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PJ Harvey paid tribute to considered one of her greatest influences, Captain Beefheart, by studying a few of his poetry at a London artwork gallery a few weeks in the past. The singer posted a video from the occasion to her Instagram.
The singer-songwriter — who befriended the pioneering art-rock bluesman, whose actual title was Don Van Vliet, late in his life — recited a poem he wrote for her in 2001 titled “Man Can’t Anticipate Cat” at Michael Werner Gallery. The gallery is displaying Van Vliet’s work in an exhibition titled “Standing on One Hand” by means of Feb. 17. The displaying’s eponymous portray, which Van Vliet painted in oil in 1994, is seen to Harvey’s proper within the video.
At the studying, Harvey defined that Van Vliet wrote the verses after pictures Harvey had despatched him of her and her cat. “Don loved cats,” she advised these gathered. “You may know of Garland. He wrote a music about his personal cat referred to as ‘Hey Garland, I Dig Your Tweed Coat,’ which was on Ice Cream for Crow.
“My cat was named Garden, probably sort of in homage to Garland,” she continued. “And he moved in with me when I was living in Bristol … and never left. He just climbed through the window one day. Anyway, Don loved talking about Garden, and he loved looking at pictures of him.” She then learn the poem.
In a press release, Harvey expressed gratitude for being part of the particular occasion. “Thank you to the Michael Werner Gallery for inviting me to read Don’s poems,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to be able to give life to his words whilst standing amongst his paintings. Thanks also to Jan Van Vliet, who helped me prepare for the reading, and for sending me a poem Don had written for me in 2001, called ‘Man Can’t Anticipate Cat,’ which I read at the end of the night.”
Harvey has mentioned prior to now that her appreciation for Captain Beefheart got here by way of her dad and mom, a sculptor mom and quarryman father, who performed Van Vliet’s music. “I think humor is incredibly important in music,” she advised Rolling Stone in 2004. “I grew up listening to Captain Beefheart, and he’s always been my hero and my kind of something to aim for.” After turning into associates with Van Vliet, she listed him within the “very special thanks” part of her Uh Huh Her liner notes that 12 months. Van Vliet died in 2010 at age 69 after problems from a number of sclerosis.
