captain beefheart - don van vliet - passed away yesterday at age 69. he was definitely one of the most influential american musicians of the 1960s and early 1970s. after his music career, he did painting & featured in a short documentary "some yo yo stuff" by anton corbijn in the early 90s. read more about his life, his love/hate relationship with zappa & his shoe fetishism in his obituary in the guardian & on wikipedia.