DENNY GOES WAY BACK

This is an interview I conducted with Denny Walley ahead of his headlining performance at Zappanale #19 in August 2008.

IB: Tell me about your earliest musical experiences.

DW: At age seven I was with my parents visiting friends. They had a small 12 bass accordion in the basement and I asked if I could try it. They agreed and left me to toy with it. It took me about an hour to figure out how to play a couple of simple melodies using both the keyboard and bass buttons. I decided that I liked the sound and smell of it and my parents agreed to pay for instructions and a rental accordion to practice on. I played it for about five years. Around age 12, my parents moved from New York to Lancaster California. We lived in a new housing development called Tamarack Fair and, by coincidence, the Zappa family lived in the same development. I became best friends with Frank’s younger brother, Bobby. The first time I ever heard the blues was in Bobby and Frank’s bedroom, and I was hooked. That’s when the accordion went under the bed never to be seen again…until Harry Irene, for Bat Chain Puller.

IB: I didn’t realise that was you.

DW: Only the guys in the band, and Gail Zappa, knew about it. The accordion that I used on that session belonged to Gail’s father. It was in a PINK road case!

IB: Wow, that’s great.

DW: Anyway, I wanted so bad to be a part of that music. The closest I could hope to get to it would be to get a guitar and try and play along with the records. The first time I ever heard a live band was in an assembly at Antelope Valley Joint Union High School (AVJUHS). The band was The Blackouts: Frank Zappa on drums; Terry Wimberly on piano; Fred Salizar on baritone sax; Fred’s brother Wally on guitar; and three soulful vocalists, Henry Strawberry, Chuck Spencer, and a third singer whose name I don’t recall at the moment but I will get it from my yearbook. At the time that was the first mixed band I or anyone else had EVER seen. From that time on I knew exactly what I wanted to do in my life. A few years later, my father got transferred back to New York and I lost track of all of my old friends. In New York I met some other guys that felt the way I did and we formed a trio. We called ourselves The Detours. We played together for about nine years and played all over the country. We were a blues band at heart, but we had to learn a lot of the current songs in order to get gigs. We would play two or three of the current hits then would launch into our ‘blues bag’, which usually got us fired before the night was over. We played just about every club in Greenwich Village and all over Long Island, as well as some gigs in Vegas, California, and the usual assortment of “Buckets of Blood” We had a manager who somehow managed to get us signed with Atlantic Records. Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin produced two of our (only) singles that were released on the Atco label but nothing ever came of it. The timing was not good for us as Atlantic had just signed The Rascals and Cream and we were toast. About the only claim to fame we had was that we played the Copacabana Lounge in NY seven nights a week for 27 weeks: a record that still stands.

IB: So how did you then hook up with Geronimo Black?

DW: I moved back to California in 1969 with a promise that I would have a chance to audition for Canned Heat, as the guitar player had quit or was fired. Not true. So I crashed with my parents for a few days and then met some musicians that had a huge place in Laurel Canyon and invited me to crash there. It was fantastic. The best place to find out about work was at the Musicians Union in Hollywood. There was a guy named Frank Sorkin that worked there that everyone knew as ‘Scooby’, He was THE MAN for all the rock musicians. This guy knew everybody that was anybody and got me hooked up with all kinds of work. My first gig was with a soul band called The Real Thing. We played together for about three years. We were part of Bill Cosby’s road band called – are you ready? – Bradford Bunions Funeral Marching Audience Band! Stu Gardner was the band leader and has gone on to do a lot of great things. The bass player form The Detours – Tom Leavey, who was also my best friend from back in NY – moved out to LA and got a gig playing with Jimmy Carl Black. I was doing a lot of work as a studio musician but wasn’t all that happy. I wanted to play live gigs with crazy people. Tom said that the guitar player in Geronimo Black was leaving and I should audition. I did and got the gig. Playing in that band was without question the most fun of any of the bands I have ever played with. We did everything to excess and most of the time we did all of those things at the same time. Some day I will have to put it down on paper.

IB: You played tambourine on Motorhead's Bumble Bee – any recollections of that particular session?

DW: While Geronimo Black was recording our album at Sound City with engineer Keith Olson, Jim Sherwood dropped by and we were all pretty wasted and decided to do a little impromptu thing with him. Keith set up a boom mike out in the studio and we all continued to drink and mess around and Motorhead’s Bumble Bee was the result. It was never intended to be used for anything other than our own amusement, but later on Andy Cahan put it on one of the Grandmothers’ albums.

IB: How did you wind up working with Frank?

DW: While living in CA. I had re-connected with Jim ‘Motorhead’ Sherwood whom I had also gone to school with back in Lancaster at AVJUHS. He told me that Frank was looking for a slide guitar player and told him about me. Frank said for me come on down the following day. I loaded up my gear and went into Hollywood to Frank’s rehearsal space and set up my rig. The band at that time was Terry Bozzio (drums), Tom Fowler (bass), George Duke (keyboards), Napoleon Murphy Brock (horns & vocals) and of course Frank. The first song I was asked to play on was Advance Romance. It was in the key of G, which was perfect for me as my guitar was already tuned to an open G, plus it is basically a blues. I was nervous as hell, but as soon as we started playing I was totally relaxed. At the end of the song, Frank said “Anyone with the balls to play those low notes has got the job”. He told his then road manager Marty Perellis “Sign him up”. That was it, I was in!

IB: What was the Bongo Fury tour like?

DW: The band had been rehearsing for about a week or so before Frank brought Don in to start doing his parts. I had seen Don with The Magic Band a couple of times before this, but hadn’t had a chance to talk with him. I knew Don from back in Lancaster when we went to the same school (AVJUHS). He was just amazing. His vocals and harp playing were chilling. He was pure genius. He said 20 brilliant things a day. He was also a handful for Frank’s people to try and control. They were very structured, and Don didn’t work like that. Let’s just say that he kept it interesting. The bottom line is that Beefheart is an amazing talent, and added a tremendous amount of excitement to every show. I learned so much from that tour. I owe everything that has come to me in music to Frank Zappa, and Don Van Vliet.

IB: So how well did you know Don back in Lancaster?

DW: When I lived in Lancaster, CA I went to the same school (AVJUHS) as Don. I didn’t know him personally but used to see him quite a bit cruising Lancaster Boulevard in his Powder Blue ‘51 Olds. He was definitely cool!

IB: When did you join Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band?

DW: After the Bongo Fury tour, Frank suggested that I play with Don as we got on really great and it would put Don back on the road and in the studio. The new Magic Band was Elliot “Winged Eel Fingerling” Ingber on guitar, John “Drumbo” French on drums, Jeff Morris Tepper on guitar, Bruce “Fossil” Fowler on air bass, and me on slide guitar. That was the most challenging music I have EVER had to learn to play. Frank’s music was written out and at least you had a clue as to the format, but Don’s had to be learned by listening to the recordings over and over again, trying to hear your part through all the other shit going on. Don would whistle a part for you to play, or give you a verbal description of the emotion he was trying to capture. It was a fantastic experience. I have to say that without John French to help me find some of the more obscure passages on guitar, I don’t think I would have ever figured out some of that stuff.

IB: Can you explain your Feeler’s Rebo stage name?

DW: After being on the tour for a while, I guess Don thought it was about time for me to be officially ordained with my own unique name. I never asked for one or even thought about it. One night we were doing a show in Vancouver B.C. and as he was introducing the members of the band he said, “And on slide guitar, Denny Walley from Walla Walla Washington with all those Ds & Ws.” After the show, I said “What the fuck? I’d rather not be announced than to be called that! Please come up with something else.” Not long after that he started calling me “Feelers Rebo.” Don’t ask why – I have NO idea!

IB: So why did you leave The Magic Band?

DW: I had been with Don & The Magic Band for a couple of tours and was really over the amount of time that we would spend at rehearsals (6-12 hours) and only get to play around 2-4 hours. The rest of the time was spent with Don talking, drawing and going out for tea. All of this was great fun, but I just wanted to play and get the fuck out of that metal storage locker that we used for a rehearsal space. Whenever it got to be really ridiculous, I would just leave. I was the only married member of the band with a child and had other obligations. Just before we were getting ready to start rehearsals for the next tour, I got a phone call from one of the members of the band. He said, and I quote “You have made your bed, now you can sleep in it”. Basically, I was fired by one of Don’s sidemen. In today’s world that would be the equivalent of being fired by e-mail. For the record, Don and I remained friends, and I played a few guest spots with him as well. We still kept in touch with each other for years after that. The last time I heard from him was 1990. I miss him & Jan a lot.

IB: Tell me about the unreleased track Hoboism – do you think any of the studio material you did with the Captain will ever be released?

DW: This track was recorded at my house in North Hollywood. It was done on a Sony cassette player. It was one of those stream of consciousness things. Just 1, 2, 3, go! This was around the same time that we were in the studio recording Bat Chain Puller. When we finished recording BCP, Don asked for me to play the cassette for recording engineer, Kerry McNabb. Kerry suggested that I let him put it on the ½” reel along with the BCP album as a safety. What a mistake that was. When the tape was handed over to Virgin Records, someone from within the company ran off a copy of the tape for themselves. The result was that all of the material was bootlegged. Don and I own the copyright to Hoboism. Don is registered as writer, and I am registered as composer and producer. As a gift, Don gave me a pen and ink drawing of a Hobo that would have been perfect for use as the artwork had we decided to release it as a single, but the project never materialized. I recently met with someone who is interested in packaging and releasing this, and some other interesting items. So the true recording may yet see the light of day.

IB: In his liner notes to The Torture Never Stops DVD, Scott Thunes mentions that Frank told him not to worry about remembering his lyrics – as “Denny Walley always forgot them”. Did this result in any interesting changed lyrics, or just general amusement?

DW: I don’t know why, but it was a pretty good bet that I would fuck up the lyrics about 30% of the time. The songs that were most in danger of getting fucked up were Tryin’ To Grow A Chin and Tiny Lites. Whenever you hear Frank start singing “Maddie told Hattie” (from Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs’ song, Wooly Bully) that was the signal that I had just fucked up the lyrics. I would scramble for some new never before heard lyrics of my own design to try and fill the void. The results were mixed.

IB: Tell me about your Who Do/Tiny Tattoo single.

DW: Frank took a break from touring and I decided that I should try and do something on my own. Most of the guys in Frank’s band - Tommy Mars, Ed Mann, Vinnie Colaiuta, Ike Willis - were in town and available. As Arthur Barrow wasn’t available, I asked Reggie McBride to play bass, and Chet McCrackin from the Doobie Brothers as second drummer. I asked them to back me on a couple of tunes. We did a few rehearsals and went into Sound City studio. It came out pretty good but really nothing special. I shopped it around and managed to get some air play but it eventually died a slow death. I recently discovered about twenty copies with covers in a box of stuff that I had put away in a closet. Garage sale bait?

IB: Are you happy to relay the true story behind Jumbo Go Away?

DW: It’s hard to explain this without sounding pompous or rude, so I will just say that while in Detroit waiting with Frank for the hotel elevator to arrive to take us to our rooms, the lady in question appeared again! (She had followed us/me for the last week to every gig, hotel, restaurant.) Having tried on more than one occasion to let her know that we were not going to become husband and wife, I finally just said “Jumbo, go away.” The following day at soundcheck, Frank handed me a song he had written the night before and wanted me to sing. It was Jumbo!

IB: How did you and Janet “The Planet” first get together?

DW: We first met in 1978. We were playing in New York at The Palladium, doing our annual Halloween shows. Frank filmed Baby Snakes the year before and Janet had no idea that she was included in the final film. When Frank saw her, he said “I’m so glad to see you here; you were so fantastic in my new movie.” She was brought backstage and that is when I first met her. We started dating in April of 1987 and were married in August of ’89.

IB: Which was your favourite tour with Frank and why?

DW: This is a tough one to call. The 75/76 Bongo Fury tour with Terry, George, Napi, Tom, Don and Frank was a whirlwind. It was the first time I had ever played to such HUGE audiences. I had to work like hell to keep up with all of the material that was developing on a daily basis. My music reading skills were nowhere near that of the other members. This tour was great, but my all time favourite would have to be the 78/79 European/North America tour: getting to play with Vinnie Colaiuta, Tommy Mars, Ed Mann, Arthur Barrow, Peter Wolf, Ike Willis, and Frank EVERY DAY! There is no way to describe the absolute euphoria of being in the middle of all of that magic. I get chills just talking about it. I know that everyone that caught that tour will back me up on this.

IB: I was there at the Hammersmith Odeon, and I concur! Any idea why you weren’t credited on the Thing-Fish album?

DW: I wasn’t aware that I was on this album until someone brought it to my attention. I think the only cuts that I appear on are The Meek, and possibly Torchum Never Stops, but I will have to listen to it to be sure. In any event, I am sure that it was just an oversight as Frank has always been fair in all of the business dealings that I have been involved in.

IB: When was the last time you spoke with Frank?

DW: I had been in touch with Frank and Gail on a fairly regular basis and was out to see them earlier that year. I got a call from Gail telling me that if I wanted to see Frank that I should come soon. I knew what that meant, and was on a plane to LA the next day. That was 14 November 1993. Frank died on 4 December 1993, less than three weeks after my visit. We ALL still cry.

IB: You’ve made one solo album – Spare Parts. How did that come about?

DW: In 1991, I was invited to play at Zappa’s Universe at the Ritz in NYC, a concert celebrating Frank’s music. While there I had a chance to hear and meet Mats Oberg & Morgan Ågren – two of the most talented and beautiful people I had ever met. We became fast friends and agreed that we should find a way to play together in the future. Fast forward to 1995. I got a call from Erik Palm (project manager/producer at Botnia Musik in Sweden) who at the time was in charge of booking talent for the Umeå Jazz Festival and was close friends with Mats & Morgan. Erik was also a great fan of Beefheart’s and wanted to put something together to make more people aware of Don’s art and music. This was just the perfect excuse for us to finally play together again. The band was to be Morgan Agren (drums), Mats Oberg (keyboards), Jimmy Ågren (guitar), Rolf Oberg (bass), me (slide guitar) and the fabulous Freddy Wadling (vocals). We did a gig in Umeå and two sold out shows at Club Fasching in Stockholm that were both filmed and recorded. We are thinking now about re-issuing the CD titled The Music of Captain Beefheart. Fast forward one more time to 1997. I had been speaking with Morgan about getting together to play again and he contacted Erik Palm who invited us to put something together under my name and he would book us for the ’97 Umeå Jazz Festival as well as some club dates. Great! At the end of this little mini tour, brothers Morgan and Jimmy suggested that I record some of the material that we had been playing in our shows. They had a little studio in their parents’ home in Umeå. We recorded 10 tunes on the first day. The following day we recorded the vocals and I discovered that their sauna had a great natural reverb if you put a mike in the metal heater box. Total time for the entire project, 18 hours. Morgan recorded it all on ADAT and did the mastering at his studio in Stockholm. We had no major distribution but thanks to UAE and Per Wikstrom, we had limited distribution throughout Sweden and parts of Europe. Although receiving some great initial reviews it just kind of went away. We are currently planning a re-issue later this year which will also be made available on line.

IB: What do you think of Mike Keneally, with whom you duetted on Sleep Dirt at the Umeå festival in 2003?

DW: I think Mike Keneally's musical talents are breathtaking, and he is an amazing person. I love him.

IB: What are the chances of you being a Zappa Plays Zappa special guest at some point?

DW: When ZPZ played The Tabernacle in Atlanta on 12 December 2006, I was asked to play with them on one song.

