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| − | '''Frank Vincent Zappa''' ([[December 21]], [[1940]] - [[December 4]], [[1993]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[Rock and roll|rock]]/[[jazz fusion]] [[music]]ian, [[composer]], and [[satire|satirist]].
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| − | ==Early life and influences==
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| − | Born in [[Baltimore, Maryland]] on [[21 December]] [[1940]], Zappa was of mixed Sicilian, Italian, Greek, Arab, French, Irish, and German ancestry. He was the oldest of four children, with two brothers and a sister. In January [[1951]] the Zappa family relocated to the west coast because of Frank's [[asthma]], settling in [[Monterey, California|Monterey]], [[California]], on the coast about 100 miles south of [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]. They moved to [[Pomona, California|Pomona]], then [[El Cajon, California|El Cajon]] before moving a short distance once again to [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] in the early [[1950s]]. By [[1955]] the Zappa family relocated to [[Lancaster, California|Lancaster]], which at the time was a small [[aircraft]] and farming town in the [[Antelope Valley]] in the [[Mojave Desert]] 73 miles north of downtown [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] north of the [[San Gabriel Mountains]]. By age 15, Frank had attended six different [[high school]]s, which may have contributed to his sense of alienation in adult life.
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| − | His father, a [[chemist]] and mathematician who was born in [[Sicily]], worked nearby at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] which had at the time a federal government chemical warfare research facility. Due to their proximity to Edwards AFB, he kept gas masks at home in case of an accident, and this evidently had a profound effect on the young Frank. References to germs, germ warfare and other aspects of the 'secret' defence industry occur throughout his work. His father once wrote and published a small mathematical volume on gambling odds.
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| − | Lancaster's location gave the young Zappa access to the exciting sounds coming from radio stations in Los Angeles and beyond, as well as exposure to the hype that went with it, and his parents were affluent enough to afford a record player, records, a TV, and musical instruments. TV also exerted a strong influence and references to TV and TV shows, including quotations from themes and advertising jingles, can be found in almost every piece he wrote.
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| − | Another formative event was a persistent sinus problem during his early teens. To Frank's lasting horror, his doctor treated the stubborn ailment by inserting a pellet of [[radium]] into his nose on a probe. Nasal imagery and references to the nose also recur, both in his writing and in the classic collage album covers created by his longtime visual collaborator, [[Cal Schenkel]].
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| − | As a student, he was bored and given to distracting the rest of the class with his antics, and was once suspended from school for a dangerous prank involving explosive chemicals and a Parents' Open House night. He left community college after one semester in order to make low-budget films. He maintained his disdain for formal education throughout his life, taking his children out of school at age 15 and refusing to pay for their college. Nevertheless, he was in essence a [[polymath]]. He was highly intelligent, ambitious and articulate, widely read, and possessed a voracious intelligence, drive, singular concentration, enormous creativity and a huge capacity for work and organisation. However, he was passionately interested in music, developing wide-ranging and highly idiosyncratic musical interests and demonstrating superior ability at an early age. His parents were not musicians but had broad musical tastes also, and he grew up influenced in equal measures by [[avant-garde]] composers such as [[Edgar Varèse]] and [[Igor Stravinsky]], local [[rhythm and blues]] and [[doo-wop]] groups (particularly local [[pachuco]] groups), and modern jazz, including [[bebop]] and [[free jazz]], all of which influences show up in his work.
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| − | Zappa was from the first interested in sounds for their own sake, which led to his interest in modern composers. His introduction to [[Stravinsky]] seems to have been a pivotal musical discovery but he was soon ranging even further afield, musically, in addition to his interests in jazz, doo-wop, R&B, and rock'n'roll. After reading a magazine review panning Varèse's dissonant drum piece in "Ionisation" (actually ''The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume One'') as 'a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds', the teenage Zappa became convinced that he should seek out Varèse's music. When he spotted a copy of ''The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume One'' in a local record store, where it was being used as a hi-fi demonstration record, he convinced the salesman to sell him the copy despite the fact that he didn't have the full price, beginning a lifelong passion for Varèse and his music. Zappa's mother gave him considerable encouragement. Although she greatly disliked Varèse's music, she was indulgent enough to give Frank the gift of a long distance call to the composer at his home in New York as a fifteenth birthday present. Unfortunately, Varèse was away in Europe at the time, but the young fan spoke to the composer's wife. He and Varèse subsequently wrote to each other. Zappa had Varèse's letter framed and he kept it for the rest of his life. [http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/zappa.html]
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| − | Zappa began his playing career on drums, taking his first lessons at school in the summer of 1953, aged 13. He drummed with local teenage combos, but later switched to guitar, which he quickly mastered. Although he performed as a singer-guitarist for most of his career, Zappa always retained a strong interest in rhythm and percussion. His bands have been notable for the excellence of their drummers and works such as ''The Black Page'' are notorious for the virtuoso complexity of their rhythmic structure and arrangement, featuring radical changes of tempo and metre and short, densely arranged passages which are contrasted with free-form breaks and extended improvisations. Classically trained percussionist and drummer [[Terry Bozzio]], who played for Zappa in the late [[1970s]] as well as playing and recording many well-known classical and avant-garde works, is on record as saying that Zappa's writing for percussion is as difficult and complex as anything else he has played.
