Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver 1981

Live archive release from the eccentric musical visionary. Noted for his powerful singing voice with it's wide range, Don Van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments. His music blended rock, blues and psychedelia with avant-garde and contemporary experimental composition. Beefheart was also known for exercising an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians, and for often constructing myths about his life. This extraordinary record catches the Captain at his best; live on stage in 1981. Someone who was in the audience that night later wrote: 'The Captain Beefheart show was beyond my expectations, it washed over US with a magic gumbo of free-jazz, swampy blues, avante garde squawking and punky insolence. We loved it. We didn't know what it was, but we loved it. Captain Beefheart was at least twice as old as most of US in the room, but that wasn't an issue, not in the least. It rocked our world.'