John "Drumbo" French has just had his book about life with the Captain published, and the 880-page memoir looks like it's gonna be my book o' the year already! If you liked the liner notes to the Grow Fins rarities box set (and this is basically more of the same) then pre-order now now now!
Drumbo was the man who transcribed the Captain's piano lines, whistles and rhythms into something tangible for the Trout Mask Replica sessions. Drumbo's love-hate relationship with the Captain is the stuff of legend, with Beefheart infamously forcing Drumbo and the rest of the Magic Band into near-clinical states of depression, anxiety and anger until they each collapsed in tears in submission to the Captain...the communal house where the band lived and breathed the Trout Mask sessions for eight months became a "Manson-like" cult according to friends of the group, with the musicians ending up in states of poor health, forced into shoplifting food (when they were caught, Uncle Frank bailed them out!). Drumbo was the only member to leave before the album's release, and remained uncredited on the initial release of the album at the wishes of a raging Beefheart. Drumbo returned in time for Lick My Decals Off, Baby, and would return on and off to the Magic Band throughout its career, notably even playing much of the guitar and marimba on Doc at the Radar Station. Word is the Captain is now wheelchair-bound and suffering from a long-term illness (his painting habits ceased in the 1990s too), so it's as good a time as any to learn more of the man's past before he departs!
John Peel said (∞) that Beefheart was the genius of pop music. Tom Waits' masterwork, Swordfishtrombones, was simply the result of discovering Beefheart's music. But John French was the man behind the genius...
I'm Gonna Booglarize You, Baby, Live on the Beat Club show in 1972 (it's actually Art Tripp on drums, and bizarrely, Roy Estrada on bass)
No comments:
Post a Comment