Captain Beefheart has died!

Don Van Vliet was 69. In his post-Trout Mask Replica days, he was a successful painter.



"A primitive genius."

Here he is on Letterman:



"If you want to be a different fish, you've got to jump out of the school."

AND: You should know "Trout Mask Replica."

AND:

Late in the 1970s, as Van Vliet rehearsed with yet another lineup, Devo's Mothersbaugh met his hero. He found him intimidating, yet childlike.

"Everyone in the band complained about what a pain in the ass he was, how ridiculous he could be at times," Mothersbaugh says. "But they all took care of him, and they all loved him, and they all respected him. And, uh, they were almost all acting like babysitters that they all loved but that frustrated the heck out of them."