Thursday 27 February 2014

The Greatest Musician of All Time Came to Dallas, And I Missed It.

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Photo by Martin Pulaski, via Flickr


Ever miss an un-missable concert? It's one of those pangs that ever-lingers, fixed like a stamp on the back of your skull. It's a bad taste in your mouth that never leaves, a constant reminder of how your life could have been better had you seen (insert band name here) play live.

Many Dallasites never got over missing Nirvana's set at Trees. More recently, countless hearts were broken when a fear of icy streets prevented them from seeing Kanye's date at the AAC. For me, I missed what I consider to be the greatest musician of all time (well, at least in rock & roll); It was 1974, almost exactly forty years ago, when Don Van Vliet -- better known as Captain Beefheart -- first played Dallas. It was at the Electric Ballroom and I was eleven years shy of existence. Still, It's something I dream of often: seeing the Captain and his Magic Band of misfits live. Soft, half-asleep scenes of a live Beefheart sculpting his Frankenstein shape of rock out free jazz, blues and red-hot emotional overflow taunt me like stubborn bouts of deja vu.

So, who is Captain Beefheart? In short: a child prodigy turned savant musical (and visual) genius.



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Don Van Vliet (born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, artist and poet known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work..


Don Van Vliet (born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, artist and poet known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work..

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