Ever wish every day was Weirdo Wednesday? Although that’s technically not the case today and tomorrow, fellow weirdos can rejoice, given we’ll be spotlighting the late great Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) this week. Indeed, when it comes to the good Captain, practically all of his output could be characterized as “weird” given his reputation as perhaps the perennial avant-garde musician of his generation (with apologies to fellow kindred spirit Frank Zappa). His often disorienting, arrhythmic clash of absurdist blues and free jazz frequently yielded some truly baffling, challenging, yet remarkably brilliant material. Coupled with his trademarked gruff voice and his distinctively quirky/animated delivery, things could also get downright manic at times as well, like in this batshit performance of “Woe Is Uh Me Bop” live from Detroit in 1971:
