Episode 2: John French ('Drumbo') on the making of Trout Mask Replica

On April 28, 2017, I took a break from lecturing at UC Berkeley, California, and sat down for an extended discussion with drummer, arranger, composer and singer, John 'Drumbo' French. I wanted to understand the strange, unique and complex working process that led to the creation of the legendary 1969 album, Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band. A great deal of misinformation, exaggerations and superficial comments have obscured the truth for far too long. No one on the planet knows more about this music and was more intimately involved in its creation than John French, and what he had to say is of great historic interest. Thank you to John for agreeing to this discussion.

View the video of our discussion

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Edition Impronta, publisher of Samuel Andreyev’s scores

EPISODE CREDITS
Spoken introduction: Maya Rasmussen
Podcast artwork photograph © 2019 Philippe Stirnweiss
Introduction music: Samuel Andreyev's Piano Piece N° 2, performed by Trami Nguyen

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