Featured Artist #11 - Frank Zappa
 

[B][CENTER]Featured Artist #11 - Frank Zappa[/CENTER][/B]

[IMG]http://www.drummersdominion.com/zappa001.jpg[/IMG]

I remember the first time that I heard Frank Zappa. I was about Eleven years old, I was driving to the Golf Course with my friend and his dad. His dad had [I]Live at the Fillmore East[/I] on. I didn't really understand most of the humor, for most of it has to do with sex and groupies, but I thought the man was a Freak and I didn't really like him. Eventually I got my hands on one of his albums, (actually 2) [I]Apostrophe(')/Over-nite Sensation[/I], and listened to it for the hell of it, I laughed my *** off when I heard this album. Then soon enough I became a Freak, and was hooked on Zappa. He is one of my favorite musicians.

I can start off by saying that Frank Zappa is one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century and one of the most under-rated guitarists of his time. His music ranged from Classical to Jazz to Doo Wop to Hard Rock to Comedy routines. Francis Vincent Zappa Jr. was born in Baltimore Maryland on December 21, 1940. Frank moved to California when he was 10 years old. His father was a meteoroligist who did work with the military.

Frank grew up playing the drums. Not until his late teens did he pick up the guitar. He grew up playing in small time garage bands. He even played in his high school marching band, until his band director kicked him out for smoking in uniform.

[IMG]http://www.frankzappafan.com/images/fz_w_guitar.jpg[/IMG]

Soon enough Frank formed the most bizarre group of freaks that the music industry ever saw called ,Yes You guessed it, THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION. The original name for the band was The Mothers but some record company was worried that the name The Mothers was making a reference to Motherf**kers, so of Invention was added to the name.

The Mothers of Invention's first album [I]Freak Out![/I] is arguably Frank's best work ever. It was like nothing Rock and Roll had seen before. The album encompasses everything from doo wop to the first rap song (Trouble Every Day). I suggest those new to Frank Zappa to pick this album up. Another two albums were made by the band such as [I]Absoluitely Free[/I], which is an excellent album as well as [I]We're Only In It For The Money[/I]. This album is Frank's mocking of The hippies which is one of my favorites.

The Mothers of Invention were very popular among the Underground L.A. scene at the time. Their crazy stage antics attracted many Freaks of the time. A time when some very wacky antics was being performed on stage was when Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles were in The Mothers. The highlight of their career with the Mothers is documented on [I]Live At The Fillmore East June 1971[/I] .

In 1969 Frank released his first solo album (Free of The Mothers) called [I]Hot Rats[/I]. This album is considered the first Jazz Fusion album and it is without a doubt one of my favorite albums of all time. This album has a great set of musicians on it including Captain Beefheart (Did I mention he was a childhood friend of Frank's) and Ian Underwood. This is the album that even people who hate Frank Zappa can appreciate. If there is ONLY ONE Frank Zappa album that you ever consider buying BUY THIS ONE.

Frank went through some albums of some significant importance throughout the 70s. Some of these include [URL=http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198773]Apostrophe(')[/URL] (His Highest Selling album that reached #10 on the charts), [URL=http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3819794#post3819794]Over-nite Sensation[/URL], and [I]One Size Fits All[/I]. These are some great albums that really brought him to popularity in the 70s. They are also the ones that labeled him as a musician who used toilet humor in a lot of his material.

On an unrelated note, One time Frank Zappa was put in Jail for conspiracy to commit pornography. A woman and him created an audio sex tape of fake grunting and random noises which was given to a cop. Frank spent 10 days in Jail for this. Also, one time he and his band were going to play a show in some small town where the cops weren't too fond of Rock Music. Well, when Frank got to the city and was walking on the street he was arrested for Vagrancy. The cop tried to hold him in jail until after the scheduled concert was over but one of his bandmates came and bailed him out and they went and played the show. Just a sidenote on some things that happened to him.

Frank Zappa's band wasn't always filled with a bunch of freaks. His band over the years actually had a great number of musicians who went on to become very popular. These people include Lowell George and Roy Estrada (Founders of Little Feat), Terry Bozio, Adrian Belew, and one of the most heard of on these forums Steve Vai.

