Photo by Philippe Gras of Art onstage with Beefheart
at the Bataclan Paris, April 1972.
Ed Marimba
Art Tripp :
"Don Van Vliet was primarily a painter and sculptor. What he did in music was no different from what was represented by the images in his wonderful paintings. You could say that whenever Don was with other people, in most circumstances, they were participants in a painting. That was predominantly Don's view of life: as an art statement, with reality being a nuisance. Symbolism took precedence over substance."
Now I have said (here prolly ) that I have bought and owned as much of Beefheart's output as I could ever find (official and unofficial) and this leads up to and includes the Magic Band on their own and Mallard too, band members separately as well, so am something of a completist, as to the Don Van Vliet creative output (including his paintings)
It therefore comes as no surprise to find I am something of an apologist for the so called ‘tragic’ band formed hurriedly less than a year after I saw the Cap’n and the band in what I consider their finest incarnation the UK tour of ‘73
Don’t get me wrong I appreciate the hardcore fans who HATE this incarnation and I DO get it . . . . I just don’t agree. Quite.
I was such a fan at the time I thought the 'love over gold' time of his romantically trying be more ‘successful', to make more money (sic?) and get hits post the Magic Band leaving him after the depths of his bullying and abuse which all the then band members faced (sic John French and Bill Harkleroad separate published accounts serve as public record) I thought Bluejeans and Moonbeams a delight, Unconditionally hilariously fun, I found Same Old Blues (JJ Cale cover) and that ilk a sheer delight and still do too. The signs were always there that Don would sing about the opposite sex whether in a horny sexual way (Sun Zoom Spark, Big Eyed Beans, Crazy Lil Thing, Long Necked Bottles to My Head is My Only House Unless It Rains, Peaches, etc)
Here in mitigation I present the band in 1974 in Manchester and with Del Simmons on sax and the band rocking their very best to keep up, I maintain they did their very best to match and back the Captain. You may disagree and you are welcome to but I ask nay plead that you pause a moment and suspend your judgement as we revisit Full Moon Hot Sun!
Brilliant live footage of Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band in full cry, performing Full Moon in 1974 at Manchester. There are no half-measures here, an outstanding rhythm section laying down solid groove behind Beefheart wailing on harmonica and one out-of-this-world saxophonist. An enigmatic, mysterious and troubled artist, the whole band walked out on Beefheart at some point, but in terms of sheer artistry, this performance provides ample evidence of a legacy characterised by unique greatness.
Frankly I agree!
in addition I add :
Barely a year after we saw them at Oxford Poly 2/05/1973 when it was the classic line up of John, Mark, Bill, Ed (and possibly Orejon on bass who I do not name as he is now a convicted pedophile serving life)
Featuring Del Simmons on sax with a towering solo (IMHO) here . . . .
Don van Vliet at Thee Experience sometime in late November or Early December of 1969.
note the spelling!
11/28/69, Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band begin performing at Thee Experience in Hollywood, California. The venue had a large painting of Jimi Hendrix on it with the front door as his mouth! It was also the first performance with Art Tripp III (Ed Marimba) on the drums, who would become one of the core members of the Magic Band until 1974. I've got no audio of it, sadly, but these sepia-tone pictures tell a tale with Don in his one-of-a-kind Trout Mask Replica era garb.
"In short, I was fed up with Frank. I had met Don at Frank’s log cabin in Laurel Canyon. He invited me over to hear the band, but I shined it on. Later I met him and the Magic Band guys when they and the Mothers played a benefit together at the Aquarius Theater in Hollywood. (Don Ellis and Canned Heat were among the other acts). I went out front to hear their music, and it knocked me out. After the show he again invited me out to Ensenada Drive. Soon after, Frank disbanded the Mothers at the end of ’69 to form a “power quartet” consisting of him, me, Ian Underwood, and a singer/bass player named –I think– Jeff Simmons. I couldn’t stand the guy, and since Frank wasn’t making the rehearsals, I started backing away. We did play one gig together. Probably the only time –outside of the earlier benefit– a Zappa band ever played with a Beefheart band. It was at a club called “Thee Experience” (yeah, I know) on the east Sunset Strip owned by Marshall Brevitz, who’d had a similar club in Miami. I played drums for both bands at that show." -
Art Tripp III, 'Ed Marimba’
from the legendary and always fascinating Beefheart expert Lynn's Live Lounge
Don and Jan Van Vliet at home in Northern California, taken circa 1988. Thanks to Ray Dratwa for the larger version of this photo.
