Interview with John French (Drumbo) on the making of Trout Mask Replica
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ต.ค. 2024
- Composer Samuel Andreyev sits down with legendary drummer, singer, actor, author, dancer, composer, arranger and Magic Band member, John French ('Drumbo'), whose working relationship with Don Van Vliet, alias Captain Beefheart, stretched over 14 years. Among other things, they discuss the making of 1969's Trout Mask Replica in detail.
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Holy Shit! John 'Drumbo' French is struggling to make a living? There should be statues of him in every city in the world.
I'd chip in for some of them! ;) Anyone want to start a kickstarter ?
Send him some money.
Around 50:30 onwards is a good example. He took a high hat idea from Alex St. Clair Snouffer and did unique and colourful things with it, from the Strictly Personal period onwards he developed his own unique style with ways of using the high hat and drums which hadn't been thought of. I love his drumming and it is his style in many ways, his creation, probably one of the great drummers of the period and a great foil for Captain Beefheart.
1:02:30, great drum part
@@Jiv_Ing57819 There's an interview with Robert Williams where he calls it "Peek-A-Rro-Pete", funnily enough. That beat pops up on so many of CBATMB's albums, Don must have loved it, understandably. It's so catchy.
Of course the day after I comment asking you to make more TMR videos you interview the fucking drummer my god this channel is awesome
this channel deserves a huge fanbase.
John French deserves a huge fanbase
The discussion of drum technique half-way through here helped me understand why John French is by far the most interesting percussionist I've ever heard. He was talking about how a common drawback of those late-sixties living situations was that he often couldn't set up his drums and practice freely because of the close quarters or neighbors - also visits from police orificers. By necessity then, his work became more conceptual, and he taught himself how to write out drum parts, and then to compose.
"You think you got a hard job man, I gotta sing to that shit!"
Even drumbo's voice is similar to the captain. Extraordinary really.
Yeah it really does
Yeah, that is interesting. In watching these interviews I've noticed that all of Vliet's former bandmates can do near-perfect imitations of him. I don't know if that speaks to the time spent in cult-like isolation with him as their only master, or a more general confluence of talents (IOW, the same traits which produce the best musicians could make them statistically likely to be skilled at auditory mimicry). Either way, in the case of this band, there is definitely a link.
@@DrMackSplackem ~ What's funny is on the video where Steve Vai talks about auditioning for Frank Zappa, he does a dead-on imitation of Frank as well.
@@5jerry1 That's right! You really had to get into his head to get what he wanted from you as a player. I think Beefheart was a bit harder to read in that sense.
"I hear Linda Ronstadt is looking for a guitar player!" LMAO
Well I never saw this coming. 1hour 45mins isn't long enough!
Thank you so much for this interview. And thank you John French for all the great music. A lot of people love you and care about the music you made. I wish you got more credit for your contributions over the years. Good luck John, hope everything is well.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
Thanks so much. These are historically important interviews.
What a great interview John French is a great drummer and a good man
I agree! He is my uncle, my dad’s brother! ❤
This is as long as a feature film, but it holds the interest until the end. It's more than refreshing to hear about this music in musicians terms and John is endlessly entertaining.
I saw him at the Irish Centre in Leeds, England the first time they toured. The band used a different drummer for the first part of the set so John could sing. We were impressed that the drummer could play the parts, but when John went on drums it was - BANG! - a whole extra dimension to the playing. He was incredible.
It's disappointing they couldn't get a tour in the US and surprised me that they had to come to the UK and Europe to to tour. We love you John!
And many. many thanks to Sam for raising the profile of this very important music and the musicians involved.
Chris Allan Thank you for your kind and thoughtful message. I'm not sure I've done much to raise the profile of the music, but if I've helped at all then I'm thrilled.
An astounding interview, helped when the interviewee obviously respects the integrity and knowledge of the interviewer, thank you so much Samuel
You're welcome, thanks for the kind words.
Totally agree, what a gentleman.
Wow, John French is a wonderful human. Love your music sir!
Fifty years ago I watched Drumbo along with the MB playing on a stage blowing us away. Now I sit and watch a vid of the man talking about the nitty gritty of their music. Amazing.
looking forward to the drumbo channel
The way Trout Mask was
done reminds me of
traditional Indian classical
training where the student
(a little kid) lives with the
guru and they sit together
all day everyday for years..