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| − | In [[1956]] Zappa met [[Captain Beefheart]] (Don Van Vliet) while taking classes at Antelope Valley High School, when Zappa was playing guitar in a local band, The Blackouts, a racially-mixed outfit that also included Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood, who later lived with Zappa at 'Studio Z' and was a member of the Mothers of Invention, playing on many of their most famous recordings. They became close friends, influencing each other musically, and becoming collaborators in the late Sixties and mid- Seventies (on the album Bongo Fury, released 1975), although they later became estranged for a period of years. Van Vliet's own feelings about Frank Zappa were perhaps best summarized in a quote published in a March 1994 issue of Musician magazine: "I knew him for thirty-seven years, and in the end, the relationship was private."
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| − | In [[1957]] Zappa was given his first guitar and quickly developed into a highly accomplished and inventive player. He considered his solos "air sculptures", and developed an eclectic, fluent and extremely individual style, eventually becoming one of the most highly regarded electric guitarists of his time. It is possible that he might have become a professional jazz musician, but he was soon drawn into rock music, although he retained a lifelong attachment to jazz forms, voicings and structures and often drew his band members from the jazz world, if only because of the high degree of musical competence his music demanded.
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| − | Zappa's interest in composing and arranging burgeoned in his later high school years and he dreamed of being taken seriously as a composer. Although he was primarily self-taught, his music teacher gave him considerable encouragement. By his final year he was writing prolifically and had not only composed, arranged and conducted an avant-garde performance piece for the school orchestra, but had also contrived to have the event both broadcast on local radio and recorded. A portion of this historic recording is included on the CD ''The Lost Episodes''. Zappa did see his childhood dream realized, as the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] played a program of his music, and the [[Ensemble Modern]] in [[1992]] received a 20-minute ovation after performing a program of his work a the [[Frankfurt]] Opera House.
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| − | During high school Zappa had also developed a strong interest in graphic arts. After graduating in June [[1958]] he worked for a time in advertising. His sojourn in the commercial world was another important influence on his work, and within a few years Zappa was co-opting the techniques he learned as a commercial artist, and was using them to deconstruct music, the music business, the media and society at large by combining them with the ideas he had gleaned from his studies of [[dada]], [[situationism]], and [[surrealism]].
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| − | Zappa always took a keen interest in the visual presentation of his work, rapidly developing from album cover designer (e.g. ''Absolutely Free'') to director of his own films and videos. Zappa's album covers are highly distinctive, and frequently bizarre and surreal. His two most important visual collaborators were Cal Schenkel in the Sixties and early Seventies, and [[Donald Roller Wilson]] in the Eighties and Nineties. One of Zappa's best-known and best-loved album images is that created for the 1969 compilation ''Weasels Ripped My Flesh'', a disturbingly surreal painting by renowned album artist [[Neon Park]].
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| − | Zappa moved to Los Angeles in [[1959]] and spent most of the rest of his life there. He began working as a graphic artist while trying to establish himself as a musician and composer. Among his earliest professional recordings are two adventurous and remarkably accomplished scores for the low-budget films ''Run Home Slow'' and ''The World's Greatest Sinner''.
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| − | In [[1962]] he appeared as a solo artist on the [[Steve Allen]] Show performing a satirical dadaist piece involving a bicycle. Although many of the tapes of this series were later destroyed, the video of Zappa's remarkable performance survives. He married his first wife Kay the same year but the relationship soon deteriorated and they divorced two years later. In [[1963]] he began playing professionally around Los Angeles and bought the small Pal Recording Studio in [[Rancho Cucamonga, California|Rancho Cucamonga]], California (formerly called Cucamonga), which he renamed "Studio Z".
