John French (musician)
| John French | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Stephen French |
| Born |
29 September 1948 San Bernardino, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, alternative, fusion, experimental |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, musical director |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels | Proper |
| Associated acts | Captain Beefheart, Magic Band, Frank Zappa, French Frith Kaiser Thompson |
| Website | www |
John Stephen French (born 29 September 1948) is an American drummer. He played on Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica album and several other Beefheart recordings. Beefheart gave him the nickname "Drumbo".
French grew up in Lancaster, California; the same area of Southern California as Frank Zappa, Don Van Vliet and other members of The Magic Band and The Mothers of Invention. He was interested in the local music scene as a teenager, hanging out with Doug Moon and watching The Omens on stage.
Around 1964, he played and recorded with Merrell and The Exiles, a band led by Merrell Fankhauser and featuring Jeff Cotton on guitar. French and Cotton joined Mark Boston in another band in 1966, never recorded, called Blues in a Bottle. Bill Harkleroad aka Zoot Horn Rollo joined later; thus the nucleus of the Trout Mask Replica band was formed.
French was invited to join Beefheart and the Magic Band in late 1966, as a replacement for Paul Blakely. Having played on Safe as Milk (1967), his distinctive drumming style moulded the driving heavy psychedelic blues of Strictly Personal (1968) and Mirror Man (1968, but not released till 1971). During the Trout Mask Replica sessions, French transcribed the musical ideas Beefheart played for him on piano for the rest of the band. However, shortly after the completion of Trout Mask Replica, French was booted out of the group rather violently by Beefheart (he was thrown down some stairs), and was replaced by the inexperienced Jeff Bruschell. French was also contentiously omitted from the credits of Trout Mask Replica and was largely absent from the band photos taken for the artwork. Nevertheless, he was soon invited back and played on the critically acclaimed albums Lick My Decals Off, Baby and The Spotlight Kid, sharing percussion duties with Art Tripp aka Ed Marimba. Then in late 1972, just before an American tour, he left again.
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