Nakky Dave does the guru psychologically and physically abuse the students, while also teaching them nothing and expecting them to figure it all out themselves?
Salt Rock there’s definitely the possibility of abuse. It’s a little like what you say.. the guru keeps playing or singing and the kid has to mimic.. the student may not even play the same instrument
@@saltrocklamp199 lol, not gonna lie, was my immediate reaction. Don't get me wrong, I love Beefheart. But his physical and psychological abused bordered on gross dysfunction and scapegoating at best, and blatant sadism at worst.
Samuel, you’re awesome. Thanks for having such wonderful interviews and introspective remarks on such music. Especially, that of Stravinsky
Absolutely wonderful! Thank you Samuel, and of course John.
Saw Beefheart at the Roxy around '75. The tightest band I've ever seen!
Aww man I wish there was a john french podcast every other week
Keep them coming! I haven't enjoyed anything so much in a long time!
Thank you so much. I hope to post a new video next week.
@@samuel_andreyev... This stuff is wonderful, a service to mankind... How refreshing to find an interviewer who isn't an egostistical arsehole.. And you listen! Unreal. I had no idea that this extraordinary stuff (TMR and the rest) had managed to survive for future generations to marvel at as we did.. It seems a repeating story - shit human inspired artist...and that voice.. Clearly John played a critical part in bringing much of the stuff to fruition..and he's not just banging his own drum, so to speak. It's honest and refreshing... Do keep up the great work, Samuel. Thank you thank you thank you...
I loved his book but it's so great to hear him talking to us. Amazing musician, amazing guy.
Great Interview. It is so good having someone who has really studied the music interviewing John French. The story is unique. When I was first into Beefheart music I had no clue as to what they went through with Don to make it.
It took me two days at work to listen to the entire interview and it was fascinating. John even sounds like Beefheart, which makes the little impersonations so cool. Amazing to get so much insight to the process. Thanks Sam for making this interview available. Loved it.
seems all of 'em have their little beefheart impressions, including ry cooder. its kind of sweet, really. deep down, they all loved Don despite the abuses. that being said, I'm sure they are happy not to have to deal with his antics anymore....
Oh, man, thank you so much Sam for setting this up --- and huge thanks to John for agreeing to do this interview .
The real hero of this story : Don's Mum (translation : Mom) . (:
....and also John French, and the others in the band : all music geniuses who just got less of the spotlight . John has a ginormous music brain.
Jan Van Vliet, if you are reading this : You could be a hero too , by releasing those tapes and rights to John or relevant people.
It's obviously not really just "Don's music". He was a major credit-hog.
It's wrong to keep them from the people who really made them, and therefore by extension from the rest of the world.
Tapes degrade quite quickly over time, and eventually all that music will be lost.
I wonder if the tapes are in a temperature controlled environment?
They may well be completely rooted already.
"Mum"is the same as "Mom"?Really?Sorry.I couldn't help it.So immature.
He has been a true friend to me. 37 years ago he wrote and sang a song for our wedding.
I saw the Magic Band on 6 November 2017 in Edinburgh for the "Farewell Tour". It was utterly amazing. Drumbo is an incredibly versatile musician and singer who clearly has a passion for the music. Catch him if you can.
colin grier Heard them in Liverpool. Amazing show.
@@samuel_andreyev I saw them on that tour in a tiny music venue in Wingham, a sleepy village in Kent! - probably the most important and unmissable gig of my life. Poor John had a terrible cold but still blew his stacks for us, gave it his all. A million thanks Samuel for this fabulous and invaluable interview, and a billion thanks John for all you've done (and suffered) lifelong for the music. Now to embark on the other interviews! What an amazing gift to find them.
Excellent work Samuel, I spent the last 2 evenings watching your video analysis on Frownland and this magnificent interview with this living legend tonight. Your questioning is well prepared and presented, and you have the unique ability to listen and give the speaker space. Musicians seem to interview better when questioned by another musician, pure delight hearing tales from the last survivor of the Beefheart/Zappa camp. ! I could listen for hours and look forward to more of your work, thanks.
The look of absolute consternation on Samuel's face as John tries to explain how things were done. Samuel is looking for the rules, the book learning, and there isn't any. The Trout Mask band were on a different planet, only nominally connected to the realm of music theory. It's like they invented their own, sort of like the Shaggs, but with a much more palatable result. Samuel wants John's ability to be derived from a physiological ability that drew him towards this unique way of playing, but John says, "No. One day I had a vision." Samuel just looks more and more perplexed! Absolutely brilliant stuff.