Throughout his entire career critics told him that neither him nor his band had any Commercial Potential. When The Mothers of Invention released their doo wop tribute album [I]Cruisin' With Ruben and The Jets[/I], a Philadelphia disc jockey began to play the record on the radio a lot. Once he found out he was playing the Mothers of Invention he immediately stopped playing it. This can give you an idea of the kind of view that was held of the band at that point.

Frank Zappa toured extensively from the time The Mothers were formed all of the way up until 1991 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer(minus the time he spent in a wheelchair after a fan knocked him off of the stage during a concert in Europe, the depth of his voice was lowered 1/3 after the accident). Frank fought off prostate cancer until December 4, 1993 when he passed away at the age of 52. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of fame posthumously in 1995. There is no artist I know that has created as much material as Frank Zappa has. He has released over 80 albums and his wife Gail is continuing to find work in his studio that is still being released to this day. He has made a very large contribution to the Development of Music in the Twentieth Century.

Some of my favorite Frank Zappa albums include:

[B]Freak Out![/B] (1966)
[IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000009RT.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG]
Favorite Tracks: Any Way the Wind Blows, You didn;t try to call me, and Hungry Freaks Daddy!

[B]We're Only In It For The Money[/B] (1968)
[IMG]http://www.zentao.com/NonFoods/Discography/Covers/WereOnlyInItForTheMoney.gif[/IMG]
Favorite Tracks: Concentration Moon and Let's Make The Water Turn Black

[B]Hot Rats[/B] (1969)
[IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000009S3.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG]
Favorite Tracks: Every Song

[B]Weasels Ripped My Flesh[/B] (1970)
[IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000009S6.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG]
Favorite Tracks: Toads of The Short Forest, My Guitar wants to kill your mama, and The Orange County Lumber Truck

[B]Chunga's Revenge[/B] (1970)
[IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000009S8.01._PE8_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg[/IMG]
Favorite Tracks: Transylvania Boogie, Twenty Small Cigars, and Chunga's Revenge

[B]Live at the Fillmore East June 1971[/B] (1971)
[IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000009S9.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG]
Favorite Tracks: The Mud Shark, Happy Together, and Peaches en Regalia

[B]Over-nite Sensation[/B] (1973)
[IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000009SG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/IMG]
Favorite Tracks: Camarillo Brillo, I'm The Slime, and Montana







Rest In Peace Frank.........
[IMG]http://www.frankzappafan.com/images/young.jpg[/IMG]
Frank Zappa [1940-1993]

Awesome. I've heard one song of his and hated it, but I really want to get into him.

[QUOTE=Kaden]Awesome. I've heard one song of his and hated it, but I really want to get into him.[/QUOTE]

Have you heard [I]Catholic Girls[/I]? Or [I]Willie the Pimp[/I]?

Cool. You didn't really cover any of his work after 1975, but nobody's perfect. :)

My roommate was playing "Joe's Garage" and I was really impressed at his composition skills. Also, he guest starred on "Ren and Stimpy" as the voice of the Pope.

[QUOTE=YDload]My roommate was playing "Joe's Garage" and I was really impressed at his composition skills. Also, he guest starred on "Ren and Stimpy" as the voice of the Pope.[/QUOTE]
I did not know that. I can imagine though, he always seemed very religious :lol:
I did see him in some short fairytale movie though, he played a hunchback.


Frank Zappa is one of the great geniuses of the 20th century.

[QUOTE=Zappa]Cool. You didn't really cover any of his work after 1975, but nobody's perfect. :)[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I don't really have any of his work after 1975. There is just so much more that I could have said but I just wanted to give everyone a basic idea of how he got started and about his earlier work. I guess I could have gone through the eighties but I wouldn't really be able to give anyone an idea of how his work was so I decided not to. Maybe I'll add some more to it after I buy Joe's Garage Acts I,II, and III.

Great FA....but it wasn't your turn.

good job. try to follow the FA posting rules from now on, though. just a friendly piece of advice :)



you did a great job. the man was indeed a genius, though i personally dont enjoy his music.

The only Zappa I've heard is the Uncle Meat album which is pretty trippy, but I never really got into it as it's not so much a rock album, but a soundtrack to a film he never completed. I would like to hear some of his albums which aren't really as concept based though.

i didn't know he was dead.... :upset:

That was pretty good. He is one of the most prolific composers ever though, and you passed over quite a lot of detail of his later stuff. Anyhow, I liked it. He was a great man.

On a sidenote, my favourite Zappa album is One Size Fits All.