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| − | Zappa had begun recording at Pal since the early [[1960s]] and after receiving a payment for one of his film scores he was able to buy the studio. Soon after, his marriage ended and he moved out of his apartment and into the studio, where he began routinely working 12 hours per day and more, setting a pattern that would endure for almost all of his life. Although only a small business, Pal was particularly attractive to Zappa because it contained a unique 5-track tape recorder built by the previous owner, Paul Buff. At this time, only a handful of the most expensive commercial studios had multitrack facilities and for smaller studios, the industry standard was still mono or two-track. By the time he recorded his first LP with The Mothers in [[1966]] he was already an accomplished recording and mastering engineer and from his third LP on and for the rest of his career, he produced all his own work.
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| − | After being approached by a customer who wanted him to produce a suggestive tape for a stag party, Zappa and some friends jokingly faked the "erotic" recording, which purported to contain the sounds of people having sex. Unfortunately the customer turned out to be an undercover member of the Vice Squad and Zappa was jailed for ten days on charges of supplying pornography. His entrapment and brief imprisonment left a permanent mark on him, and was a key event in the formation of his [[anarchism|anti-authoritarian]] stance.
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| − | ==The Mothers of Invention==
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| − | After a short career as a professional [[songwriter]] — his elegiac "Memories of El Monte" was recorded by [[The Penguins]] — in 1964 Zappa joined a local R&B band, The Soul Giants, as a [[guitarist]]. He soon assumed leadership, renaming the [[rock band|band]] "The Mothers" (and, later still, "[[Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention]]" at the insistence of the record company).
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| − | They gradually began to gain attention on the burgeoning Los Angeles [[underground music|underground]] 'freak scene' and in 1965 they were spotted by leading record producer [[Tom Wilson]], who had earned acclaim as the producer of the seminal [[Bob Dylan]] albums ''[[Bringin' It All Back Home]]'' and ''[[Highway 61 Revisited]]'', as well as the breakthrough 'electric' version of [[Simon & Garfunkel]]'s ''[[Sounds of Silence]]''. Wilson was also notable for being one of the only African-Americans working as a major label pop producer at this time. Wilson signed The Mothers to the [[Verve Records|Verve]] label, which had built up a strong reputation for its fine modern jazz recordings in the 1940s and 1950s, but was then attempting to diversify into pop and rock, but with an "artistic" or "experimental" bent. Around this time, Zappa also met and signed with longtime manager [[Herb Cohen]].
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| − | With Wilson credited as producer, The Mothers recorded their groundbreaking double album debut ''[[Freak Out!]]'' ([[1966]]), a mixture of often topical R&B and experimental sound collage that attempted to capture the 'freak' subculture of Los Angeles at that time. One of the first record albums united by an underlying theme, it was also only the second double LP of rock music ever released, and firmly established Zappa as a major new voice in rock music. Wilson is also credited with producing the even more accomplished follow-up ''[[Absolutely Free]]''; but for the third LP, Wilson was listed as 'Executive producer', and Zappa took over as producer for all the Mothers and solo Zappa recordings issued from that time on. It's clear that even on the two first albums, Zappa was already responsible for virtually all of the musical decisions, with Wilson providing the industry clout, credibility, and connections to get the unknown group the financial resources they needed to produce a double album with use of an orchestra; by the third album, Zappa had already enough of a proven track record to allow for a more accurate description in the album's credits of their respective roles. During this period, Wilson also had Zappa collaborate with [[The Animals]] on the song "All Night Long" on their album [[Animalism]].
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| − | Zappa's second and third studio albums were landmarks of record production and were highlighted by liberal use of his famous 'cut-up' editing techniques. The brilliant ''[[Absolutely Free]]'' (1967) continued Zappa's lyrical preoccupations with the hypocrisy and conformism of American society and the sinister suppression of underground and alternative culture. It was followed by the album widely regarded as the peak of the group's late Sixties work, ''[[We're Only In It For The Money]]'' (1968) which featured some of the most radical audio editing and production yet heard in pop music, and ruthlessly satirised the [[hippie]] and [[flower power]] phenomena. The cover photo (which included [[Jimi Hendrix]]) famously parodied that of [[the Beatles]]' [[Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]].
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| − | This was bookended by two closely linked companion pieces. The dazzling audio collage ''[[Lumpy Gravy]]'' (1967) took Zappa's production techniques to a new peak and, according to Zappa himself, took nine months to edit. After ''We're Only In It For The Money'', next was his [[Doo-Wop]] tribute ''[[Cruising with Ruben & the Jets]]''. Other important Mothers recordings from this period (including the pivotal song ''Oh No'') were collected in the 1970 compilation album ''[[Weasels Ripped My Flesh]]''.
