Music

Tom Waits responds to Captain Beefheart's death

by Ciaran Thompson

Last Friday the music world was saddened to hear that Don Van Vliet, otherwise known as Captain Beefheart, died after battling multiple sclerosis just days before his 70th birthday at a hospital in California.

While Vliet and the Magic Band has inspired numerous artists and musicians over the years, the recently elected Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Tom Waits is one in-particular who became close with him spending hours on the phone with each other during Vliet’s post-music years.

In a letter to the Los Angeles Times, Waits expressed some of his thoughts about Vliet saying, “He was like the scout on a wagon train. He was the one who goes ahead and shows the way. He was a demanding bandleader, a transcendental composer (with emphasis on the dental), up there with Ornette [Coleman], Sun Ra and Miles [Davis]. He drew in the air with a burnt stick. He described the indescribable. He’s an underground stream and a big yellow blimp.

“I will miss talking to him on the phone. We would describe what we saw out of our windows. He was a rememberer. He was the only one who thought to bring matches. He’s the alpha and the omega. The high water mark. He’s gone and he won’t be back.”