1. Talk about your first significant musical
or guitar experience.
WHEN IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN THE EARLY 60's, I TOOK PRIVATE LESSONS
ON SNARE DRUM TO LEARN A SPECIAL PIECE FOR A SCHOOL CONTEST. I HAD
TO BE ABLE TO MEMORIZE THE SHEET MUSIC AND PLAY A DRUM SOLO AS THE JUDGES
FOLLOWED ALONG NOTE BY NOTE. I LEARNED THE PIECE AND PRACTICED IT OVER
AND OVER UNTIL I KNEW IT BY HEART. ON THE NIGHT OF THE CONTEST I WENT ON
STAGE AND SET UP MY LITTLE DRUM, HANDED THE JUDGES THE SHEET MUSIC , RETURNED
TO MY DRUM, AND MY MIND WENT BLANK. AS I LOOKED OUT INTO THE AUDIENCE AND
THEN AT THE JUDGES I THOUGHT ABOUT RUNNING OFF STAGE IN A PANIC, BUT ONLY
FOR A SECOND, INSTEAD I BEGAN TO IMPROVISE MY SOLO. I WILL NEVER
FORGET THE LOOK ON THE JUDGES FACES AS THEY SHUFFLED THROUGH THE
SHEETS OF MUSIC TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE I WAS AND WHAT I WAS DOING.
WHEN I WAS DONE, I BOWED, PACKED UP MY DRUM AND LEFT THE STAGE AND WENT
HOME. I FELT I HAD BLOWN IT IN THE MINDS OF THE JUDGES. I REALLY
DIDN’T THINK THE AUDIENCE COULD TELL. THAT NIGHT THEY HAD THE AWARDS DINNER
BUT I DIDN’T GO BECAUSE I THOUGHT I HAD NO WAY OF WINING ANYTHING BUT I
WAS AMAZED BY A PHONE CALL FROM ONE OF THE JUDGES ASKING WHERE I WAS BECAUSE
I HAD EARNED A SUPERIOR RATING. APPARENTLY THE JUDGES WERE IMPRESSED BY
MY IMPROVISATION AND THE FACT I WENT ON WITH THE SHOW IN SPITE OF FORGETTING
MY PIECE. AT THAT MOMENT I LEARNED THAT IF I LIKE WHAT I AM PLAYING THEN
THERE WILL BE OTHERS WHO WILL LIKE IT TOO, MAYBE NOT EVERYBODY BUT AT LEAST
SOMEBODY AND THAT IS ENOUGH.
2. Talk about the first guitar/instruments
you took a focused interest in.
a. What were you doing with it/them?
THE DAY AFTER THE BEATLES PERFORMED FOR THE FIRST TIME ON ED SULLIVAN
IN 1964 I DECIDED I WAS GOING TO PLAY THE DRUMS, I BEGAN WITH SNARE DRUM
AND THEN TOOK PRIVATE LESSONS ON TRAP SET FROM AN OLDER MAN AT A LOCAL
MUSIC STORE. HE HAD AN AMAZING DRUM KIT WITH ABOUT TWELVE TOM TOMS
AND A TON OF CYMBALS BUT HE WOULDN’T LET ME PLAY ON ANY OF THE TOMS OR
CYMBALS UNTIL I MASTERED "ROCK AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE" ON THE BASS DRUM,
SNARE AND HIGH HAT. WHEN I HAD MASTERED THAT TUNE HE TOLD ME I COULD
GO NUTS ON THE REST OF THE SET, AND THAT IS WHAT I DID. I BEAT THE SHIT
OUT OF THOSE DRUMS FOR ABOUT AN HOUR AND DECIDED I WAS THE NEXT RINGO!
b. How did people around you respond/react?
THE TEACHER AND SOME OF THE OTHER STUDENTS CAME INTO THE ROOM WITH
A LOOK OF AMAZEMENT AND HORROR ON THEIR FACES, NOT BECAUSE I WAS SO GREAT
BUT BECAUSE I WAS SO LOUD AND DIDN’T STOP PLAYING UNTIL THE TEACHER MADE
ME.
c. Was it fun? - What made it fun?
IT WAS A BLAST! I LOVED THE ATTENTION AND THE FEELING I HAD JUST PROVIDED
THESE PEOPLE WITH SOMETHING THEY HAD NEVER WHITNESSED BEFORE.
3. Formal training? - Lessons? - Significant
"tutor"/"mentor" experience?