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| − | During the late Sixties Zappa continued his rapid artistic development, emerging as a superb lead guitarist, a skilled producer and engineer, and a composer and arranger of extraordinary range and facility. He increasingly used tape editing as a compositional tool; his editing skills are apparent on the stunning work he produced in the late Sixties with The Mothers.
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| − | Zappa evolved a unique compositional approach — which he dubbed 'conceptual continuity' — that ranged across virtually every genre of music. His work combines satirical lyrics and pop melodies with virtuoso instrumental prowess, where long, jazz-inflected improvisational passages are counterbalanced with densely edited and seemingly chaotic collage sequences that mix music, sound effects and snatches of conversation.
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| − | He also became famous for regularly quoting musical phrases that influenced or amused him — one of his most famous and regular quotes was the riff from the perennial Sixties rock hit 'Louie Louie', which appears in various forms in more than twenty separate recordings over the whole span of his career. He also frequently quoted from or referred to TV show themes and advertising jingles, from famous rock songs such as ''My Sharona'' and ''Stairway To Heaven'', and from classical works such as [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky's]] "The Rite Of Spring".
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| − | Zappa earned a fearsome reputation as a ruthless taskmaster who possessed a seemingly limitless capacity for work (he regularly worked as much as twenty hours a day in the studio until very late in his career) who also possessed immense technical knowledge and a photographic memory of the contents of his vast archive. He also became known for dismissing the contributions of his musicians, going so far as to withhold royalties rather than share the glory.
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| − | During a residency in New York's Greenwich Village in late 1966, Zappa became friends with [[Jimi Hendrix]] and is reputed to have introduced Hendrix to the [[Wah-wah pedal]].
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| − | The Mothers' anarchic stage shows were legendary — during one famous 1967 performance at the Garrick Theatre in [[New York City|New York]], Zappa managed to entice some soldiers from the audience onto the stage, where they proceeded to dismember a collection of baby dolls.
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| − | Around 1968 Zappa also began regularly recording his concerts, beginning with a simple two-track portable recorder and eventually progressing to a portable 48-track digital system. In the process he built up a vast archive of live recordings. In the late 1990s some of the best of these recordings were collected for the 12-CD set ''You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore''. Because of his insistence on precise tuning and timing in concert, from the 1970s on Zappa was able to augment his studio productions with excerpts from live shows, and he is known to have inserted 'live' guitar solos into the final studio recordings of some compositions.
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| − | Although they were lauded by critics and their peers and had a rabid cult following, mainstream audiences often found much of the Mothers' music, appearance and attitude impossible to comprehend, and the band was often greeted with derision. More importantly, the financial strain and interpersonal tensions involved in keeping a large jazz-rock ensemble on the road eventually led to the group's demise in 1969, although numerous members would remain with or return to Zappa in years to come.
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| − | During this period Zappa also produced the extraordinary double album ''[[Trout Mask Replica]]'' for his old friend [[Captain Beefheart]] as well as releases by [[Alice Cooper]], [[Tim Buckley]], [[Wild Man Fischer]] and [[The GTOs]].
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| − | ==1970s==
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| − | After he disbanded the original Mothers, Zappa released the acclaimed solo instrumental album [[Hot Rats]], featuring his [[jazz]]-inflected guitar playing backed by jazz, blues and R&B players session players including violinist [[Don "Sugarcane" Harris]], drummer [[John Guerin]], and bassist [[Shuggie Otis]]. It remains one of his most popular and accessible recordings and arguably had a major influence on the development of the [[jazz-rock fusion]] genre.
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| − | Around 1970 Zappa put together a new version of The Mothers that included British drummer [[Aynsley Dunbar]], jazz keyboardist [[George Duke]], previous Mothers member, multi-instrumentalist [[Ian Underwood]] and singers [[Howard Kaylan]] and [[Mark Volman]], who had been the lead singers in Sixties folk-pop band [[The Turtles]]. They were nicknamed "The Phlorescent Leach and Eddie" by Zappa. (Their own music was later published under Liccianetti Music.) Because contractual problems prevented them from recording as The Turtles or even under their own names, Volman and Kaylan were often billed as "Flo and Eddie".
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| − | The new lineup debuted on Zappa's next solo LP ''Chunga's Revenge'', which was followed by the sprawling soundtrack to the movie project ''200 Motels'', featuring both The Mothers and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. At the time George Duke was in the band and appears both in the film and on the sound track as a musician. He left the band to play with Cannonball Adderly and was replaced Don Preston from the original Mothers, who acted in the film, but is not playing on the soundtrack. This double disc album was followed by two superb live sets, ''Fillmore East - June 1971'' and ''Just Another Band From LA'', which included the 20-minute track "Billy The Mountain", Zappa's satire on rock opera, set in Southern California. The former features hilariously low-concept cover art just at the apex of the era of great rock "album cover artwork". The latter was released according to FZ to provide some royalties to the band members who were suddenly in limbo, unable to tour.
