Difference between revisions of "Dweezil Zappa"

From Zappa Wiki Jawaka
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(18 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[Image:Fredzep.jpg|right|thumb|Fred Zeppelin rehearsal (Dweezil on right)]]'''Dweezil Zappa''' is  Frank Zappa's second child of four, first son, born September 5, 1969. He is a musician having played guitar from an early age.  As a 12 year old he was rehearsing in a band called ''Fred Zeppelin''. 
+
__NOTOC__
  
[[Dweezil Zappa|Dweezil]] was originally named '''IAN''' (after [[Ian Underwood]]) '''DONALD''' (after [[Don Van Vliet]]) '''CALVIN''' (after [[Cal Schenkel]]) '''EUCLID''' (after  [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood|Euclid James Sherwood]])
+
[[File:Frank Zappa and Dweezil.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Frank Zappa and Dweezil, 1980.]]
  
<blockquote><p>
+
'''Dweezil Zappa''' (September 5, 1969) is  Frank and [[Gail Zappa]]'s second child and oldest son. He is the brother of [[Moon Zappa]], [[Ahmet Zappa]] and [[Diva Zappa]]. Dweezil was named after one of Gail's toes. He was originally named '''IAN''' (after [[Ian Underwood]]) '''DONALD''' (after [[Captain Beefheart|Don Van Vliet]]) '''CALVIN''' (after [[Cal Schenkel]]) '''EUCLID''' (after  [[Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood|Euclid James 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. </p>
 
<p>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?" </p>
 
<p>Gail looked at me and said, "What do we put?" I said, "Musician." </p>
 
<p>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." </p>
 
<p>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. </p>
 
<p>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. </p>
 
<p>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. </p>
 
<p>(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?) </p>
 
<p>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. </p>
 
</blockquote>
 
<div align=right>-[[The Real Frank Zappa Book]]</div>
 
  
He recorded solo albums, as well as collaborated with his brother [[Ahmet Zappa]] in a [[wikipedia:Shampoohorn|group named "Z"]].   Dweezil Zappa ied the Frank Zappa-tribute band named "[[Zappa Plays Zappa]]" from 2006.
+
He is a musician having played guitar from an early age. [[Eddie Van Halen]] was a personal friend since the 1980s. In 2005 Dweezil married Lauren Knudsen.  
  
His career outside of the music world has ranged from providing the voice of Ajax in the [[Duckman]] cartoon to presenting [[wikipedia:Dweezil & Lisa|a TV food show]] with his then girlfriend Lisa Loeb. He married Lauren Knudsen in 2005.
+
==Frank Zappa and Dweezil==
  
 +
Zappa dedicated ''[[Hot Rats]]'' to his one month old son Dweezil in the credits. Moon and Dweezil can be seen in the Dutch documentary ''[[Frank Zappa (1971 Documentary)|Frank Zappa]]'' by [[Roelof Kiers]].
  
==Involvement with  Frank Zappa's work==
+
Dweezil is a star in the ''[[One Size Fits All]] [[:Category:One Size Fits All (The List)|universe]]'' (1975).
* First album name-check, at one month old, on the sleeve inner of [[Hot Rats]] with; "...Dedicated to '''Dweezil''', Bub & Gil"
 
* Baby Dweezil can be seen in [[The True Story Of 200 Motels]]
 
* Vocals on [[Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention]]
 
* Shot the front cover photo for [[Zappa In New York]]
 
* Guitar solo on [[Whipping Post]] on [[Does Humor Belong In Music?]]
 
* Guitar on [[Sharleena]] on [[You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3]]
 
* Barks on the track [[Waffenspiel]] on [[Civilization Phaze III]]
 
* Lead guitar on [[Dirty Love]] and [[Chunga's Revenge]] on the [[Zappa's Universe]]
 
* Produced "[[Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa]]" (with [[Spencer Chrislu]]) also wrote the liner notes.
 