THE ONLY FORMAL TRAINING I HAVE RECEIVED WAS MY DRUM LESSONS AS A YOUNG
BOY AND A BRIEF COURSE IN PIANO AT MONTEREY PENNINSULA COLLEGE IN THE LATE
70s. I HAVE NEVER REALLY GIVEN ANYBODY ANY LESSONS PER SAY BUT DID CONDUCT
A WORKSHOP IN IMPROVISASTION IN SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA IN THE LATE 80s.
I WOULD HAVE TO SAY MY MENTORS ARE DON PRESTON , BUNK GARDNER AND JIMMY
CARL BLACK OF THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION. I WAS IMPRESSED WITH ZAPPA AND
THE MOTHERS AT A VERY EARLY AGE AND WAS FORTUNATE TO MEET THE MOTHERS IN
THE 80s. I WAS INVITED TO GO ON THE ROAD WITH THEM DURING A REUNION TOUR
AS THE "GRANDMOTHERS" IN 1981, I DROVE THEM AROUND THE SAN FRANCISCO AREA
FOR THREE WEEKS AND HELPED WITH THEIR EQUIPMENT. DON PRESTON AND I REALIZED
WE HAD CERTAIN ARTISTIC INTERESTS IN COMMON AND HE BEGAN TO SHARE HIS EXPERIENCES
WITH ZAPPA AND BEFORE HE MET ZAPPA WITH ME. DON TAUGHT ME THERE WERE MANY
WAYS TO COMMUNICATE MUSICALLY WITH OTHER MUSICIANS AND WITH AN AUDIENCE.
BUNK GARDNER OPENED MY EYES TO SINCERITY AND DEDICATION AND JIMMY CARL
BLACK SHOWED ME JUST HOW MUCH FUN IT ALL CAN BE! I ENJOY A PERSONAL AND
VERY IMPORTANT FRIENDSHIP WITH THESE WONDERFUL MUSICIANS TO THIS DAY AND
THEY CONTINUE TO INRICH MY LIFE.
4. Have you taught?
I LIKE TO THINK I HAVE INSPIRED RATHER THAN TAUGHT.
5. Initial recording-experience memories?
MOST OF MY RECORDING EXPERIENCE HAS COME FROM MY OWN RECORDING STUDIO.
WHILE LIVING IN MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA FROM THE LATE 70s TO THE MIDDLE
90s I ALWAYS HAD A SMALL RECORDING STUDIO AND ENJOYED MANY WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES
WITH A GREAT BASS PLAYER AND GOOD FRIEND DEREK DEAN. WITH DEREK AND MANY
OTHER FINE MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS OF MANY TYPES WE CREATED ‘BENT MUSIC"
WHICH WE CONSIDERED AN ALTERNATIVE TO ALTERNATIVE MUSIC. AT THIS TIME I
HAD BEGUN TO CONSINTRATE MORE ON GUITAR AND KEYBOARDS BUT STILL MADE PLENTY
OF NOISE WITH TRADIONAL PERCUTIONS AND EXPERIMENTAL DEVICES. INSPIRED BY
DON PRESTON I BEGAN TO EXPERIMENT WITH MANY DIFFERENT RECORDING TECHNICS.
6. What gear/stuff do you play in a performing
context?
a. Presently :
I AM SEMI-RETIRED ENJOYING RAISING MY 9 AND 4 YEAR OLD SONS.
THE ONLY PERFOMANCES OF SUCH I HAVE DONE FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS HAS BEEN
AS A D.J. PLAYING CLASSIC ROCK AND THE BLUES. I DID PLAY SPOONS WITH A
BLUE GRASS BAND THE OTHER NIGHT DURING A WEDDING PARTY.
b. In the Past:
GUITAR (69 GIBSON SG), MANY GUITAR EFFECTS, PRO-ONE SYNTHESIZER,
YAMAHA DX-7, CLARANET, DRUMS, CANS, AND HOT DOGS.
c. Future aims and objectives?:
SHARE MY LOVE OF ENTERTAINMENT, MUSIC, AND PERFORMANCE ART WITH MY
CHILDREN.
7. How, if at all, does the performance paradigm
differ from the zeitgeist during the documentation/recording process? Which
do you prefer, and why?
DO YOUR THING!
8. Five favorite recorded songs/compositions
(by others).
HELP I’M A ROCK – MOTHERS OF INVENTION
JESUS WAS A LEPRECHAUN – SNAKEFINGER
BAT CHAIN PULLER – CAPTAIN BEEFHEART
COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN – LED ZEPPELIN
HAIR – COWSILLS
9. If you could edit your ten favorite recorded/experienced
sonic moments* together into a seamless loop, what would they be?