LOL i was going to comment something very similar. It's almost hilarious watching him ATTEMPT to grasp this through his classical background. I just admire his determination to interview these amaaaazing musicians and analyse these pieces.
As composed as these pieces are, they were composed in a way that just can't be redone.
@@craigmurdock4740 I had a direct experience of a classical musician attempting to reconcile his knowledge of me as a person (we were friends) with what he saw as unbridled musical thuggery.
I had made an improvised piece on six string electric, using an invented style of finger picking I have now forgotten. My classically trained friend (a church organist and top end hi-fi buff) told me that you couldn't make music by "running your fingers up and down the fretboard randomly"! He was trying his best to be nice and understand WTF he was hearing.
I've had similar reactions from heavy metal fans. A Kiss fan friend tried to explain his love for their melodies, and I tried to explain my love of Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy. Believe it or not, our minds did meet briefly during a three song heavy metal EP, where it turned out he was a very good lead guitar player - a fact he was unaware of until I got him to try it!
Music is weird!
@@craigmurdock4740 Are you quite sure your notion of “a classical background” isn’t myopic? There was a fairly involved tradition of avant-garde classical music long before Captain Beefheart made his first recordings. Yes, Beefheart was radical by conventional pop standards, but not at all in terms of the main thrust of new classical music in the 1960’s.
I didn't detect any consternation. I saw puzzlement and amazement.
@@gibbogle Well, that too!
Thank you for this, Samuel! I work with text-transcription, if you need these interviews written out (I’m guessing you already have it), get in touch with me! This is one of my favourite albums ever, and it’s super interesting to hear all of these interviews after all these years. So I would be happy to help if you need it! Cheers from Sweden
Hearing members of the Magic Band talk is a real treat.
hair pie is so fucking good too. this just amplifies my appreciation for the music
So I'm up at insane-o-clock in the morning, cleaning a basement that hasn't been touched in years, and giving Lick My Decals Off Baby and Trout Mask Replica a millionth spin, and I stumbled onto this magnificent video! (I actually started with the deconstruction of "Frownland" and found it fascinating). This was an absolutely invaluable interview! And thoroughly entertaining. :) Thanks so much for taking the time to get John French's thoughts on the composition of Trout Mask Replica. There is no end to my fascination with the music of Captain Beefheart, and hearing some of these deep dives into the composition was incredibly engaging. Thanks Samuel! And PS, I would love to break apart one of Beefheart's songs at some point and attempt an a cappella reconstruction of the same. That would be such fun. :)
Jaron Davis So glad to hear you found this interview. Thanks for commenting.
Don't forget my 2-part Zoot Horn Rollo interview btw.
You're welcome! And I will definitely listen to the 2-part Zoot Horn Rollo interview next. :)
This so good ,so interesting…and heartwarming. Thankyou both of you!
Great stuff! Love Drumbo's Beefheart impersonations. I always thought the polyrhythms of Elvin Jones would have been a big influence on Drumbo back in the day and thought that my amateur analysis was going to hit gold when Drumbo started talking about 'Afro Blue'. Oh well, thanks for the great interview, Samuel.
Bob Rickets.
Very interesting. Bought Trout Mask at the time. Still super cool intriguing and great. Thanks for interviewing John French
This was an amazing interview. Great job Samuel! Thank you
This interview is a treasure. He asks all the questions I always wanted to know the answers to
Great interview.
This was really, really good. You ask really good questions, too. I'll check out your music soon.
please do another interview with John someday! I could watch you two talk for a week :)
Thank you so much for this informative, intelligent and insightful interview. I read John’s book, “Through The Eyes Of Magic” and later had several opportunities to see The Magic Band play. One evening John very generously talked to me for a long time and answered several of the questions I also had about the music which you raised as well as many prompted by the book. What an extraordinary man to have come out of such a harrowing experience and still remain able to promote the music.
Really great and important interview. So informative. I still have my original 1969 Trout Mask Replica. The high school art department at my school would borrow it to play sometimes.
Saw Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band live in Des Moines Iowa...1971, I believe. Awesome !!
Why does it seem that everyone who saw the Magic Band live, saw them in 1971?
