Captain Beefheart

The sixth album from Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band was originally released in 1972. The more accessible album is founded in the blues but also includes a-typical instruments such as marimba and jingle bells. The album was their first to appear on the Billboard Top 200.

On The Spotlight Kid, Captain Beefheart took over full production duties. Spotlight takes things lower and looser, with a lot of typical Beefheart fun crawling around in weird, strange ways. The overall atmosphere is definitely relaxed and fun, maybe one step up from a jam.

Don Van Vliet 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 (1965-1982), with whom he recorded 13 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 avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition.

The owner of a remarkable four-and-a-half-octave vocal range, he employed idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist lyrics, and an unholy alliance of free jazz, Delta blues, latter-day classical music, and rock & roll to create a singular body of work virtually unrivaled in its daring and fluid creativity. While he never came even remotely close to mainstream success, Beefheart's impact was incalculable, and his fingerprints were all over punk, new wave, and post-rock.