Captain Beefheart
La Biographie
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- $34.99
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- $34.99
Publisher Description
Ce livre raconte l’histoire extraordinaire d’une légende de la contre-culture. Même dans les années soixante, il n’existait rien de comparable à Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. Après des débuts conventionnels, le Capitaine – Don Van Vliet dans le civil – monta son groupe en 1964 et ouvrit de nouveaux horizons en matière de rock. Classique bizarre, Trout Mask Replica devint un double album de référence en matière de musique d’avant-garde. On y retrouve la fascination de Don Van Vliet pour le rock psychédélique, le free jazz, le rock’n’roll et le blues. Son style vocal unique au monde, sa poésie surréaliste et son goût pour la vie en retrait firent du Capitaine un héros hors du commun, qui finira par laisser tomber le rock pour se consacrer à la peinture. En tant qu’artiste, il va acquérir une réputation mondiale, grâce à ses toiles figuratives et expressionnistes. La biographie critique de Mike Barnes brosse un solide panorama de l’œuvre de Don Van Vliet et donne un excellent aperçu de la personnalité de ce personnage légendaire. Elle retrace aussi l’histoire d’un groupe de rock incroyablement original. Mike Barnes écrit régulièrement pour Mojo et The Wire.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Captain Beefheart was the musical persona of Don Van Vliet, the avant-garde 1960s and '70s musician (best known for the 1969 hit record Trout Mask Replica) whose inimitable psychedelic rock influenced such diverse groups as the Clash, Pulp and Sonic Youth before he abruptly ended his music career in 1982 to become a painter and notorious recluse. Barnes, a drummer and music journalist, concentrates on Van Vliet's creative life, tracing his unusual career trajectory from his childhood as a local art prodigy to his role in the '60s avant-garde California rock scene and his collaborations with Frank Zappa, Ornette Coleman and a young Ry Cooder. Barnes also includes a cursory discussion of Van Vliet's painting career. The book was written without Van Vliet's cooperation, so Barnes had to rely on previously published statements and secondary sources. He's careful not to take liberties with his subject's inner life, but while this conscientiousness is admirable, it also makes the story rather leaden. Lacking a thesis, Barnes recounts detailed episodes and long lists of events in Van Vliet's life. These give glimpses of an obsessive, paranoid, humorous artist, but never quite bring Van Vliet to life. The book reads like the work of a passionate, well-informed fan, but not necessarily that of an astute biographer. Photos.