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| − | In 1971 there were two serious setbacks. While performing in [[Montreux]], Switzerland, the Mothers' equipment was destroyed when a flare set off by an audience member started a disastrous fire that burned the casino where they were playing — an event immortalised in [[Deep Purple]]'s "[[Smoke On The Water]]".
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| − | Then in December, Zappa was attacked on stage at the Rainbow Theatre, London. The jealous husband of a female fan pushed Frank offstage landing him unconscious in the orchestra pit, with serious fractures, head trauma and injuries to his back, leg, and neck, as well as a crushed larynx (which caused his voice to drop a third after it healed). This left him wheelchair bound for a time, forcing him off the road for over a year. (He was wearing a leg brace for a period thereafter, had a noticeable limp and couldn't stand for very long while onstage.) He said one leg healed shorter than the other -- a reference found years later in the lyrics of "Dancin' Fool" . He employed a bodyguard thereafter when touring, John Smothers, a former [[Los Angeles Police Department|L.A.P.D.]] officer.
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| − | In 1971-72 he released two strongly jazz-oriented solo LPs, ''Waka Jawaka'' and ''The Grand Wazoo'', which were recorded during the layoff from live concert touring, using floating lineups of session players and Mothers alumni. He began touring again in late 1972, first with a Grand Wazoo 'big band' and with groups that variously included Ian Underwood on brass and reeds, Ian's wife Ruth on vibes, Sal Marquez (trumpet), Napoleon Murphy Brock (sax and vocals), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Tom Fowler (bass), Chester Thompson (drums), George Duke (kbds, vocals) and [[Jean-Luc Ponty]] (violin).
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| − | He continued a high rate of production through the early [[1970s]], including the excellent and accessible albums ''One Size Fits All'' and ''Apostrophe'', ''OverNite Sensation'' and ''Roxy and Elswhere'' featuring ever-changing versions of a band no longer called the Mothers.
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| − | ==1980s==
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| − | In [[1980]], Zappa helped former band members [[Warren Cuccurullo]] and [[Terry Bozzio]] launch their new band, [[Missing Persons]], by letting them record their 4-song demo EP in his brand new UMRK (Utility Muffin Research Kitchen) studios.
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| − | After a break Zappa returned, and much of his later work was influenced by his use of the [[synclavier]] as a compositional and performance tool and his mastery of studio techniques for producing specific instrumental effects. His work was also more explicitly political satirising the rise of [[television evangelist]]s and the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] party.
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| − | On [[September 19]], [[1985]], Zappa testified before the [[United States Senate|US Senate]] Commerce, Technology, and Transportation committee, attacking the Parents Music Resource Center or [[PMRC]], a music [[censorship]] (though others would say [[watchdog]]) organization founded by then-Senator [[Al Gore]]'s wife [[Tipper Gore]] and including many other political wives, including the wives of five members of the committee. He said,
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| − | :"The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretational and enforcemental problems inherent in the proposal's design.
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| − | :"It is my understanding that, in law, First Amendment issues are decided with a preference for the least restrictive alternative. In this context, the PMRC's demands are the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation."
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| − | Zappa put some of the PMRC hearings to music in his song "Porn Wars." Zappa is heard interacting with Senators [[Fritz Hollings]], [[Slade Gorton]], [[Al Gore]] (who admitted to being a Zappa fan), and, most notably, a funny exchange with Florida Senator [[Paula Hawkins]] over what toys the Zappa children played with.
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| − | His last tour in a "[[rock band]] format" took place in [[1988]] with a 12-piece group which was reported to have a repertoire of over 800 (mostly Zappa) compositions, but which split acrimoniously before the tour was completed. The tour was documented on the albums ''The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life'' (Zappa "standards" and obscure cover tunes), ''Make a Jazz Noise here'' (mostly [[instrumental]] and [[experimental music]]), and ''Broadway The Hard Way'' (new original material), with bits also to be found on ''You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Volume 6.''
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| − | ==1990s==
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| − | In the early [[1990s]] Zappa devoted almost all of his energy to modern orchestral and [[synclavier]] works. In [[1990]] he was diagnosed with [[prostate cancer]], a disease which caused his death in [[1993]]. Although ill, in [[1992]] he appeared as a guest conductor with the ''[[Ensemble Modern]]'' in a series of concerts in Germany devoted to his compositions, recordings from which appeared on ''[[Yellow Shark]]''.