If it wasn't for this interview, I never would have known of "The Magic Band Plays the Music of Captain Beefheart - Live in London 2013" album which John is mentioning in the interview!
The band is in great form and on fire, and the balance/mix is impeccable, but John gives a more than inspired performance of the Captains' persona and voice! Extraordinary album!
DRUMBO Great creative drummer, people in Houston Love you , lots of free jazz people there you would fit right in .
I've always been a perplexed fan of TMR, but this year have really dug into the album, read John's book, watched all of the other magic band interviews you've done and basically become obsessed with the full Beefheart discography (to my wife's chagrin). Any chance you'd continue the series with guys like Moris Tepper, Gary Lucas, Cliff Martinez or Robert Williams?
I’d be happy to interview any of them!
-> to my wife's chagrin... 😆😆😆
Fantastic interview and great questions, enjoyed every minuet of it!
My favorite interviews are the ones with tons of minuets.
I keep coming back to this! Thanks
I came on here, even though i read Drumbo's book years ago, because a FB site posted Trout Mask Replica,and the guy stated it was improvised, almost spontaneous.I along with a few others corrected him,told him it was well rehearsed and some.It's crazy that some people still think it was made up on the spot.
I didn't watch this in one sitting, but I had to watch it all. Fascinating.
Another great interview. It is so refreshing to have an interviewer asking serious questions, knowing how to get the confidence and trust of the interviewee and getting the most interesting information out of them, by showing them that he knows his stuff.
This actually was a great therapy for me. Listening to this reminded me of my own crazy life, and the teachers that taught me
This is a great interview, it really gives insight to such an important album. Thanks for the interview Samuel!
Thank you thank you for this. Two hours of my workday tomorrow will be immeasurably more enjoyable than they otherwise would have been.
This is an immortal gift to the modern world.
Fantastic interview.
Thank you so much! What a fascinating interview and record
Saw them in London 3 times in 1980...Doc at the Radar station had come out... Bloody marvelous!
Great interview man, really enjoyed hearing all about how things where done and all those little details about that time.
Excellent interview ! Now do one concerning "Decals".
Cross my palm with silver and we'll see what happens ;) www.patreon.com/samuelandreyev
Samuel, I am appreciating these interviews so much. As a long time music appreciater and budding player of music, the explanations of how these pieces were put together and insight as to what is going on in them is fascinating to me and very helpful in my music education.
Really glad to hear that.
Fascinated by your interviews, Samuel, thank you so much for doing them. I first came to Trout Mask Replica at the age of 13 from the local record library.
Amazing. I am absolutely amazed! Brilliant - thank you both, guys!
Fantastic interview. Thanks so much to both of you. Just wonderful.
So interesting to see this. I don't believe everything I see and hear, one must stay objective, but I get a fairly strong sense that Johns words are absolutely genuine and that DVV was a complex man with many faults.
Hey Samuel, just at the end, you mentioned you live in straßbourg. i live just over the river in germany. `ve been a beefheart listener for now 40 years, thank you very much for the very very good coversation, frank
This interview got me thinking about the amazing potential of musical notation. I mean, whereas in the 'classical avantgarde' milieu it is common to see people trying to overcome 'paper music', in the case of The Magic Band a basic notion of musical notation was enough to spark a both extremely interesting and unusual creative process. Not to depreciate free improvisation and so on, but The Magic Band makes the case for written music quite strongly. It shows how writing music can take us away from our playing habits and from our more immediate musical background, only to later help us develop a more personal way of playing and a freer approach to our own background.
Paulo Sampaio For me it's less about music notation per se than the incredible devotion and commitment of the performers, something that rarely happens to this degree, in any genre.
Your comment is very astute. Whether its notated or memorized there is the possibility for taking things further outside by isolating the most unusual sections of improvisations and then repeating them. The Bomb Squad did this on early Public Enemy tracks and Tropical Fuck Storm has done this to construct some of their drum parts.
Really enjoyed this series of interviews. Thank you so much for doing them.
I saw CB and the Magic Band at the time of Clear Spot, summer '73 I think, and when they encored (Alex St Claire didn't return for the encore - I like to believe it was because he'd given his carnation to a member of the audience and wouldn't perform without it) they did a note-perfect instrumental version of Steal Softy Thru Sunshine. An incredible gig.
John you were Unbelievable. THANKS
.
