John French

American drummer, singer, songwriter & arranger.

Born in the San Bernadino area of Southern California, French's family moved west to where he grew up, in the desert town of Lancaster - hometown of two young artists who would have a profound effect upon his subsequent career as a drummer. [a=Frank Zappa] and [url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Don+Van+Vliet]Don Vliet[/url].

French played with & circuit band Blues In A Bottle before eventually teaming up with Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band in 1966 to record [m=77399]. He went on to cut seven further albums with Vliet and the Magic Band, finally departing in 1980 with his familiar nickname 'Drumbo' - a tag from Vliet, made during his work on the iconic [m=463963] (1969), on which he was not credited.

With friend [a=Henry Kaiser] he was in the bands [a=Crazy Backwards Alphabet] and [a=French Frith Kaiser Thompson]. French also helped in the realization of Captain Beefheart's [r=819304] and reformed [a=The Magic Band] in 2003, also taking on Vliet's role as vocalist, and playing harmonica. After an album, video & BBC documentary with the band, John French released [r2649429] in 2008.