* Lead guitar on "[[Chunga's Revenge]]" and "[[Bavarian Sunset]]" on "[[Trance-Fusion]]"
 
* Guitar solos [[Stevie's Spanking]] on [[Them Or Us]]
 
* "DWEEZIL - Star in the [[One Size Fits All]] [[:Category:One Size Fits All (The List)|universe]]
 
* Led [[Zappa Plays Zappa]]
 
  
===Documentary appearances===
+
Dweezil photographed the album cover of ''[[Zappa In New York]]'' (1977). He sang on the album ''[[Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention]]'' and played a guitar solo during ''[[Stevie's Spanking]]'' on ''[[Them Or Us]]'' (1984) and  ''[[Whipping Post]]'' on ''[[Does Humor Belong In Music?]] (1986)''. Dweezil also played guitar on some tracks of ''[[You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3]]''. He provided barks on the track ''[[Waffenspiel]]'' on ''[[Civilization Phaze III]] (1994)''.
  
He was interviewed in [[Frank Scheffer]]'s documentaries ''[[Frank Zappa: The Present Day Composer Refuses To Die]]'' (2000), ''[[Frank Zappa Phase II: The Big Note]]'' (2002) and ''[[Frank Zappa: Pioneer Of Future Music, parts 1 & 2]]'' (2007), as well ''[[Cry Baby:The Pedal that Rocks the World]]''.
+
Zappa played a guest role on ''[[Miami Vice]]'', because Dweezil liked to watch the series. Dweezil is also mentioned during ''[[A Few Moments With Brother A. West]]'': ''"I ask you, Mr. Frank Zappa, what kind of man can name a child Moon Unit?"''.  
  
===Own Recordings===
+
Dweezil played lead guitar on ''[[Dirty Love]]'' and ''[[Chunga's Revenge]]'' on ''[[Zappa's Universe]] (1991)'' and during ''[[Chunga's Revenge]]'' and ''[[Bavarian Sunset]]'' on ''[[Trance-Fusion]]''. He produced and wrote liner notes for ''[[Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa]]'' (with [[Spencer Chrislu]]) (1996).
  
* My Mother is a Space Cadet (1982)
+
He performed ''Rhythmatist'' on ''[[The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAA Birthday Bundle]]'' (2006) and ''[[The Deathless Horsie]]'' and ''[[Peaches En Regalia]]'' on ''[[The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAAAA Birthday Bundle]]'' (2010).
* [[Havin' A Bad Day]] (1986)
 
* [[My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama (The Album)|My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama]] (1988)
 
* Confessions (1991)
 
* Automatic (2000)
 
* [[Go with What You Know]] (2006)
 
* [[Return Of The Son Of...]] (2010)
 
