Art Tripp

Last updated
Art Tripp
Art Tripp Chicago in 1968.jpg
Art Tripp in Chicago in 1968
Background information
Birth nameArthur Dyer Tripp III
Also known asEd Marimba
Ted Cactus
Artie "With the Green Mustache" Tripp
Born (1944-09-10) September 10, 1944 (age 80)
Genres Rock, Jazz, Classical, Avant-garde
Instrument(s)Drums, percussion
Years active1959–1978

Arthur Dyer Tripp III (born September 10, 1944) is an American retired musician who is best known for his work as a percussionist with the original version of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention during the 1960s and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band during the 1970s. Thereafter, Tripp retired from music. He attended an accredited chiropractic college in Los Angeles from 1980 through 1983, graduating with his Doctor of Chiropractic degree and later practising in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Contents

Early career

Arthur Dyer Tripp III was born September 10, 1944, in Athens, Ohio.[ citation needed ] He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started playing drums in fourth grade with school bands, then later while at high school at weddings, fraternity parties and dances. In the mid-1950s he studied drums with noted Pittsburgh jazz and big band drummer, Al Hammond. In 1959 he 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 dozens of others.[ citation needed ]

In 1962, Tripp enrolled at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music 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. In 1966, the US State Department sent the orchestra on a 10-week world tour, which provided additional experience for the young musician. During this time, Tripp also played two seasons as timpanist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, as well two seasons with both the Cincinnati Summer Opera and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. He was selected by avant garde composer John Cage to work with him in performances and workshops when Cage became composer-in-residence at the Conservatory of Music.

Tripp graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Music degree and in 1967, accepted a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music in New York, primarily in order to finish a Master of Music degree, but also to expose himself further to contemporary music. His teacher was a former timpanist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Fred Hinger. Hinger was at that time performing with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as well as teaching there.

Later career

Art Tripp in 2013 Art Tripp in 2013.jpg
Art Tripp in 2013

It was in New York that Tripp was introduced to Frank Zappa’s recording engineer, Richard Kunc. Kunc told Zappa about Tripp, who, he said, had the type of background and experience he thought Zappa was looking for. Tripp met Zappa and played for him at Apostolic Recording Studio in New York's Greenwich Village. Tripp was soon hired to play with The Mothers of Invention and went on to record seven albums and perform numerous tours throughout the US and Europe. In early 1968, the band left New York after an 18-month stay and relocated to Hollywood. A year later, Zappa disbanded the Mothers to pursue a solo career. Tripp appears on two albums compiled from recordings made before the dissolution of the Mothers of Invention: Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh , both released in 1970.

Meanwhile, Tripp had been discussing projects with occasional Zappa collaborator and long-time friend Don Van Vliet (a.k.a. Captain Beefheart). He would later join Beefheart's group the Magic Band. At that time, he also recorded with Chad Stuart and Tarantula, played percussion on the Smothers Brothers Summer Special, and was offered a position in the pit orchestra for the stage show Oh! Calcutta! .

Tripp decided to move to northern California with the Magic Band. The move heralded a five-year period of recording and touring again throughout the US and Europe. During the same period he was asked, but declined due to his commitment with Beefheart, to do session work with former Magic Band member Ry Cooder and saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Eventually, conflicts with Beefheart meant the rest of The Magic Band split off to compose and rehearse new music that was recorded on an album sponsored by the Jethro Tull organization, along with its drummer Barriemore Barlow and guitarist Martin Barre, called Mallard. [1] However, by then Tripp had become dissatisfied with music. He returned to Pittsburgh to work in the insurance business with his father.

After three years, realizing that selling insurance was not something he wanted to do either, Tripp decided to return to music. He went back to Los Angeles where he stayed with former Mothers bandmate Ian Underwood and Ruth Underwood, who also played extensively with Zappa, while he worked as a studio musician recording with artists such as Al Stewart and various commercial producers. However, studio work proved to lack the allure of live performance and he once again lost interest in pursuing his career in music.

After leaving music, Tripp became a chiropractor, graduating from Cleveland University-Kansas City and practices in Mississippi as of 2024. [2]

Discography

Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention

Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band

Others

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Zappa</span> American musician (1940–1993)

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he also produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His work is characterized by nonconformity, improvisation sound experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Beefheart</span> American musician (1941–2010)

Don Van Vliet was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist wordplay, and Vliet’s gravelly singing voice with a wide vocal range. Renowned as an enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians. Although he achieved little commercial success, he sustained a cult following as an influence on an array of experimental rock and punk-era artists.

Mallard was the name of an American band featuring ex-members of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band.

<i>Uncle Meat</i> 1969 studio album with live elements by the Mothers of Invention

Uncle Meat is the sixth album by the Mothers of Invention, and seventh overall by Frank Zappa, released as a double album in 1969. Uncle Meat was originally developed as a part of No Commercial Potential, a project which spawned three other albums sharing a conceptual connection: We're Only in It for the Money, Lumpy Gravy and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets.