Yeah I don't know the FA posting rules. Where are they listed?

The only real rule is you have to request in the previous FA thread to do the next FA.

Don't worry about it though, and like I said, great FA.

[QUOTE=Dark Hero]Have you heard [I]Catholic Girls[/I]? Or [I]Willie the Pimp[/I]?[/QUOTE]
No, I only heard Wowie Zowie.

Who was supposed to be doing this one?


Excellent FA by the way :)

You did Zappa justice! But you should cover more stuff.

[QUOTE=br3ad_man]Who was supposed to be doing this one?


Excellent FA by the way :)[/QUOTE]
That would have been me.

I was planning on posting it saturday but umm I guess I'll wait a couple weeks...

Oh by the way great FA, I really need to check out more Zappa, haven't heard much.

^^Sorry About stealing your turn.

Don't worry about it, I'll post in a week or two. :thumb:

[QUOTE=YDload]My roommate was playing "Joe's Garage" and I was really impressed at his composition skills. Also, he guest starred on "Ren and Stimpy" as the voice of the Pope.[/QUOTE]
When it first aired it said pope in the credits, but afterwards it said "man in the pointy hat"

Anyway, I've been a Zappa fan all my life. His music has been forced onto me by my parents, and I'm very glad. I know so much Zappa trivia it's insanity. Reading that was like reading my 8th grade report I did on zappa, except you added more random facts and less about the music.
My favorite album is One Size Fits All. I know that even in 15 years of listening to Zappa, I have not heard it all, even though my dad has a full Zappa collection on vinyl.

Every year we have a Zappa party on Frank's birthday. We have a Zappa trivia contest with prizes of zappa shirts/book/stuff like that. One year we ordered Shirts and other Zappa things from the website, and my mom emailed about why we're buying all this stuff.
Gail Zappa thought that the Zappa party was such a cool idea, that she actually called are house during the party. My mom talked to her for over an hour. It was very very exciting.
Every year we also invite cal shankle(sp?) who did Zappa's album covers. He always declines though, saying he's too busy.

I used to hate jazz a few years ago 'cause of my dad, but now maybe I'll give him(Zappa) a try.

Zappa, you don't see musicians like him much anymore these days.

[QUOTE=asdf23]except you added more random facts and less about the music.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I guess I had a lot of weak points in my Featured Artist post, but I would think that for most of the people who don't listen to him it would be best if they checked out one of his albums for themselves. But thank you for the comments.

Also, another great zappa starting point would be a DVD recently released called Baby Snakes. I picked it up in Best Buy for $14.99. It is a 3 hour zappa film with some great music on it.

I love zappa and every piece of his music. i am most impressed at the way he could improve every musician that went thru his band. He was innovative, fearless and a god among men. Greatest musician/composer in modern day rock hands down.

[QUOTE=MassaHuang]I love zappa and every piece of his music.[/QUOTE]

Even "Goblin Girl?" "Conehead?" "Sex?" How about the "Them Or Us" album? All that irrelevant crap on "Lost Episodes?"

Sure, he wrote a ton of great music, but there's no reason to make claims like this. He's written his fair share of stinkers, just like everyone else.

It was probably just a bit of hyperbole on your eponym. Hyperbole is the worst literary convention in the history of human civilization.

And hyperbolas suck, cause you have to graph asymptotes.

[QUOTE=asdf23]When it first aired it said pope in the credits, but afterwards it said "man in the pointy hat"

Anyway, I've been a Zappa fan all my life. His music has been forced onto me by my parents, and I'm very glad. I know so much Zappa trivia it's insanity. Reading that was like reading my 8th grade report I did on zappa, except you added more random facts and less about the music.
My favorite album is One Size Fits All. I know that even in 15 years of listening to Zappa, I have not heard it all, even though my dad has a full Zappa collection on vinyl.

Every year we have a Zappa party on Frank's birthday. We have a Zappa trivia contest with prizes of zappa shirts/book/stuff like that. One year we ordered Shirts and other Zappa things from the website, and my mom emailed about why we're buying all this stuff.
Gail Zappa thought that the Zappa party was such a cool idea, that she actually called are house during the party. My mom talked to her for over an hour. It was very very exciting.
Every year we also invite cal shankle(sp?) who did Zappa's album covers. He always declines though, saying he's too busy.[/QUOTE]

Now that is cool :cool: