Aynsley Dunbar

Aynsley Dunbar in the sleeve of Carnegie Hall.

Aynsley Dunbar

Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (Born January 10, 1946, Liverpool, England) is a British drummer. He was a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, along with Peter Green & John McVie who would form Fleetwood Mac. He then joined the Jeff Beck Group, before forming his own band 'Retaliation'.

In the winter of 1969 Retaliation appeared at the 5-day Actuel Festival, which was also attended by Frank Zappa, acting in the unlikely role of Master of Ceremonies. At this event FZ got to jam on two numbers with Dunbar's band, which included keyboardist Tommy Eyre and bassist Alex Dmochowski, (aka Erroneous).

Shortly after, Retaliation broke up and Dunbar briefly formed Blue Whale, with Eyre, Paul Williams (vocal), Ivan Zagni & Roger Sutton (guitars), Peter Friedberg (bass), Edward Reay-Smith (brass), and Charles Greetham (sax) . The band released an eponymous album in 1970, recorded at London's Marquee Studio, which contained a version of 'Willie The Pimp' (Track 2, 16:35). [See Hot Rats].

Meanwhile, Zappa had remembered Dunbar's skills from their jamming session in Belgium and, later in the Spring of 1970 at a meeting in The Speakeasy Club in London, FZ invited Dunbar to join his band in America. Blue Whale was disbanded and Dunbar moved his kit into Zappa's basement. Chunga's Revenge followed, although Dunbar did reappear back in England for the 1970 Bath Festival of Blues - in a one-off line-up, drumming with John Mayall, Ric Grech and Peter Green.

As a member of FZ's bands Dunbar provided drums for:

• Chunga's Revenge (Oct 1970)
• Fillmore East, June 1971 (Aug 1971)
• 200 Motels (Oct 1971, Album & Video)
• Just Another Band From L.A. (Mar 1972)
• Waka/Jawaka (Jul 1972)
• The Grand Wazoo (Nov 1972)
• Apostrophe (') (Mar 1974)
• Uncle Meat (1987 re-issue with film, as himself & Biff Junior)
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1 (May 1988)
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3 (Nov 1989)
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6 (Jul 1992)
• Playground Psychotics (Oct 1992)
• The Lost Episodes (Feb 1996)
• Joe's Domage (Oct 2004)
• Quaudiophiliac (Sep 2004)
• Funky Nothingness

As a member of bands on FZ's Beat The Boots series:

• Freaks & Motherfuckers (BTB) (Jul 1991)
• Disconnected Synapses (BTB) (Jun 1992)
• Tengo Ná Minchia Tanta (BTB) (Jun 1992)
• At The Circus (BTB) (Jun 1992)
• Swiss Cheese/Fire! (BTB) (Jun 1992)

As a member of an FZ band on other artists' albums:

• John Lennon & Yoko Ono; Plastic Ono Band: Some Time In New York City (1972 Apple)

Links

Aynsley Dunbar - Wikipedia

• Official website