  
 +
He organized the ''[[Zappa Plays Zappa]]'' tours.
 +
 +
==Documentary appearances==
 +
[[File:Dweezil Zappa - Zappa Plays Zappa advert.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Frank Zappa and Dweezil, 2008.]]
 +
 +
Dweezil was interviewed in ''[[BBC Television Tribute]]'' (1993), ''[[Ein Leben Als Extravaganza - Das Genie Frank Zappa]]'' (1994) and [[Frank Scheffer]]'s documentaries ''[[Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die]]'' (2000), ''[[Frank Zappa Phase II: The Big Note]]'' (2002) and ''[[Frank Zappa: Pioneer Of Future Music, parts 1 & 2]]'' (2007), as well ''[[Cry Baby:The Pedal that Rocks the World]]''.
 +
 +
==Own recordings==
 +
[[Image:Fredzep.jpg|right|thumb|Fred Zeppelin rehearsal (Dweezil on right)]]
 +
 +
As a 12 year old he was rehearsing in a band called ''Fred Zeppelin''. Dweezil recorded solo albums, as well as collaborated with his brother [[Ahmet Zappa]] in [[wikipedia:Shampoohorn|group named "Z"]]. Dweezil Zappa tied the Frank Zappa tribute band named "[[Zappa Plays Zappa]]" from 2006 on. He played on [[Diva Zappa]]'s ''When the Ball Drops'' (1999).
 +
 +
* ''My Mother is a Space Cadet''(1982)
 +
* ''[[Havin' A Bad Day]]'' (1986)
 +
* ''[[My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama (The Album)|My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama]]'' (1988)
 +
* ''[[Confessions]]'' (1991)
 +
* ''Automatic (2000)
 +
* ''[https://www.discogs.com/Dweezil-Zappa-Go-With-What-You-Know/release/1777321 Go with What You Know]'' (2006)
 +
* ''[[Via Zammata']]'' (2015)
 +
 +
==Other appearances==
 +
 +
He voiced the character Ajax in the animated TV series ''[[Duckman]]'' and presented [[wikipedia:Dweezil & Lisa|a TV food show]] with his then girlfriend Lisa Loeb. Dweezil and Moon appeared in the film ''Behind The Seams'', along with [[Soupy Sales]].
 +
 +
Dweezil played ''The Last Sound Love Makes'' on Don Johnson's album ''Heartbeat'' (1986). He played on ''Love Emergency'' on the album ''Show Me'' (1987) by The Covergirls, ''Jingo'' on ''Just Visiting This Planet (1987)'' by Jellybean, ''Sleep Won't Come'' on Maria Vidal's eponymous 1987 album, ''Wipe Out'' on ''Wipe Out'' (1988) by The Fat Boys, ''Purple Haze'' on Winger's 1988 eponymous album, ''Under My Thumb'' on ''Leader Of The Banned'' (1990) by Sam Kinison, ''Pornograffiti'' (1990) by Extreme, ''Diva Fever'' on ''Break Like the Wind'' (1992) by Spinal Tap, ''Moscow Calling'' on Gorky Park II (1993) by Gorky Park, ''Chewing On CCrayons'' on ''Hairpick'' (1994) by Blues Saracino, ''English Channel'' on Guitarland (1994) by Tim Pierce, ''Dead Wrong'' (1997) by Carmine Appice, ''I Whish'' by Lisa Loeb's ''Anywhere But Here'' (1999), ''Peaches'' on ''California Screamin' '' (2000) by Dixie Dregs, ''Genius In France'' on ''Poodle Play'' (2003) by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], ''Hungry Freaks, Daddy'' on ''My Weekly Reader'' (2015) by Nellie McKay.
 +
 +
He played on ''Heart Like A Gun'' (1989) by Fiona, ''Your LLast Orison'' (1992) by End Amen, ''Crazy Enough To Sing To You'' (1996) by Warren Demartini, ''Angelica'' (1997) by Angelica, ''In A Metal Mood - No More Mr. Nice Guy'' (1997) by [[Pat Boone]], ''Bumblefoot: 9.11'' (2001), ''Cake and Pie'' (2002) and ''Hello Lisa'' (2002) by Lisa Loeb, ''Todd Rundgren & His Friends'' (2002) by Todd Rundgren, ''Prince of Darkness'' (2005) by [[Ozzy Osbourne]], ''Guitar Zeus: Conquering Heroes'' (2009) by Carmen Appice, ''Stardust'' (2010) by Thierry Deruelle, ''A Kiss Before You Go'' (2011) by Katzenjammer, ''Freak Guitar - the Smorgasbord'' (2013) by [[Mattias Eklundh]], [[Morgan Ågren]]'s ''Conundrum'' (2013), ''Who Gives a Funk'' (2016) by Oz Noy, ''Grand Architects Of The Universe'' (2017) by Carl King and Derek Smalls' ''Smalls Change'' (2018). He and Moon played on ''Fear Of A Punk Planet'' (1991)
 +
 +
He, Ahmet and Gail performed backing vocals on ''[[Black Tongue]]'' on [[Gene Simmons]]' album '''Asshole'' (2004).
 +
 +
Dweezil wrote one track on ''bbg elements'' (2002) by X-Ray Dog. He wrote the foreword to the book [[Co de Kloet|Frank & Co]].
 +
 +
==Zappa about Dweezil==
 +
''"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."'' - ''[[The Real Frank Zappa Book]]''.
 +
 +
 +
<cite>
 +
:Since she was saddled with that awful name, [[wikipedia:Chaz Bono|Chastity Bono]] has given her parents much grief over it. "It helps to get into a show or something, but most of the time it's a pain," she told McCall's. The girl blames mama Cher, who was inspired by a movie ex-hubby Sonny made titled "Chastity." When his daughter complains, Sonny usually reminds her of Frank Zappa's progeny: "Be thankful we didn't name you '''Dweezil'''."  -  (New York Post, June 9, 1988) - Quoted in [[The Real Frank Zappa Book]].
 +
 +
</cite>
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
*Family
+
* [[Dweezil Goes Out To Lunch.]]
** [[Gail Zappa]]
 
