avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition. Beefheart was also known for exercising an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians, and for often constructing myths about his life. During his teen years in Lancaster, California, Van Vliet developed an eclectic musical taste and formed "a mutually useful but volatile" friendship with Frank Zappa, with whom he sporadically competed and collaborated. He began performing with his Captain Beefheart persona in 1964 and joined the original Magic Band line-up, initiated by Alexis Snouffer, in 1965. The group drew attention with their cover of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy", which became a regional hit. It was followed by their acclaimed debut album Safe as Milk, released in 1967 on Buddah Records. After being dropped by two consecutive record labels, they signed to Zappa's Straight Records. As producer, Zappa granted Beefheart the unrestrained artistic freedom in making 1969's Trout Mask Replica, ranked fifty-eighth in Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1974, frustrated by lack of commercial success, he released two albums of more conventional rock music that were critically panned; this move, combined with not having been paid for a European tour, and years of enduring Beefheart's abusive behavior, led the entire band to quit. Beefheart eventually formed a new Magic Band with a group of younger musicians and regained cont