Difference between revisions of "Aynsley Dunbar"
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| − | Aynsley Dunbar | + | [[File:Aynsley Dunbar.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Aynsley Dunbar in the sleeve of ''[[Carnegie Hall]]''.]] |
| + | [[Image:ADunbarDrum2.jpg|right|frame|Aynsley Dunbar]] | ||
| + | '''Aynsley Thomas Dunbar''' (Born January 10, 1946, Liverpool, England) is a British drummer, who played with [[John Mayall]] and later [[Jeff Beck]] and Frank Zappa. | ||
| − | + | ==Early career== | |
| − | [[Category: | + | Dunbar was a member of [[John Mayall]]'s Bluesbreakers, along with [[Wikipedia:Peter Green (musician)|Peter Green]] & John McVie who would form Fleetwood Mac. He then joined the [[Jeff Beck]] Group, before forming his own band 'Retaliation'. |
| − | [[Category: | + | |
| + | ==Frank Zappa== | ||
| + | |||
| + | In the winter of 1969 Retaliation appeared at the 5-day [[Actuel Festival]] in [[Belgium]], which was also attended by [[Biography|Frank Zappa]], acting in the unlikely role of Master of Ceremonies. At this event, Zappa got to jam on two numbers with Dunbar's band, which included keyboardist Tommy Eyre and bassist [[Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski)|Alex Dmochowski]], (aka [[Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski)|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, UK|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 [[70/06/28 Shepton Mallet UK Bath & West Showground|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) (he can be heard during ''[[A Typical Sound Check]]'' and ''[[Here Comes The Gear, Lads]]'') | ||
| + | *[[The Lost Episodes]] (Feb 1996) | ||
| + | *[[Joe's Domage]] (Oct 2004) | ||
| + | *[[Quaudiophiliac]] (Sep 2004) | ||
| + | *[[Zappa/Erie]] (2022) (during the audience participation, Zappa answers a question from a fan where Aynsley Dunbar is? This also inspired the title of the article ''[[Frank Zappa: 'Frenk! Frenk! Ees Aynsley playeeng?']]'') | ||
| + | * [[Funky Nothingness]] (2023) | ||
| + | |||
| + | As a member of bands on FZ's [[:Category:Beat The Boots|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) | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Video appearances== | ||
| + | [[File:Phyllis Altenhaus and Aynsley Dunbar in Uncle Meat.jpg|300px|thumb|right|[[Phyllis Altenhaus]] and Aynsley Dunbar in ''[[Uncle Meat (The Film)|Uncle Meat]]''.]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | Aynsley Dunbar also appears in ''[[200 Motels (The Film)|Uncle Meat]]'' and in ''[[Uncle Meat (The Film)|Uncle Meat]]'', where he asks [[Phyllis Altenhaus]] and later [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood]] to beat him with a toilet brush. He can be seen in ''[[Video From Hell]]'' and ''[[The True Story Of 200 Motels]]'' too. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Dunbar performed music and additional voices for [[Charles Swenson]]'s ''[[Down and Dirty Duck]]''. In ''[[Frank Zappa (1971 Documentary)]]'', Zappa is seen watching an amateur sex movie featuring Aynsley Dunbar and a groupie. Dunbar also appears in the documentary ''[[Peefeeyatko]]'' (1971). | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Later career== | ||
| + | From the mid-1970s on, Dunbar played in the bands Journey (1974-1978), Jefferson Starship, [[The Tubes]] and Whitesnake, among many others. He also played on [[Shuggie Otis]]' ''Freedom Flight'' (1971) and [[Flo & Eddie]]'s ''The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie'' (1972) and ''Flo & Eddie'' (1973). | ||
| + | |||
| + | He performed on [[David Bowie]]'s ''Pin-Ups'' (1973) and ''Diamond Dogs'' (1974) and [[Lou Reed]]'s ''Berlin'' (1973). | ||
| + | |||
| + | In 2008, he released a solo album, ''Mutiny'' (2008). | ||
| + | |||