Just superb Samuel, Thank you so much, from an old school fanatic❤
The early part of the interview is interesting because you keep trying to understand why John French would stay with Beefheart, and the answers finally appear. I gave “the best years of my life” to an extremely dysfunctional artist/musician (who was not the least bit abusive) and this interview has helped me put the reason into words. When you live with a visionary, any moment can elevate you out of this world and ground you at the same time. You feel like a Giant Sequoia: like you’ve been alive for three thousand years, and you’re growing every day.
Many thanks for this illuminating interview about an inspirational album.
Thank you both!
Great interview. Legendary drummer/arranger/composer!
God I feel so insignificant
man, your earnesty in understanding what happened with that album and that band is incredible. You can just tell. I wish anyone in a position to interview had that understading to ask the questions that matter and have a sensitivity to what is being said by the interviewee.
the way you ask questions has such a sensitivity that I have not seen anywhere else
I can completely understand this. I worked with a guy for 20 years who was just horrible. He would rip us off and make our lives hell, but he had so much talent. He was such a genius and everyone knew it. He had the very best musicians in the area working with him because he was so amazing. I was really honored just to get to work with guys of that level of musicianship. They all hated him too, some of them more than I did, but they did it because he was just that good. People can't understand it, but you can make excuses to yourself and put up with a lot to be able to have that experience. You just get it in your mind and say, well, this is the price I have to pay and it's worth it.
if an octopus could play drums it would sound like this guy. and that's a positive comment.
Fast and bulbous
Fantastic interview, thank you Samuel and John. Worth it alone for the toilet plunger anecdote!
such a great interview thanks for posting this trout mask replica is one of my favorite albums john french is a music genius
This is great. Thanks so much for posting. I especially enjoyed the stories about the later bands (Cliff Martinez etc.).
Amazing work Samuel, thanks so much for making this!
Such a nice guy, pleasure to listen to!
this is gold!
Simply the greatest concert I ever attended. Austin, 1972 (or so). Magic Band the Underwood’s were on stage as part of the band.
Mama mla, whished I was there!
Thanks for the wonderful video. I fell in love with Captain Beefheart with Strictly Personal so I ran out and bought Trout Mask Replica as soon as it came out. It was not was I was expecting to say the least, I was truly awed with everything about it. I was lucky enough to see the Captain and who could forget that Magic Band in Houston in 1971 perform Lick my Decals Off Baby. I didn't know the story behind the band at that time but it was pretty obvious there weren't going to be too many cover band attempts;-)
You really do have a good interview style and Drumbo 1 is a good subject. I also enjoyed your analysis of Frownland and plan to look at some of your other videos. I agree with you about the documentation and the mixing of Troutmask. Safe as Milk suffered from bad production too. It would be wonderful for Drumbo to be able to remix Troutmask. Strictly Personal I guess was bad production but not as bad as Safe as Milk.
Anywho thanks for doing this and plan to catch up on your current work and look forward to future work.
This is one of my favorite interviews ever
Mine too :)
Excellent interview, thanks for uploading.
That's right,
the Mascara Snake,
fast and bulbous!
Bulbous also tapered.
This was a fantastic interview. Thanks.
Fascinating. I'm sure like a lot of Beefheart fans, I've always been curious as to how that album came together. Cleared up a lot of things for me.
Amazing how dedicated the band was and worked so hard...then "it didn't sell shit" (Beefheart)
Fantastic interview! Thanks so much
I recently watched “Under Review”. And I was getting weary of all the critics and historians who seem to know everything about a band that they were not in. Thanks to john as well as many other members we all can get a clearer and much more intimate picture of those years. John’s book is a must and for a different perspective Zoot Horn Rollo’s book is a good read. Thanks John for all you do!
Great interview, great interviewer, great interviewee.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. John is a legend. Great job.
Wow-- great interview, great guys, great music, great ideas.
Up until today I still don't know if I'd trade the money I've made for the impact John French has made. He sure sacrificed A LOT.
I hope the Magic Band returns to Australia - I saw them first time in 1971 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and several times afterward. The show here in Sydney with Grandmothers of Invention a few years back was tremendous. Here's hoping.
Can you ask John French about details for that show in austin he mentioned? I live in texas and would love to see him perform.
Roland Ramos Yes -- I'll ask him.
Samuel Andreyev thanks!
Really! We in Austin would love a DRUMBO show!
What a great interview, with a delightful man! John’s book is next on my reading list, along with more listening.