Captain Beefheart (Don Glen Vliet, 1941–2010) is the guy I file under “blues mutated in a lab.” He steered the Magic Band from 1964 to 1982, barking impossible rhythms until they somehow walked. In 1969 he dropped "Trout Mask Replica"—a record that still sounds like the tape machine is arguing back. Through the 70s he kept twisting the knife: "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" (1970), "Clear Spot" (1972), and the comeback with "Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)" (1978) and "Doc at the Radar Station" (1980). He crossed streams with Frank Zappa on the 1975 "Bongo Fury" tour/album. After "Ice Cream for Crow" (1982) he quit music cold and went full-time painter, leaving the rest of us to decode the wreckage.