Many rock fans are aware that Don van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart gave up making music many years ago to paint full-time, but have they seen the paintings? Van Vliet is one of the world’s finest abstract expressionists. This modern master of the off-kilter’s uniquely feral output is as powerful as Jean Michel Basquiat’s work and has been shown in many countries to great acclaim. There are several monographs about his artwork, most notably the highly coveted Stand Up to be Discontinued, which can sell for over $500 these days on ABE Books (I got mine for $75 back in the day). The above image, known as Fur On The Trellis and Just Up Into The Air (1985) is on the cover. In real life this painting is over nine feet tall.

The Captain Beefheart Radar Station website, the best place for all things Beefheartian on the Internet has a very large gallery of Van Vliet’s visual work, from the 60s to today. It’s absolutely worth your time to click through it. The images are startling and memorable. One thing to keep in mind as you look at them is to consider that most of the paintings (the ones I’ve seen at least) are absolutely huge. They’re really impressive in person.

Here are a few great Captain Beefheart clips from YouTube. There’s a lot of amazing Beefheart material there, including the complete BBC documentary The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart narrated by the late BBC radio master, John Peel, in good quality, a nervous appearance on Letterman and a TV commercial made for Lick My Decals Off Baby.