Mallard was the name of an American band featuring ex-members of

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

Magic Band The 6-meter band is the lowest portion of the very high frequency (VHF) radio spectrum (50.000-54.000 MHz) internationally allocated to amateur radio use. The term refers to the average signal wavelength of 6 meters. Although located in ...

. In early 1974, after the recording of the uncharacteristically mainstream ''

Unconditionally Guaranteed ''Unconditionally Guaranteed'' is the eighth LP by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in 1974. It was recorded at Hollywood Sound, Los Angeles. Upon release it was criticised for being too commercial; even so, it failed to give Beef ...

'' album, the tensions between

and bandmembers

Bill Harkleroad Bill Harkleroad (born January 8, 1949), known professionally as Zoot Horn Rollo, is an American guitarist. He is best known for his work with Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. In 2003, he was ranked No. 62 in a ''Rolling Stone'' magazin ...

(Zoot Horn Rollo),

Mark Boston Rockette Morton (born Mark Boston; July 14, 1949 in Salem, Illinois) is an American musician, best known as a bassist and guitarist for Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band in the 1960s and 1970s. Career In 1963, after moving to Lancaster, Cali ...

(Rockette Morton) and Art Tripp III (Ed Marimba) had finally reached a breaking point, and the three members left Beefheart's

. Together, they formed Mallard, with Sam Galpin as

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

ist and Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards, releasing their

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

debut album in 1975, with logistical support from

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...

(of Jethro Tull fame), who financed the recording using his mobile recording unit on his English estate. The debut included a version of the Captain Beefheart instrumental "Peon", as Harkleroad felt the group could improve on the original. Anderson's involvement with Mallard included recording with the group, but Harkleroad later destroyed these recordings. John French (Drumbo) was originally involved with the band, and co-wrote some songs. In 1976, they released their second and last album, ''In a Different Climate'', and performed some concerts in the United Kingdom. George Dragotta now had been recruited as their

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

, and after Beefheart fired John Thomas, he too joined on keyboards. Thomas was briefly involved in the Magic Band and in the early 1970s had been in a band called Rattlesnakes and Eggs with John French. Despite the principal members' years together and unique musical abilities, as well as support from the British musical press, Mallard never achieved commercial success. In 1994, both LPs by Mallard were re-released on CD by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

in the UK and in the US.

Personnel

* Bill Harkleroad (aka

Zoot Horn Rollo Bill Harkleroad (born January 8, 1949), known professionally as Zoot Horn Rollo, is an American guitarist. He is best known for his work with Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. In 2003, he was ranked No. 62 in a ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

) - guitar * Mark Boston (aka

Rockette Morton Rockette Morton (born Mark Boston; July 14, 1949 in Salem, Illinois) is an American musician, best known as a bassist and guitarist for Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band in the 1960s and 1970s. Career In 1963, after moving to Lancaster, Cali ...

) - bass, lead vocals and guitar *

Art Tripp Arthur Dyer Tripp III (born September 10, 1944) is an American retired musician who is best known for his work as a percussionist with the original version of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention during the 1960s and Captain Beefheart and ...

III (aka Ed Marimba, Ted Cactus) - drums, percussion, marimba * Sam Gilpin - lead vocals, piano * John 'Rabbit' Bundrick -

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

piano * Barry Morgan - percussion * George Dragotta - drums (2nd LP) *

John McFee John McFee (born September 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long-time member of The Doobie Brothers. Biography Some of McFee's early and non-Doobie Brothers work includes pl ...

- pedal steel guitar (2nd LP)
* John Thomas - keyboards, backing vocals

Discography

* '' Mallard (album), Mallard'' (Virgin, 1975) * ''In A Different Climate'' (Virgin, 1976) * "Harvest"/"Green Coyote" (single, Virgin, 1976) * ''Mallard/In A Different Climate'' (compilation, Virgin, 1994)

References

External links

MALLARD Web Page (Since 1995) Web Foot...Webcor Webcor...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallard American musical groups