Although I am terribly addicted to them, most rock music documentaries suck. The one I'm (re-)posting here does not. Here's the late British DJ-Legend John Peel's 1997 BBC documentary on his hero Don Van Vliet, or The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart. This one (short) hour contains much info, great sounds, and rare clips pertaining to one of the most important (and still underrated) artists of the late 20th Century. As Peel comments in his intro: "I've heard echoes of his music in some of the records I listened to last week, and I'll hear more echoes in the records I listen to this week. Nevertheless, no one has ever sounded quite like him." Van Vliet died in 2010 at the age of 69, but his innovative achievements in music, painting, and really fucked up neo-Surrealistic wordplay and imagery will be lasting.
