Captain Beefheart (Don Vliet) was undoubtedly the creator of the most bizarre and wonderful music. A child prodigy sculptor, he applied his artistic approach to music, creating 'aural sculptures'. After befriending Frank Zappa in high school, they collaborated on a teenage rock opera and science fiction/fantasy film entitled Captain Beefheart vs The Grunt People. It was from this film that Don took his name. His Magic Band started out as a blues group in the mid-sixties, but soon, with lysergic propulsion, surreal poetry, free-form jazz, polyrhythms and African beats, they established themselves at the forefront of West Coast acid rock.
A series of hugely inventive albums, including the infamous Trout Mask Replica, and some legendary live performances, established them as the foremost avant-garde rock band. Few bands were as influential, with The Beatles, The Fall, PJ Harvey and Tom Waits all paying homage, and as a result, The Magic Band have inspired a myriad of tribute bands and created a mythology like no other. This book sets the history of the band in context, analysing every track and attempting to interpret both the music and Don Vliet's poetry. It is essential reading for diehard fans and the Beefheart-curious alike.
Opher Goodwin is the author of many books on rock music and science fiction and taught the first 'History of Rock Music' classes in the UK. He was fortunate to spend the sixties in London, the epicentre for the underground explosion of rock music and culture, where he was able to see everyone from Pink Floyd, Hendrix and Cream to The Doors, Captain Beefheart and Roy Harper. He was introduced to Captain Beefheart in 1967 and attended that first amazing gig at Middle Earth. He never fully recovered but now lives happily in East Yorkshire, UK.