IB: That’s right, you played Advance Romance.

DW: I just saw them again a few months ago when they played at The Variety Theater here in Atlanta and they really sounded great.

IB: How did the Magic Band reunion come about?

DW: In 2001, John French (Drumbo) was approached by Paul Smith at the suggestion of BBC Producer Elaine Shepherd to see if there was any possibility of the Magic Band re-forming for a couple of dates. One was to be in Los Angeles, and the other in England. John had already enlisted Mark Boston (Rockette Morton), Bill Harkleroad (Zoot Horn Rollo), and had tried to interest Jeff Cotton (Antennae Jimmy Siemmens) but he wasn’t interested so they called me as I had played in The Magic Band with John and was familiar with most of the material. I flew out to Lancaster for a couple days rehearsal to see if this could work. We had all agreed beforehand on 3–4 songs that we would use as a trial balloon. Steal Softly Through Snow, Moonlight On Vermont, My Human Gets Me Blues, and one other tune that slips my mind. I have to admit that I was not as prepared as I should have been. I had just recovered from a bad case of bronchitis that had me hospitalized and on my ass for three weeks so I was not 100%. Zoot was great. It was the first time I had met him and we hit it off pretty good. Besides music we both had a love of beer! We all decided that this combination of players could work. So we let Paul Smith know that we had a band and to start finalizing the business end of it and set up some real dates. Long story short, ten months passed with no solid deal and Zoot passed on it. That was really a drag. Without Bill in the mix it didn’t look good. By this time we were so wired to play that we decided that there had to be a way to salvage this opportunity. A year later in August 2002, along came Barry Hogan of All Tomorrows Parties and made us a much better offer with a signed contract for three concerts: Camber Sands ATP, Shepherds Bush Empire, and the Long Beach California All Tomorrow’s Parties concert at the Queen Mary Ship. We made one last attempt to entice Zoot to join us as we now had a contract but he had made his mind up not to be involved. John French was the one that made this all happen. The one thing that John insisted on (and we all agreed on) was that whoever we got to play would have to be a former member of The Magic Band. After running a few different scenarios we pretty much agreed that it would have to be a guitar player as most of the material that we wanted to do required two guitars. Gary Lucas’s name was brought up. Gary had been Don’s manager, had played on stage with The Magic Band, and appeared as a guest on the album Doc At The Radar Station. Plus he was a great guitarist.

IB: Any chance the reformed Magic Band will play together again?

DW: “Never Say Never”

IB: I understand you recently ran a scenery workshop?

DW: I was a 1/3 partner/owner of a scenery shop here in Atlanta called ‘MDM Scenery Works’. I resigned after 3-4 years as it took so much of my time and didn’t allow for me to do anything else.

IB: Okay, final question: what can the fans expect from you at Zappanale?

DW: This is going to be a very different musical experience for me in that I will have a chance to play with a lot of different bands from around the world. I hope to sit in with whoever would like me to. I was initially invited to play as a special guest of Paul Green’s School Of Rock. I think that playing with all of those kids will be an amazing experience. I’m so happy that Frank’s music is still being studied and celebrated all over the world. I’m absolutely certain that Frank would be pleased to know that this is happening. My chops are up as I have never stopped playing or singing since leaving Frank and Don. I love to play and am still as passionate about it as when I first started. I think that Zappanale will be full of surprises. People can expect PGSOR and me to play a lot of great selections from both Frank’s and Don’s catalogue. I will be playing a LOT of slide guitar and doing a few vocals as well. I’m going to bring the same guitars that I used when I toured and recorded with both Frank and Beefheart to keep my guitar tones as close to the original recordings as possible. I can’t wait to meet the new fans, and maybe some older fans from ‘back in the day’. Janet “The Planet” from Baby Snakes will be with me and she’s bringing her pitchfork – so “Jumbo” better keep her distance.

***

It is highly very that this interview will never appear in a future edition of T’Mershi Duween, so I’m not sure why I even mentioned it. Photo of Denny courtesy of Denny. Nice man.

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