Don’s school career is shrouded in misinformation, mainly from the man himself. What the school he attended thought of him at the time we’ll probably never really know.
However … on Thursday 19 September 2024 Don, Class of 1958, was given recognition by his old high school when he was inducted into the Antelope Valley High School Hall of Fame along with three other former pupils and staff of the school.
According to the AVPress (who seemed a bit confused over the spelling of ‘Vliet’) :
Van Vleit, Class of 1958, was nominated in the Visual and Performing Arts category, Van Vleit, who died in 2010, is better known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Van Vleit was a singer, songwriter, musician, poet and visual artist. His music was influenced by his time in the Antelope Valley. He recorded 13 albums between 1967 and 1982 with a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band.
Van Vliet has been the subject of at least two documentaries, the BBC’s 1997 The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart narrated by John Peel, and the 2006 independent production Captain Beefheart, according to his Wikipedia page.According to Peel, “If there has ever been such a thing as a genius in the history of popular music, it’s Beefheart. … I heard echoes of his music in some of the records I listened to last week and I’ll hear more echoes in records that I listen to this week.”In 2003, the album “Trout Mask Replica” was ranked 60th by Rolling Stone in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. “Trout Mask Replica” was inducted into the United States National Recording Registry in 2011.
Van Vliet made few public appearances after his retirement from music in 1982, the Wikipedia entry said. He pursued a career in art, an interest that originated in his childhood talent for sculpture, and a venture which proved to be his most financially secure. His abstract expressionist paintings and drawings command high prices, and have been exhibited in art galleries and museums across the world.
It’s good to see they have finally acknowledged their former pupil.