** [[Moon Zappa]]
 
** [[Ahmet Zappa]]
 
** [[Diva Zappa]]  
 
  
[[wikipedia:Dweezil Zappa|Dweezil Zappa]] Wikipedia Article
+
==External links==
 +
* [[Wikipedia:Dweezil Zappa]]
 +
* [https://www.united-mutations.com/z/dweezil_zappa.htm United Mutations page.]
  
[[Category:Supporting Cast|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 
 
[[Category:Actors|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 
[[Category:Actors|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 +
[[Category:Singers|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 +
[[Category:Photographers|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 +
[[Category:Cover Artists|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 +
[[Category:Guitarists|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 
[[Category:Zappa Family|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 
[[Category:Zappa Family|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 
[[Category:Bandmembers|Zappa, Dweezil]]
 
[[Category:Bandmembers|Zappa, Dweezil]]

Latest revision as of 04:08, 11 December 2021


Frank Zappa and Dweezil, 1980.

Dweezil Zappa (September 5, 1969) is Frank and Gail Zappa's second child and oldest son. He is the brother of Moon Zappa, Ahmet Zappa and Diva Zappa. Dweezil was named after one of Gail's toes. He was originally named IAN (after Ian Underwood) DONALD (after Don Van Vliet) CALVIN (after Cal Schenkel) EUCLID (after Euclid James Sherwood).

He is a musician having played guitar from an early age. Eddie Van Halen was a personal friend since the 1980s. In 2005 Dweezil married Lauren Knudsen.

Frank Zappa and Dweezil

Zappa dedicated Hot Rats to his one month old son Dweezil in the credits. Moon and Dweezil can be seen in the Dutch documentary Frank Zappa by Roelof Kiers.

Dweezil is a star in the One Size Fits All universe (1975).

Dweezil photographed the album cover of Zappa In New York (1977). He sang on the album Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention and played a guitar solo during Stevie's Spanking on Them Or Us (1984) and Whipping Post on Does Humor Belong In Music? (1986). Dweezil also played guitar on some tracks of You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3. He provided barks on the track Waffenspiel on Civilization Phaze III (1994).

Zappa played a guest role on Miami Vice, because Dweezil liked to watch the series. Dweezil is also mentioned during A Few Moments With Brother A. West: "I ask you, Mr. Frank Zappa, what kind of man can name a child Moon Unit?".

Dweezil played lead guitar on Dirty Love and Chunga's Revenge on Zappa's Universe (1991) and during Chunga's Revenge and Bavarian Sunset on Trance-Fusion. He produced and wrote liner notes for Frank Zappa Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa (with Spencer Chrislu) (1996).

He performed Rhythmatist on The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAA Birthday Bundle (2006) and The Deathless Horsie and Peaches En Regalia on The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAAAA Birthday Bundle (2010).

He organized the Zappa Plays Zappa tours.

Documentary appearances

Frank Zappa and Dweezil, 2008.