| + | Dunbar was one of the musicians whose penis was sculpted by [[Cynthia Plaster-Caster]] <ref>https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/cynthia-albritton-rock-star-penis-sculptures-died-74/</ref> (sculpted on 30 September 1970, when he was still a member of the band Journey). She described Dunbar as ''"the most difficult"'' contributor: ''"He wouldn't dip into the canister until he thought he was big and beefy enough. I was wasting a lot of alginate waiting for him."''<ref>https://www.mtv.com/news/1122292/legendary-rock-groupie-displays-plaster-caster-collection/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Frank Zappa about Aynsley Dunbar== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ''"Another drummer that I really enjoyed playing with was Aynsley Dunbar. He was great. He could shuffle his brains out. He was just a shuffling guy."'' - Frank Zappa in ''[[Zappa 89-7]]'', interview by Deborah Parisi, Rhythm, July 1989. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | <references/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==External links== | ||
| + | * [[Wikipedia:Aynsley Dunbar]] | ||
| + | *[http://www.aynsleydunbar.com Official website] | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Category:Bandmembers|Dunbar]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Tributes & Covers|Dunbar]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Drums|Dunbar]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Tambourine players|Dunbar]] | ||
Latest revision as of 12:45, 12 July 2026
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (Born January 10, 1946, Liverpool, England) is a British drummer, who played with John Mayall and later Jeff Beck and Frank Zappa.
Contents
Early career
Dunbar 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'.
Frank Zappa
In the winter of 1969 Retaliation appeared at the 5-day Actuel Festival in Belgium, which was also attended by Frank Zappa, acting in the unlikely role of Master of Ceremonies. At this event, Zappa 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) (he can be heard during A Typical Sound Check and Here Comes The Gear, Lads)
- The Lost Episodes (Feb 1996)
- Joe's Domage (Oct 2004)
- Quaudiophiliac (Sep 2004)
- Zappa/Erie (2022) (during the audience participation, Zappa answers a question from a fan where Aynsley Dunbar is? This also inspired the title of the article Frank Zappa: 'Frenk! Frenk! Ees Aynsley playeeng?')
- Funky Nothingness (2023)
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)
Video appearances
Aynsley Dunbar also appears in Uncle Meat and in Uncle Meat, where he asks Phyllis Altenhaus and later Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood to beat him with a toilet brush. He can be seen in Video From Hell and The True Story Of 200 Motels too.
Dunbar performed music and additional voices for Charles Swenson's Down and Dirty Duck. In Frank Zappa (1971 Documentary), Zappa is seen watching an amateur sex movie featuring Aynsley Dunbar and a groupie. Dunbar also appears in the documentary Peefeeyatko (1971).
Later career
From the mid-1970s on, Dunbar played in the bands Journey (1974-1978), Jefferson Starship, The Tubes and Whitesnake, among many others. He also played on Shuggie Otis' Freedom Flight (1971) and Flo & Eddie's The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie (1972) and Flo & Eddie (1973).
He performed on David Bowie's Pin-Ups (1973) and Diamond Dogs (1974) and Lou Reed's Berlin (1973).
In 2008, he released a solo album, Mutiny (2008).
Dunbar was one of the musicians whose penis was sculpted by Cynthia Plaster-Caster [1] (sculpted on 30 September 1970, when he was still a member of the band Journey). She described Dunbar as "the most difficult" contributor: "He wouldn't dip into the canister until he thought he was big and beefy enough. I was wasting a lot of alginate waiting for him."[2]
Frank Zappa about Aynsley Dunbar
"Another drummer that I really enjoyed playing with was Aynsley Dunbar. He was great. He could shuffle his brains out. He was just a shuffling guy." - Frank Zappa in Zappa 89-7, interview by Deborah Parisi, Rhythm, July 1989.