1. HENDRIX – STAR SPANGLED BANNER
2. INAGODADIVIDA DRUM SOLO
2. ANY YOKO ONO SCREAM
4. A GOOD ZAPPA SNORK
5. "HAVE MERCY" – JOHN LEE HOOKER
6. FIRST CHORD OF BEATLES "HELP"
7. WOO WOO WOO – CURLEY (THREE STOOGES)
8. "I AM NOT A CROOK" - NIXON
9. "STICK" – KINGSMEN (LOUIE LOUIE)
10. LAST NOTE OF BEATLES DAY IN THE LIFE
10. What are your feelings about improvisation?
NEVER ENOUGH!
11. What strategies have proven effective to
you in terms of successful group interactivity?
ONCE THE BAND SAT IN THE AUDIENCE AND THE AUDIENCE TOOK THE STAGE
AND PLAYED OUR INSTRUMENTS. (THEY PAID US!)
12. Are you friendly with any resources, publications,
or collaboratives which might be of utility or interest to our readers?
BROTHERHOOD OF IRRATIONAL THEOLOGISTS illyad6@yahoo.com
(TELL ‘EM JERRY SENT YA)
13. On what project(s) are you currently involved?
RECOVERING FROM A HEART ATTACK
14. How can interested readers learn more about
your work?
TAPES AND VIDEOS AVAILABLE:
Bentmusic@ponca.net
J E R R Y F O R D
Jerry Ford - Addenda:
RE: ?#1 Great remembrance. I find that when involved in a good improvisation, I feel exactly as I did as a child encountering something for the first time and doing it well. As a musician and a parent, do you find musical improvisation to be a means of recovering the experience of childlike wonder?
A GOOD JAM IS KIND OF LIKE CHRISTMAS MORNING, KIND OF SAD WHEN IT’S OVER.
Let’s explore a *phenomena* you mentioned, which I’ve heard mentioned by so many others over the years that it seems worth collecting data on: THE BEATLES ON THE 1964 ED SULLIVAN SHOW HAVING A GIGANTIC MOTIVATING EFFECT ON SCADS OF FUTURE-MUSICIANS.
RE: ?#2 What was it about that particular television performance that hit you so hard?
UNTIL THEN, MUSIC WAS BEING MADE "FOR" YOUNG PEOPLE. AFTER THAT NIGHT ON ED’S SHOW, MUSIC BEGAN TO BE MADE "BY" YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT THINGS YOUNG PEOPLE WERE EXPERIENCING, IT OPENED THE DOOR FOR SELF-EXPRESSION FOR ANYBODY WHO PICKED UP ON IT, AND PRIMED THE PUMP FOR ALL THAT FOLLOWED. UNFORTUNATLY, MUSIC AND ART WILL ALWAYS BE A COMMODITY IN AMERICA AND MANY GROUPS SPRUNG UP JUST TO BE BOUGHT AND SOLD. BUT AS WE ALL KNOW, SOME VERY HEAVY MUSIC DERIVED FROM THE BEATLES' WORK AND, OF COURSE, THE BEATLES WERE INSPIRED BY THE BLUES.
RE: ?#3 Have you recorded with Don, Bunk, or Jimmy Carl? (If so, what’s it sound like?)
I GOT TO PLAY DRUMS BRIEFLY WITH THE GRANDMOTHERS IN SANTA CRUZ IN '81, AS JIMMY DELIVERED DON’S BABY (THAT TURNED OUT TO BE ZAPPA). IT SOUNDED LIKE A DRUM SOLO, WITH THE FOWLER BROTHERS GOING OFF ON TROMBONE AND TRUMPET, WITH BUNK ON HEAVENLY SAX WHILE DON SCREAMED AND JIMMY CURSED AND GRUNTED TO DENNY WALLY’S SLIDE GUITAR. (I think it was recorded but who knows where it is). THE GRANDMOTHERS ALSO JOINED ME ONCE ON KAZU AND WE PLAYED DON’S "ORGANIC SYNTH." WHICH WAS ALL OF US MAKING RUDE NOISES INTO THE MICS. (Again I would have to search the BENT archive to find the tapes and if I go in there I may never come out alive).
RE: ?#5 Please elaborate about Bent Music, and on the workshops. I attended two of them, and had a wonderful time. Remember the ‘make your own instrument’ theme?