Dweezil was interviewed in BBC Television Tribute (1993), Ein Leben Als Extravaganza - Das Genie Frank Zappa (1994) and Frank Scheffer's documentaries Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die (2000), Frank Zappa Phase II: The Big Note (2002) and Frank Zappa: Pioneer Of Future Music, parts 1 & 2 (2007), as well Cry Baby:The Pedal that Rocks the World.

Own recordings

Fred Zeppelin rehearsal (Dweezil on right)

As a 12 year old he was rehearsing in a band called Fred Zeppelin. Dweezil recorded solo albums, as well as collaborated with his brother Ahmet Zappa in group named "Z". Dweezil Zappa tied the Frank Zappa tribute band named "Zappa Plays Zappa" from 2006 on. He played on Diva Zappa's When the Ball Drops (1999).

Other appearances

He voiced the character Ajax in the animated TV series Duckman and presented a TV food show with his then girlfriend Lisa Loeb. Dweezil and Moon appeared in the film Behind The Seams, along with Soupy Sales.

Dweezil played The Last Sound Love Makes on Don Johnson's album Heartbeat (1986). He played on Love Emergency on the album Show Me (1987) by The Covergirls, Jingo on Just Visiting This Planet (1987) by Jellybean, Sleep Won't Come on Maria Vidal's eponymous 1987 album, Wipe Out on Wipe Out (1988) by The Fat Boys, Purple Haze on Winger's 1988 eponymous album, Under My Thumb on Leader Of The Banned (1990) by Sam Kinison, Pornograffiti (1990) by Extreme, Diva Fever on Break Like the Wind (1992) by Spinal Tap, Moscow Calling on Gorky Park II (1993) by Gorky Park, Chewing On CCrayons on Hairpick (1994) by Blues Saracino, English Channel on Guitarland (1994) by Tim Pierce, Dead Wrong (1997) by Carmine Appice, I Whish by Lisa Loeb's Anywhere But Here (1999), Peaches on California Screamin' (2000) by Dixie Dregs, Genius In France on Poodle Play (2003) by "Weird Al" Yankovic, Hungry Freaks, Daddy on My Weekly Reader (2015) by Nellie McKay.

He played on Heart Like A Gun (1989) by Fiona, Your LLast Orison (1992) by End Amen, Crazy Enough To Sing To You (1996) by Warren Demartini, Angelica (1997) by Angelica, In A Metal Mood - No More Mr. Nice Guy (1997) by Pat Boone, Bumblefoot: 9.11 (2001), Cake and Pie (2002) and Hello Lisa (2002) by Lisa Loeb, Todd Rundgren & His Friends (2002) by Todd Rundgren, Prince of Darkness (2005) by Ozzy Osbourne, Guitar Zeus: Conquering Heroes (2009) by Carmen Appice, Stardust (2010) by Thierry Deruelle, A Kiss Before You Go (2011) by Katzenjammer, Freak Guitar - the Smorgasbord (2013) by Mattias Eklundh, Morgan Ågren's Conundrum (2013), Who Gives a Funk (2016) by Oz Noy, Grand Architects Of The Universe (2017) by Carl King and Derek Smalls' Smalls Change (2018). He and Moon played on Fear Of A Punk Planet (1991)

He, Ahmet and Gail performed backing vocals on Black Tongue on Gene Simmons' album 'Asshole (2004).

Dweezil wrote one track on bbg elements (2002) by X-Ray Dog. He wrote the foreword to the book Frank & Co.

Zappa about Dweezil

"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." - The Real Frank Zappa Book.


Since she was saddled with that awful name, Chastity Bono has given her parents much grief over it. "It helps to get into a show or something, but most of the time it's a pain," she told McCall's. The girl blames mama Cher, who was inspired by a movie ex-hubby Sonny made titled "Chastity." When his daughter complains, Sonny usually reminds her of Frank Zappa's progeny: "Be thankful we didn't name you Dweezil." - (New York Post, June 9, 1988) - Quoted in The Real Frank Zappa Book.

See also

External links