Goodbye, Captain: Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, dies at 69

This is really sad news Phatties. Avant-garde rock giant Captain Beefheart, best known for his landmark 'Safe as Milk' and 'Trout Mask Replica' albums of the late 1960's passed away this afternoon from complications of multiple sclerosis at 69. While his music was always viewed as challenging and never sold particularly well, his avant-garde music, based in blues rock conventions, has influenced generations of musicians, and his records are consistently rated as among the greatest ever made by adoring rock critics. Legendary DJ John Peel called Beefheart perhaps the only true rock genius, and John Lennon called 'Safe as Milk' his favorite album of 1967, displaying two bumper stickers with the album art at his Weybridge home. Influencing everyone from R.E.M to Devo to Tom Waits, Beefheart was truly one of a kind. Captain, you will be missed.
A story about Beefheart was related to me by Terry Shaddick, singer/guitarist of great British band Tranquility and co-writer of Olivia Newton John's smash 'Physical', who toured alongside Beefheart's Magic Band. Apparently, Beefheart would record in a seperate building from his band, without headphones to hear what they were playing, accounting for some of the odd time signatures and off-kilter sounds of his classic out records.