Dweezil Zappa
Dweezil Zappa is Frank Zappa's second child of four, first son, born September 5, 1969. He is a musician (guitarist) himself, recorded solo albums, as well as collaborated with his brother Ahmet Zappa in a group named "Z". Dweezil Zappa ied the Frank Zappa-tribute band named "Zappa Plays Zappa" from 2006.
Biography
Dweezil was originally named IAN (Ian Underwood) DONALD (Don Van Vliet - a.k.a. Captain Beefheart) CALVIN (Cal Schenkel) EUCLID (Euclid James Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood)...
When Dweezil was born, Gail decided to have 'natural childbirth.' At that time, the only hospital in Los Angeles that would allow this process to occur with a Dad in the delivery room was Hollywood
Presbyterian Hospital.
When it was time for the Big Delivery, we experienced a slight delay -- we had to fill out a mass of papers before they'd let us in, riddled with irrelevant questions like: "What religion are you?"
Gail looked at me and said, "What do we put?" I said, "Musician."
That was the first thing that upset the admitting nurse. The second thing to spoil her afternoon was when she asked: "What are you going to name the child?" Gail said, "Dweezil."
Gail's got a funny-looking little toe which had been the source of family amusement so often that it had acquired a 'technical name': it wasn't really a toe -- it was a "Dweezil." I thought then, and continue to think today, that Dweezil is a nice name. Fuck the nurse if she didn't like it.
The nurse pleaded and pleaded with us not to name the child Dweezil. Labor pains and all, she was going to make Gail stand there unless we gave her another name to put on the form. I couldn't see letting Gail suffer just to argue the point, so I rattled off an assortment of first names of guys we knew: IAN (Underwood) DONALD (Van Vliet) CALVIN (Schenkel) EUCLID (James "Motorhead" Sherwood). As a result, Dweezil's original birth certificate name was Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa. The nurse thought that was okay.
In spite of this harrowing experience, we always called him Dweezil. He was five years old when he discovered the real names on his birth certificate.
(I was in my mid-twenties when I found out! Up until the time I had to get a passport for the first European tour, I thought my name was Francis -- a name I had always hated. In order to get the passport, I had to present my birth certificate -- a mysterious document I had never seen before. My mother mailed it to me from California, and on it, much to my delight, was a name OTHER THAN FRANCIS -- well, it wasn't that good -- "Frank" isn't much of a bargain -- but I had thought for years, even printing it on album covers, that I was Francis Vincent Zappa Junior. How could I be such a fool?)
Dweezil was very upset, and demanded that steps be taken to rectify this tragedy. We hired an attorney and had his name legally changed to Dweezil.
Dweezil on FZ (at http://www.musicforpets.com/dweez.html) under the heading "Dweezil's Favorite Solos by Dweezil's Favorite Guitar Players": "Besides being inspirational in my life by virtue of being my father, Frank's playing has had a profound affect on me. Of course he influenced me early on but it wasn't until I had several years of playing experience that I could truly appreciate what he was doing with the guitar. When I first started playing I was 12. Frank's music seemed impossible to play. It was amazing to listen to but horrific to try and learn. His imagination was so powerful and so musical it was devastating. There are so many things about his music that I love but mainly I've always admired his soloing style. I think he was fearless when he played. I loved his description of his solos... He called them 'Air Sculptures'. My favorite 'Air Sculptures' of Frank's are: 1. 'Ship Ahoy' from 'Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar'. (That whole album actually deserves a mention... especially 'Deathless Horsie') 2. 'Watermelon In Easter Hay' from 'Joe's Garage'. That coincidentally is also one of my Mom's all time favorites. 3. 'Black Napkins' from 'Zoot Allures'."
Facts, relation to Frank Zappa's music
- Currently (2006-2007) leading the Frank Zappa-tribute band named "Zappa Plays Zappa", which also features as guests on various shows the musicians who originally played with Frank Zappa.
- As a baby, appeared on the Dutch VPRO documentary The True Story Of 200 Motels, and can be heard on the interview disc "Incredibly Frank".
- "My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama", album (1988, Chrysalis Records VK 41633) and single.
- "Havin' A Bad Day" (LP, Barking Pumpkin ST-74204, August 22, 1986), produced by FZ.
- Shot the front cover photo for "Zappa In New York".
- Plays guitar solos on "Sharleena" (probably not on the 1970 Chunga's Revenge) and "Stevie's Spanking" on "Them Or Us".
- Guest vocals on "Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention".
- Guitar solo on "Whipping Post" on "Does Humor Belong In Music?".
- Contributed to "Sharleena" on "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3"
- Barks on the track "Waffenspiel" on "Civilization Phaze III".
- Played lead guitar on "Dirty Love" and "Chunga's Revenge" on the "Zappa's Universe" video.
- Produced the "Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa" CD, and sequenced and edited the tracks with Spencer Chrislu; also wrote the liner notes.
- Played lead guitar on "Chunga's Revenge" and "Bavarian Sunset" on "Trance-Fusion"
- Voice of Ajax, son of Duckman, in the "Duckman" cartoon (1994).
- "DWEEZIL (auriga Ra6b 46m145d47º6')" is one of the stars in the "One Size Fits All" (1975) "universe".
See also
- See more of the Zappa Household:
- Gail Sloatman (Gail Zappa)
- Moon Zappa (Moon Unit Zappa)
- Ahmet Zappa (Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa)
- Diva Zappa (Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen Zappa)
- Zappa Plays Zappa
External links
- Dweezil Zappa article on Wikipedia