John French reminisces . . . . . The Magic Band archivist bar none

 Todays Facebook post from Drumbo!

John ‘Drumbo’ French at The Garage London by Jan Podsiadly

This is an old post I wrote the day after I returned from "The Farewell Tour."  

THE MAGIC BAND

"It's my first morning home and the FLIGHT was actually enjoyable. I had a whole row of seats to myself. I was able to stretch out and view a host of bad movies. I keep going back to Wonder Woman as my favorite. There will never be a sequel as good as that, because of the era in which it was shot. I loved the script.

Here's a photo from Jan Podsiadly taken at the Garage in beautiful Islington. Interesting day there, as we couldn't get in for a while and witnessed what appeared to be a mugging following by an attempted robbery of a bicycle, followed by, a little while later, a false alarm of a shooting just down the street which kept Max Kutner trapped in a "warm" cafe just down the street.

He was still recovering, as I was, from a respiratory infection which antibiotics eventually cured, although my voice never quite reached full potential again on the last half of the tour. The Garage was freezing cold, as many venues are at load-in and sound check because they save money on heating. We all just dress as though we were outside. I mean, why warm up a venue and spend all that money just so our fingers will work at soundcheck? Ha ha.

Anyway, all turned out well, and Max got a round of applause as he walked through the door. Our sound check was finished 15 minutes prior to "Showtime" This time out with The Magic Band, we reached new highs in taking the music many steps further into the improvisational possibilities that always existed, but were never explored under Don's leadership. I thought the biggest thing lacking was always the ability for self-expression within the framework of the composition; thereby rendering the set list basically a "static" thing -- unchanging, for the most party from night to night. With this tour, each show had it's own unique personality, so if you came to more than one show, you saw a different facet of the music being explored each night. Thanks goes out to many but a few come to mind at 6:30 this morning. Rupert Cocking, for being such an ally and self-appointed voluntary publicist of all things Magic Band / Drumbo. Clint Walker, for his videography of so many shows, and friendship ( also the funder of a multi-track recording in Liverpool), Debbi Stanistreet for putting together the horns and singers that were added to the Liverpool show, Jan Podsiadly, for his photographic record of so many events, Samuel Andreyev, for spreading the NEWS of The Magic Band to a wider audience, Elaine Shepherd, for getting the whole thing started, Barry Hogan, for generously funding the startup of The Magic Band, Jim Driver, the agent who worked closely with me and put together a great tour with routing that made it easy to get around, Micky Kemp, Tour Manager, Driver, Merch Sales and general all-around good diplomacy, Maggie Woodhouse, for bravely allowing us room and board+ rehearsal space at Woodhouse Manor, Howard Holmes, Gina Holmes, for their support and horn retrieval and the nice brunch ( ah, a noon margarita!!) and Ian McArthur for his years of mentorship and the wonderful meal he gave us ( on the house) at his fantastic Thai Restaurant in Edinburgh ( a latte and a brandy at noon... YES!). Am I forgetting anyone? Oh yeah. How about EVERYONE who came out to catch us at the shows? Some of you came to several, and it made our days, believe me. It would have all been nothing without you. I'll be writing more, but this is enough for one day. 

Best to you, JF"

Thanks John that’s a fine dressed man right there and the Captain said 

"None o’ my women have tears in their eyes you can ask ’em about me I swear ‘n they’ll tell you That’s one man I swear “

The Magic Band live at Glastonbury 2004 (introduced by Annie Nightingale RIP)

The YouTuber notes : The Magic Band - live at the Glastonbury Festival England, June 25th 2004, recorded using a Hi8 video camera, saved to digital by me back in 2005 and now shared with you for free.

Set List As Follows.

00:30 Diddy Wah Diddy

03:49 The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or the Big Dig)

07:01 Circumstances

11:18 Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man - John French on drums

- John French on drums

16:01 On Tomorrow

20:26 Steal Softly Thru Snow

23:38 Abba Zaba

27:03 My Human Gets Me Blues

30:46 Alice in Blunderland

34:09 Hair Pie

37:47 Veteran's Day Poppy

42:44 Evening Bell

46:46 Electricity

53:01 Moonlight on Vermont

57:42 Big-Eyed Beans From Venus

tell us about the Circumstances John! . . . . . . . . . .

John Drumbo French

The Drumbo Club