Brilliant child of sculpture, Don Van VLIET dubbed himself CAPTAIN BEEFHEART referring to a scenario written in 1964 by Frank ZAPPA, still unknown. Among celebrities who succeeded one another in HIS MAGIC BAND were guitarist Ry COODER and drummer John FRENCH in 1967 or slide-guitarist Denny WALLEY in 1975. VLIET has escaped to the Mojave Desert since 1982.