THE BENT WORKSHOPS WERE INSPIRED BY DON PRESTON AS WAS BENT MUSIC. I SPENT A WEEK LIVING IN A LITTLE SHED BEHIND DON’S HOUSE IN L.A. JUST BEFORE WE "HIT THE ROAD" FOR THE GRANDMOTHERS' SECOND TOUR. DURING THIS TIME, DON AND I REALIZED WE HAD CERTAIN ARTISTIC INTERESTS IN COMMON. I HAD COMPLAINED TO HIM THAT I WAS SAD THAT I COULDN’T READ OR WRITE MUSIC WELL ENOUGH TO COMMUNICATE MY MUSICAL IDEAS TO OTHERS. DON TOOK ME INTO HIS STUDIO AND PULLED BOOKS AND FILMS FROM HIS ARCHIVE TO SHOW ME HOW OTHER PEOPLE HAD USED UNIQUE WAYS TO MUSICALLY AND ARTISTICALLY EXPRESS THEMSELVES. ONE GUY HAD FOUND A LITTLE VILLAGE IN EUROPE WHERE MANY OF THE BUILDINGS WERE EQUIPPED WITH STEAM WHISTLES ON THEIR ROOFS. HE TUNED ALL THE WHISTLES AND SAT ON A HILL SIDE AND CONDUCTED A WONDERFUL PIECE OF MUSIC.
THE BENT WORKSHOP WAS INTENDED TO GIVE ALL WHO PARTICIPATED A CHANCE TO ENJOY THE FEELING OF PERFORMING AND EXPERIENCE THEIR MUSICAL SELF. THE FIRST NIGHT I HAD BROUGHT IN MANY DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS AND DEVICES AND PASSED THEM AROUND, I USED AN IDEA OF DON’S TO CONDUCT THE "BAND". I CONSTRUCTED A WOODEN BOX WITH A WINDOW IN IT AND USED AN OLD BAR-B-Q SPIT MOTOR TO PULL A ROLL OF PAPER ACROSS THE OPEN WINDOW. ON THE PAPER I HAD DREW COLORED DOTS, EACH PERFORMER WAS ASSIGNED A COLORED DOT AND INSTRUCTED TO PLAY WHAT THEY WANTED UNTIL THEIR DOT DISAPPEARED FROM THE SCREEN, THEN I RAISED AND LOWERED THE DOTS ON THE PAPER AND THE PERFORMERS WERE TOLD TO PLAY HIGH NOTES AS THE DOTS ROSE AND LOWER NOTES AS THE NOTES LOWERED ON THE SCREEN. NEXT I BEGAN TO MAKE SOME OF THE DOTS BIG AND SOME SMALL AND ADDED THAT THE PERFORMERS SHOULD PLAY LOUD ON THE BIG DOTS AND SOFTLY ON THE SMALL DOTS. IT BECAME A WONDERFUL PIECE OF IMPROVISATIONAL MUSIC, MOST OF THE PERFORMERS HAD ONLY DREAMED THAT SOME DAY THEY WOULD GET A CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN A PERFORMANCE OF ANY TYPE.
THE MAKE YOUR OWN INSTRUMENT NIGHT WAS INTENDED TO SHOW PEOPLE ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO HAVE A MILLION DOLLARS TO MAKE MUSIC, I ENCOURAGED EVERYONE TO GO TO THE LIBRARY AND RESEARCH POSSIBILITIES OF CONSTRUCTING INSTRUMENTS BASED ON OTHER CULTURES AND TO JUST USE THEIR IMAGINATIONS AS THEY DID WHEN THEY WERE CHILDREN. I REMEMBER I CREATED THREE "GUITARS" OUT OF ORANGE CRATES, AND A JAW HARP CONTRAPTION FROM A YARDSTICK AND A GUITAR STRING. I WAS PLEASENTLY AMAZED WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SHOWED UP WITH THAT NIGHT AND WE HAD A BLAST PERFORMING FOR EACH OTHER AND TOGETHER.
RE: ?#6 How do you creatively interact with your kids in ways which foster these aims?
MY CHILDREN HAVE WITNESSED ME USING MY IMPROVISATIONAL TALENTS ON THE RADIO AND TV, THEY HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGED TO BE SPONTANEOUS IN THEIR GAMES. ZIGGY HAS HIS OWN LEFTHANDED "STRAT" COPY AND PLANS TO TAKE ORCHESTRA NEXT YEAR AND PLAY VIOLIN ( 4TH GRADE). IAN IS FOUR AND WILL BE JOINING HIS BROTHER NEXT YEAR AT GARFIELD ACADEMY, WHICH IS A NORMAL SCHOOL THAT CONCENTRATES MORE ON THE ARTS, HE HAS ALREADY SHOWED A TALENT FOR DANCING. MY KIDS ARE NOT SHY!
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Thanks to Jerry Ford for his participation in GuitArt.