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| − | During these years, he edited numerous CD collections of concert recordings made throughout his career. In 1993, he completed ''[[Civilization, Phaze III]]'', a major synclavier work he had begun in the '80s. He stated in interviews that he was working on hundreds of synclavier pieces, most of which remained unfinished.
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| − | Frank Zappa died on [[December 4]], and was interred in the [[Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Westwood, Los Angeles, California|Westwood, California]].
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| − | Zappa was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in [[1995]]. That same year the only known cast of Zappa was installed in the center of [[Vilnius]], the capital of [[Lithuania]]. Zappa was immortalized by [[Konstantinas Bogdanas]], the famous Lithuanian sculptor who had previously cast portraits of [[Vladimir Lenin]]. In 2002 a bronze bust was installed in a square in [[Bad Doberan]], a small town in the north of [[Germany]], where, since 1990, there's an international Festival celebrating the music of Frank Zappa. Zappa received a posthumous [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] in [[1997]].
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| − | ==Other information==
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| − | Zappa was married twice, once to Kay Sherman (1959–1964) and then to Gail Sloatman, whom he remained with until his death. Sloatman and Zappa had four children, two sons and two daughters, all of whom had rather unusual names. They are: [[Moon Unit Zappa|Moon Unit]], [[Dweezil Zappa|Dweezil]], [[Ahmet Zappa|Ahmet Rodan]], and [[Diva Zappa|Diva]].
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| − | After his death an internet email campaign to the [[International Astronomical Union]]'s Minor Planet Center led to an [[asteroid]] being named in his honor: [[3834 Zappafrank]], the asteroid having been discovered by Czech astronomers. [http://www.klet.org/names/view.php3?astnum=3834] [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andymurkin/Resources/MusicRes/ZapRes/asteroid.html] Since then other things have been named in his honor including: another asteroid ([[16745 Zappa]]), a [[gene]] (ZapA gene of [[Proteus mirabilis]], a microbe that causes urinary tract infections [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andymurkin/Resources/MusicRes/ZapRes/ZapA.html]), a [[goby]] fish (''[[Zappa confluentus]]'' [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andymurkin/Resources/MusicRes/ZapRes/fish.html] ), a [[jellyfish]] (''[[Phialella zappa]]'' [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andymurkin/Resources/MusicRes/ZapRes/jellyfish.html which was actually named by Nando!]), an extinct [[mollusc]] (''[[Amauratoma zappa]]''), and a [[spider]] with an abdominal mark supposedly resembling Zappa's mustache (''[[Pachygnatha zappa]]'' [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andymurkin/Resources/MusicRes/ZapRes/spider.html]).
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| − | Zappa portrays the voice of the pope in a 1992 episode of [[Ren & Stimpy]].
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| − | ==Note on his name==
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| − | As his autobiography ''The Real Frank Zappa Book'' notes, his real name was "Frank", never "Francis". Until rediscovering his birth certificate as an adult, Zappa himself believed he had been christened Francis, and he is credited as Francis on some of his early albums. Some encyclopedias still incorrectly claim that his real name was "Francis".
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| − | Zappa means "hoe" in Italian.
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| − | ==Quotation==
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| − | "I _(you just fill in the blank)_, do hereby solemnly swear, in accordance with the regulations of the contract with this here rock and roll engagement, and the imbecilic laws of the State of Florida, and the respective regulations perpetrated by Red-Necks everywhere, do hereby solemnly swear, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, TO REVEAL MY TUBE, WAD, DINGUS, WEE-WEE, AND/OR PENIS ANYPLACE ON THIS STAGE!! This Does NOT include Private Showings in the motel room, however." "Mothers of Invention Anti-Smut Loyalty Oath," September 1970
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| − | == Discography ==
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| − | * ''[[Freak Out!]]'' ([[1966]])
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| − | * ''[[Absolutely Free]]'' ([[1967]])
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| − | * ''[[Lumpy Gravy]]'' ([[1967]])
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| − | * ''[[We're Only In It For The Money]]'' ([[1968]])
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| − | * ''[[Cruising with Ruben & the Jets]]'' ([[1968]])
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| − | * ''[[Uncle Meat]]'' ([[1969]])