It's Art Tripp III's birthday. One of my favourite percussionists of all time and I often confused Art and John French's drum parts on Beefheart music and only later understood the symbiotic relationship between the two. John speaks very magnanimously about Artie and as I consider him to be the worlds best drummer that is praise indeed. Happy Birthday Artie!
This from John French's Facebook page
Thanks to Ron Dubas at Zappa First for this great collection of shots of Art Tripp. I ran across these earlier today and had to run out for a luncheon. When I got back, I couldn't find them, because I thought they were on Kitty Tripp's wall, but nooo. Anyway, after much searching, I found them. I recall back when we shared a house in Laurel Canyon. It was his place first, then I moved in when rejoining the band. One day, he brought his snare upstairs and gave me a little lesson in stick control. He used massive 3S sticks, which I thought was crazy at first, until I realized he was letting the sticks do all the work. I have a couple pairs of 3S sticks that I keep around just for certain songs. The first time I heard Artie play the xylophone ( which is what he used at rehearsal ) I was blown away by his playing, and completely surprised. I remember him saying phrases like, "And don't forget, take an eyebrow to lunch." And when something intense would happen, he would say "GULP!" really loud and we'd all laugh. He is a pleasant guy, master pool player, master percussionist, and never really one to call attention to his own flawless drumming and percussion. I haven't been around him for years, but occasionally, I have had the honor of speaking with him on the phone. His great sense of humor and wisdom rings through to this day. Happy Birthday, Artie!
Art with full kit
The Mothers - Frank, Jimmy Carl Black, Bunk Gardiner, Don Preston (in the back) and Art
Art Tripp III in full Beefheartian flow!
"GULP!"
Art, Don and Bill (Harkleroad)
The Mothers
Jimmy and Art - there were often two drummers in Artie's bands
Happy 76th Birthday Arthur Dyer Tripp III (aka Ed Marimba, Ted Cactus, Artie "With the green mustache" Tripp)! (9-10-1944)
Art is best known for his work as a percussionist with Frank and the Mothers of Invention along with Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. He is credited on 20 Zappa albums and appears in Video From Hell, Uncle Meat, and The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels.
Born in Athens, Ohio and raised in Pittsburgh PA, Art started playing drums in 4th grade and continued throughout his grade schooling. He also became a student of Stanley Leonard, a timpanist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with whom he learned to play other percussion instruments, including the xylophone, tympani, marimba and many others before enrolling in the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music in 1962 to study percussion. His private teacher at the conservatory, Ed Weubold, was a percussionist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO). Tripp became a regular member of the CSO, performing with artists such as Igor Stravinsky, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, Jose Iturbi, Loren Hollender and Arthur Fiedler along with avant garde composer John Cage. Graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1967 he then pursued a Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music.
In New York City, he was introduced to Frank through his sound engineer Richard Kunc who set up a rehearsal.
At the rehearsal at Apostolic Studio in New York’s Greenwich Village, Frank asked him to sit behind the drum kit (Billy Mundi’s drums who had just departed the band) and play. Art let loose whaling on the drums for a few minutes playing "rhythmic stuff and a lot of free form patterns, all over the kit". After playing Frank's mouth was wide open and he told Art, "Man you're a monster"!
Frank then asked, "Are you doing anything this weekend, we have a couple of gigs this weekend, we can pay you about $500." Tripp agreed to work with Zappa's band that weekend the day after his audition. "There was a lot of improvisation...I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."
Art played and recorded with Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention from early 1968 until the end of 1969 when he left.
After leaving Zappa, Art played with Beefheart and the Magic Band for 5 years as Ed Marimba and is credited on 12 albums.
In 1974 he joined Mallard, a band formed by ex-members of the Magic Band and is on their first self titled album.
Art has also recorded with Chad Stuart and Tarantula, Jean-Luc Ponty, Wild Man Fischer, Al Stewart, Jefferson Airplane, Tim Buckley, and played percussion on the Smothers Brothers Summer Special.
While musically successful, Art found that the business failed to offer financial stability. He briefly worked in his father's insurance business in Pittsburgh, but eventually returned to California and the music scene where he stayed with Ruth and Ian Underwood while working as a studio musician with artists such as Al Stewart and other commercial producers but it lacked the appeal of performing live and he eventually gave up music and became a chiropractor in 1983. Says Tripp: "I just lost interest in music" He currently practices in Mississippi.
