WHILE YOU WERE ARTIE
In March 2001, out of the blue, I got an email from
Arthur Barrow. Seizing the moment, I asked if he’d like to be subjected to some
dumb questions. He didn’t mind.
IB: When you first started to play
music, what was your main instrument?
AB: Ukulele,
tenor guitar, then guitar when I was about 13.
IB: You saw taking
up bass as the only way of getting into Frank’s band – but you didn’t just play
bass with him, did you?
AB: I also
played keyboards and guitar with FZ, if that’s what you mean.
IB: It is.
You’re generally perceived as just a bass player. Especially
by me. But you contributed a whole lot more. (For Arthur’s uncredited contributions, visit http://home.netcom.com/~bigear/Zappa.html).
AB: I also
played bass with a lot of other people besides FZ.
IB: I
recently heard the full radio broadcast of a Zappa gig you did in
AB: Thank
you!
IB: Given
that you obviously excelled at this instrument, why don’t you do more stuff
like ‘The Shadows’ or ‘Code Blue’ on your albums – most of your own songs are
keyboard based, aren’t they?
AB: I think
of my music as being composition based, not player based. I did plenty of fancy
bass work with Frank, so listeners know I can do that. I think of the
composition first, not how impressive my playing is. Weird,
eh?
IB: What is
your least favourite eating utensil?
AB:
Chopsticks.
IB: So a
spoon’s your favourite, right?
AB: You must
be English, judging by your spelling. But you're wrong; it's the fourk.
IB: As
‘We’re Only In It For The Money’ was the first FZ
album you got into, how did you subsequently feel about your involvement in the
remix?
AB: I told
Frank I thought it was a bad idea, but it was his music, and he was the boss.
It was a lot of fun, though. It is a bit odd to now be on an album that
was my favourite in high school.
IB: Aside
from ‘St Alphonso’, what other pieces did you play
with Frank during your audition?
AB: A lick
in 21 that ended up in ‘Greasy’ was one. Also some sight reading and some jamming. Maybe ‘Black Page’.
IB: You took
over from Ed Mann as Clonemeister: how did he and the
other band members react to your new appointment?
AB: They
hated it - which I can understand, after all, most of them had seniority over
me. We all would have preferred that Frank conduct all the rehearsals, and not
have a Clonemeister.
IB: I
understand you continued as Clonemeister after you
quit touring with Frank - so how did that go down with guys like Scott Thunes?
AB: I had
absolutely no problems with players during that time.
IB: ‘Mo’s Vacation’ is my favourite unreleased Zappa track - as
performed by yourself and Vinnie in
AB: Pretty
hard for me. A piece of cake for Vinnie – he could
sight read the sucker. I never really did play it right all the way through.
There are sections in the bass part that are impossible, as far as I can tell.
You should see all the coffee stains on my chart. I spent about 30 hours
working on it when I first got it. I shedded
on it during our week off in
IB: So when
did you last pick your feet in
AB: Right
before I shuffled off to
IB: What can
you tell me about the dawn raid when Tommy Mars and Ike Willis were whisked off
by the British police as Frank slept in a different hotel?
AB: I don't
recall that incident. What happened?
IB: I was hoping
you’d tell me. It received a fair bit of media attention at the time, and I
recall that Frank – even though he wasn't involved,
and as much as he hated drugs – slagged off the way
our friendly Constabulary handled it. Were you one of the guys in the band who
started the tradition of ‘The Jazz Discharge Party Hats’?
AB: No.
IB: Any
salacious tales from the road you’d care to divulge?
AB: Hmmm,
not particularly.
IB: In the
70s you were in a band with Don Preston. And Jimmy Carl Black made guest
appearances on stage and in the studio during your tenure with Frank. What do
you think of the Grandmothers?
AB: I heard
them last year and they sounded pretty good. JCB is very friendly and a fellow
Texan. And I met Bunk Gardner for the first time - another very nice cat.
IB: Have you
remained in touch over the years?
AB: I talked
to Don about a week ago - he had a question about a synth.
IB: What
about any of the other guys – aside from those involved with the Banned From Utopia. Tell me something about your relationship
(musical or otherwise) with Vinnie.
AB: Haven't
talked to him for a while. He’s the best drummer I have ever heard, much less
played with – it was an honour.
IB: And
AB: Probably
haven't talked to him in 20 years. We got along OK, though – no bad feelings or
anything.
IB: Steve Vai?
AB: Been in
touch by email lately – he was always a decent guy, and sounds like he still
is. A great player.
IB: Shankar?
AB: Awesome musician
and a great guy. Not in touch, though. I would love to talk to him again one
day. Frank wanted him to be in the band at one point, while Frank was producing
his album. I spent many hours in a
IB: Bob
Harris?
AB: A nice
guy, but not in touch.
IB: Finally,
Peter Wolf?
AB: Words
cannot describe how I feel.
IB: Do you
have any plans to release your recordings of that early band with Don, Bruce
Fowler and Vinnie?
AB: Yes, I
plan to release those along with other early stuff on a ‘basement tapes’ kind
of collection.
IB: The
planned ‘Crush All Boxes’ album (that evolved into ‘You Are What You Is’) is
well documented. But recently it’s come to light that Frank originally had
other plans for some of the material that appeared on the ‘Drowning Witch’ and
‘Utopia’ albums. Were you aware of the mooted ‘Chalk Pie’ album?
AB: Vaguely.
IB: When is
the new ZFT-approved Banned From Utopia album, ‘So Yuh Don’t
Like Modern Art’, coming out?
AB:
I don't know - Bruce is in charge of that.
IB: What’s on it?
AB:
‘Tink/13’ is great. It has some previously unheard sections that were
rehearsed in 1980, but got kind of lost until I discovered some old charts I
had written for it.
IB: Who’s on it?
AB:
The usual suspects – I don't know if Ray White is guesting
on it. Again, Bruce is producing – except for ‘Tink’.
That's mine.
IB: Are you gonna tour
to promote it?
AB:
Hopefully!
IB: Will the band continue after this - who’s
the project leader?
AB:
Aren't you paying attention?
IB: Sorry, I
was just picking my feet. What
are you own plans for the future, musically?
AB:
More music, all the time!
IB: OK,
finally, Arthur: who do you think has been
AB:
IB: Well, I
guess the lonesome Cowboy may have fared a little better than Chris Sutton.
Thanks for that.
***
A fredited version of this interview should appear in a
future edition of T’Mershi Duween. Photo of Tink
liberated from the Stanley Hope Collection.