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| − | * ''[[Mothermania|Mothermania: The Best of the Mothers]]'' ([[1969]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Worst of the Mothers]] ([[1969]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The !@#$ of the Mothers of Invention]]'' ([[1969]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Hot Rats]]'' ([[1969]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Burnt Weeny Sandwich]]'' ([[1970]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Weasels Ripped My Flesh]]'' ([[1970]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Chunga's Revenge]]'' ([[1970]])
| |
| − | * ''[[King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa]]'' ([[Jean-Luc Ponty]]) ([[1970]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Fillmore East - June 1971]]'' ([[1971]])
| |
| − | * ''[[200 Motels]]'' ([[1971]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Just Another Band From L.A.]]'' ([[1972]]) (See [[1972 in music]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Waka/Jawaka]]'' ([[1972]]) (See [[1972 in music]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The Grand Wazoo]]'' ([[1972]]) (See [[1972 in music]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Over-Nite Sensation]]'' ([[1973]]) (See [[1973 in music]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Apostrophe (album)|Apostrophe]]'' ([[1974]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Roxy & Elsewhere]]'' ([[1974]])
| |
| − | * ''[[One Size Fits All]]'' ([[1975]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Bongo Fury]]'' ([[1975]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Zoot Allures]]'' ([[1976]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Zappa In New York]]'' ([[1978]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Studio Tan]]'' ([[1978]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Sleep Dirt]]'' ([[1979]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Sheik Yerbouti]]'' ([[1979]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Orchestral Favorites]]'' ([[1979]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Joe's Garage]]'' ([[1979]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Tinseltown Rebellion]]'' ([[1981]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Shut Up 'N' Play Yer Guitar]]'' ([[1981]])
| |
| − | * ''[[You Are What You Is]]'' ([[1981]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch]]'' ([[1982]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The Man From Utopia]]'' ([[1983]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Baby Snakes]]'' ([[1983]])
| |
| − | * ''[[London Symphony Orchestra vol 1]]'' ([[1983]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger]]'' ([[1984]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Them or Us]]'' ([[1984]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Thing-Fish]]'' ([[1984]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Francesco Zappa]]'' ([[1984]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention]]'' ([[1985]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Does Humor Belong In Music?]]'' ([[1986]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Jazz From Hell]]'' ([[1986]])
| |
| − | * ''[[London Symphony Orchestra vol 2]]'' ([[1987]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Guitar (album) Frank Zappa|Guitar]]'' ([[1988]])
| |
| − | * ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1]]'' ([[1988]])
| |
| − | * ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2]]'' ([[1988]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Broadway The Hard Way]]'' ([[1989]])
| |
| − | * ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3]]'' ([[1989]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life]]'' ([[1989]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The BRT Big Band Plays Frank Zappa]]'' ([[BRT Big Band]]) ([[1990]])
| |
| − | * ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4]]'' ([[1991]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Make A Jazz Noise Here]]'' ([[1991]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Beat The Boots I]]'' 9 discs (boxed or separate) ([[1991]]):
| |
| − | ** ''[[As An Am]]'' ([[1981-82]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[The Ark]]'' ([[1968]]}
| |
| − | ** ''[[Freaks & Motherfu*#@%!]]'' ([[1970]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Unmitigated Audacity]]'' ([[1974]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Anyway The Wind Blows]]'' (2 discs) ([[1979]])
| |
| − | ** ''[['Tis The Season To Be Jelly]]'' ([[1967]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Saarbrucken 1978]]'' ([[1978]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Piquantique]]'' ([[1973]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Beat The Boots II]]'' 8 discs (boxed or separate) ([[1992]]):
| |
| − | ** ''[[Disconnected Synapses]]'' ([[1970]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Tengo Na Minchia Tanta]]'' ([[1970]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Electric Aunt Jemima]]'' ([[1968]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[At The Circus]]'' ([[1978]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Swiss Cheese/Fire!]]'' (2 discs) ([[1971]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Our Man In Nirvana]]'' ([[1968]])
| |
| − | ** ''[[Conceptual Continuity]]'' ([[1976]])
| |
| − | * ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5]]'' ([[1992]])
| |
| − | * ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6]]'' ([[1992]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Playground Psychotics]]'' ([[1992]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Yahozna Plays Zappa]]'' ([[Yahonza]]) ([[1992]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Ahead Of Their Time]]'' ([[1993]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Zappa's Universe|Zappa's Universe - A Celebration Of 25 Years Of Frank Zappa's Music]]'' ([[Joel Thorne]]/[[Orchestra of Our Time]])([[1993]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The Yellow Shark]]'' ([[Ensemble Modern]]) ([[1993]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Civilization, Phaze III]]'' ([[1994]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Harmonia Meets Zappa]]'' ([[Harmonia Ensemble]]) ([[1994]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Strictly Commercial]]'' ([[1995]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Music By Frank Zappa]]'' ([[Omnibus Wind Ensemble]]) ([[1995]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The Lost Episodes]]'' ([[1996]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Läther]]'' ([[1996]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute]]'' ([[1996]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Have I Offended Someone?]]'' ([[1997]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Frankincense: The Muffin Men Play Zappa]]'' ([[Muffin Men]]) ([[1997]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Mystery Disc]]'' ([[1998]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Cucamonga Years|Cucamonga Years: The Early Works of Frank Zappa 1962-1964]]'' ([[1998]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Cheep Thrills]]'' ([[1998]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Son of Cheep Thrills]]'' ([[1999]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Everything Is Healing Nicely]]'' ([[1999]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Frankly A Cappella]]'' ([[The Persuasions]]) ([[2000]])
| |
| − | * ''[[The Zappa Album]]'' ([[Ensemble Ambrosius]]) ([[2000]]
| |
| − | * ''[[Bohuslän Big Band plays Frank Zappa]]'' ([[Bohuslän Big Band]]) ([[2000]])
| |
| − | * ''[[FZ:OZ]]'' ([[2002]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Halloween (album)|Halloween]]'' ([[2003]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Zappa: Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions]]'' ([[Ensemble Modern]]) ([[2003]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Joe's Corsage]]'' ([[2004]])
| |
| − | * ''[[Joe's Domage]]'' ([[2004]])
| |
| − | * ''[[QuAUDIOPHILIAc]]'' ([[2004]])
| |
| − | | |
| − | == Further reading ==
| |
| − | * ''The Real Frank Zappa Book,'' by Frank Zappa and Peter Occhiogrosso, is the definitive Zappa autobiography. Includes his Senate testimony.
| |
| − | * ''No Commercial Potential--The Saga of Frank Zappa,'' by David Walley
| |
| − | * ''Frank Zappa; The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play,'' by Ben Watson, contains extensive notes on history, tours and releases.
| |
| − | * ''In Cold Sweat-Interviews With Really Scary Musicians,'' by Thomas Wictor, contains an extensive interview with [[Scott Thunes]], one of Zappa's most creative bassists.
| |
| − | * ''Lunar Notes-Zoot Horn Rollo's Captain Beefheart Experience,'' by Bill Harkleroad, contains several references about Zappa's collaboration with Don Van Vliet, better known as [[Captain Beefheart]].
| |
| − | *''Mother! the Frank Zappa Story'', by Michael Gray
| |
| − | *''Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa'', by Neil Slaven
| |
| − | *''Necessity Is... The Early Years of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention'', by Billy James
| |
| − | *''Cosmik Debris: The Collective History and Improvisations of Frank Zappa'', by Greg Russo, Crossfire Pubns; 2nd Rev edition (January 9, 2003), ISBN 0964815702
| |
| − | *''My Brother was a Mother'', by Patrice "Candy" Zappa
| |
| − | *''Them or Us'', by Frank Zappa
| |
| − | *''Under the Same Moon'', by Suzannah Thana Harris
| |
| − | *''Being Frank: My Time with Frank Zappa'', by Nigery Lennon
| |
| − | *''Zappa: A Biography'', by Barry Miles, Publisher: Grove Press (November 9, 2004), ISBN 080211783X
| |
| − | *''Dangerous Kitchen: The Subversive World of Zappa'', by Kevin Courrier, ECW Press (June, 2002) ISBN 1550224476
| |
| − | *''Frank Zappa'', by Carl-Ludwig Reichert, dtv (November, 2002) ISBN 3-432-31039-1
| |
| − | | |
| − | == External links ==
| |
| − | {{wikiquote}}
| |
| − | *http://www.zappa.com/
| |
| − | *[http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/6095/ A Tribute to Frank Zappa (much detailed biographical material - click on "Biography")]
| |
| − | *[http://go.palmdalelibrary.org/cgi-bin/strasburg/view.pl?table=strasburg_data&id=2680 Innovators Highlight Pop Music Wasteland (Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Clarence White)]
| |
| − | *[http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/special/rocknroll/0003834.html Details of (3834) Zappafrank]
| |
| − | *[http://www.ibiblio.org/mal/MO/philm/zappa/ Philm Freax: Frank Zappa]
| |
| − | *http://www.tangento.net/prezappa.html
| |
| − | *[http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/essays/zappa.html Don't do That On Stage Anymore, July 1995, The Wire]
| |
| − | *[http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/ the zappa patio (detailed discography including bootlegs)]
| |
| − | *[http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/ FZ Lyrics & Else (includes musicians list track by track)]
| |
| − | *[http://members.shaw.ca/fz-pomd/ The Planet Of My Dreams (includes line-ups chronology)]
| |
| − | *{{imdb name | id=0953261 | name=Frank Zappa}}
| |
