Despite being published in 1999, it is only fairly recently that I became aware of the existence of this book which documents the career of the late great Don Van Vliet, otherwise known as Captain Beefheart. Obviously the book therefore covers much of the same ground as works by John 'Drumbo' French and Mike Barnes.
Where this book differs is that it not only deals with the musical legacy of Captain Beefheart, but also goes on to discuss the later artistic work of Van Vliet. Despite the fact that this is what sets the book apart from its contemporaries, in my view it also diminishes the book somewhat. Although the author attempts to give some detailed information about the drawings and paintings, this is no substitute for actually being able to see the works and sadly they are not included here. Perhaps this was due to copyright constraints or to keep publication costs down. Whatever the reason, it resulted in me finding the latter third of the book less interesting.
That aside, I found the book to be well written and the early sections about the life and work of Captain Beefheart were well researched and well presented. Now I'm about to move on to 'Lunar Notes' by Bill Harkleroad (Zoot Horn Rollo). I will report on that in due course.
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