I apologise to those who may not wish to encounter something which reads like the fawning sleeve notes from some long-forgotten mid-sixties album, but I felt I should try to say something about my thoughts on the work of Captain Beefheart, and why I was inspired to create this web-site to try to ensure that none of his albums ever become 'long-forgotten'.

It is fairly rare for a performer or artist to have such a 'completeness' to their work. Many go through phases of experimentation, searching for either a new identity, or the one which they started out with that has long since been lost. Many reject whole periods of their previous work because they feel it is no longer releavant to where they are today. Changes are frequently evident as the artist encounters new influences which touch their lives and cause a change of direction. Such is the development of the artist.

Little of this applies to Don Van Vliet, an artist whose work resembles the pieces of a jigsaw which make up a fuller picture of his life and personality. A brief 'commercial' phase only highlights the obvious vision behind all his work. Throughout his career he had engaged with and excelled at music, poetry, sculpture, drawing and painting; all of which complement each other beautifully, concerning themselves with similar themes, and getting their message across in similar ways, whatever the medium. His switch in the early 1980s from music to painting as his main interest has not interrupted the consolidation of his ideas.

Read the words to Frownland, look at the painting of Cat's Got His Tale, and listen to You Know You're A Man. Here we have three very different ways of communicating a similar feeling, which leave me with an impression of a person genuinely and eloquently expressing their own hopes, dreams and view of the world, all with an underlying joy which bubbles up through the sadness. We have the same imagery appearing time and time again, but always in a refreshing way, or one which helps us to understand his story that little bit better. He paints, writes and performs with a passion and charm, and a uniqueness which ensures that it never wears thin. We should also consider the fact that he is downright hilarious. Humour has played an important part in Van Vliet's work - his pockets are stuffed with all the best words.

Although never achieving anything resembling mainstrem or commercial success, he has nevertheless touched a vast number of people's lives. In the words of John Peel, it would be hard to consider yourself a music fan until you had heard everything that the Captain had recorded. Probably a flippant comment, but hey - you know what he's getting at.

In 1994 I was lucky enough to have one of Don Van Vliet's very rare art exhibitions come to my hometown, Brighton, England, for two and a half months. Fortunately David Breuer at the local museum is a Beefheart nut (all due respect!) and managed to get the whole thing going. He even gave a lecture one evening about why the Captain was so special, surrounded by his glorious paintings. The exhibition was mindblowing - one big room full of the most wonderful colours that just brightened up my eyes as soon as I saw them. Some of the material featured in this web-site was taken from the book of the exhibition which I managed to obtain (following the hurried sale of a vast chunk of my record collection to raise the cash for it... ahh it was worth it).

I hope you find this site interesting. If you have any photographs, articles, whatever that you would like included, please get in touch. I am also after anything written by you about why you are interested in Don Van Vliet for inclusion in this section. Send anything you have to me, marked 'Low Yo Yo Stuff'.

All the best.