<i>Hot Rats</i> American rock album

Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original lineup of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental, while "Willie the Pimp" features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".

Bizarre Records, self-identified simply as Bizarre, was a production company and record label formed for artists discovered by rock musician Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen.

<i>Burnt Weeny Sandwich</i> 1970 studio album with live elements by The Mothers of Invention

Burnt Weeny Sandwich is the seventh album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, and the ninth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It consists of both studio and live recordings. Following the Mothers' split in late 1969, Zappa assembled two albums of unreleased recordings by the band - this album and its follow-up Weasels Ripped My Flesh. Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses mostly on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions, while Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses mostly on live recordings and loose/improvisational pieces. Both albums also include some outtakes/leftovers from the sessions for Zappa's 1969 solo album Hot Rats.

<i>Weasels Ripped My Flesh</i> 1970 studio album with live elements by The Mothers of Invention

Weasels Ripped My Flesh is the eighth album by the American rock group the Mothers of Invention, and the tenth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. Following the Mothers' late 1969 split, Zappa assembled two albums - Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh - from unreleased studio and live recordings by the band, as well as some outtakes/leftovers from his 1969 solo album Hot Rats. While Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses mostly on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions, Weasels Ripped My Flesh focuses mostly on live recordings and loose/improvisational pieces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John French (musician)</span> American drummer

John Stephen French is an American drummer and former member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, where he was known by the nickname Drumbo. He was the principal drummer on several of Beefheart's albums, including 1969's Trout Mask Replica, for which he also acted as arranger. He later released several albums as a solo artist as well as with the collaborative group French Frith Kaiser Thompson.

<i>One Size Fits All</i> (Frank Zappa album) 1975 studio album with live elements by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

One Size Fits All is the fourteenth album by the Mothers of Invention, and the twentieth overall album by Frank Zappa, released in June 1975. The album reached #26 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart in the United States in August 1975.

<i>Lick My Decals Off, Baby</i> 1970 studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

Lick My Decals Off, Baby is the fourth studio album by American musician Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in December 1970 by Straight and Reprise Records. The follow-up to Trout Mask Replica (1969), it is regarded by some critics and listeners as superior, and was Van Vliet's own favorite of his albums. In his words, the title credo of the album was an encouragement to "get rid of the labels", and to evaluate things according to their merits.

<i>Unconditionally Guaranteed</i> 1974 studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

Unconditionally Guaranteed is the eighth LP by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in 1974. It was recorded at Hollywood Sound, Los Angeles.

<i>Clear Spot</i> 1972 studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

Clear Spot is the seventh studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. It was originally released on LP in 1972 in a clear plastic sleeve.

<i>Läther</i> 1996 studio album by Frank Zappa

Läther is the sixty-fifth official album by Frank Zappa. It was released posthumously as a three-CD set on Rykodisc in 1996. The album's title is derived from bits of comic dialog that link the songs. Zappa also explained that the name is a joke, based on "common bastardized pronunciation of Germanic syllables by the Swiss."

<i>London Symphony Orchestra</i> (Zappa albums) Album series by Frank Zappa

London Symphony Orchestra is a pair of albums by Frank Zappa, featuring his original symphonic compositions conducted by Kent Nagano. They were recorded at the same sessions in January 1983, and originally released as London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. I in 1983, London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. II, in 1987, and later combined and reissued on a Rykodisc CD as London Symphony Orchestra Vol. I & II in 1995.

<i>The Lost Episodes</i> 1996 compilation album by Frank Zappa

The Lost Episodes is a 1996 posthumous album by Frank Zappa which compiles previously unreleased material. Much of the material covered dates from early in his career, and as early as 1958, into the mid-1970s. Zappa had been working on these tracks in the years before his death in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockette Morton</span> American musician

Rockette Morton is an American musician, best known as a bassist and guitarist for Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band in the 1960s and 1970s.

<i>The **** of the Mothers</i> The Mothers of Invention album

The **** of the Mothers is an out-of-print compilation album of early works by The Mothers of Invention, an American rock band. The album features a gatefold featuring some of the contemporary band members such as Ian Underwood, Art Tripp, and Motorhead Sherwood. This was the first of numerous repackaged "Best Of" LPs put out by MGM that were not authorized by Frank Zappa; Mothermania is the only one that Zappa worked on and approved.

<i>Ahead of Their Time</i> 1993 live album by The Mothers of Invention

Ahead of Their Time is a live album by The Mothers of Invention. It was recorded at the Royal Festival Hall, London, England, on October 25, 1968, and released in 1993 on CD by Barking Pumpkin. It was reissued on Rykodisc in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denny Walley</span> American guitarist (born 1943)

Denny Walley is an American guitarist. He was born in Pennsylvania. He is known for working with Frank Zappa in the 1970s and '80s.

References

Inline citations

  1. ↑ Prato, Greg. "Biography: Mallard". Allmusic . Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  2. ↑ "Arthur Tripp, Mississippi Board of Chiropractic Examiners". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-03-23.

Sources

Interviews

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.