Frank Vincent ZAPPA was born in Baltimore on December 12, 1940. When he
was 10 years old, he moved to California
with his parents. The first instrument he played was the drums. At that time,
Frank ZAPPA really liked rhythm and blues music. But in 1954, ZAPPA found a
copy of "The Complete Works Of Edgar Varèse, Vol. One". He was
fascinated by the 'weird' avant-garde pieces and it was probably also ZAPPA's first encounter with atonal compositions, something
that would later reappear in his own music. During high school, he played in
several garage bands, but he didn't write rock and roll music himself until his
early twenties. He began writing classical music at 18. Some of his early
compositions he wrote for the B-films "The World's Greatest Sinner" and "Run 818q1623i
Home Slow" (written by his high school English teacher). You can find the theme
from "Run Home Slow" on the "The Lost Episodes" and "The Mystery Disc". From
1962 'til 1964, ZAPPA wrote several songs for different bands (You can find
those songs on "Cucamonga" and "For Collectors Only"). In 1964 ZAPPA entered
THE SOUL GIANTS. He renamed the band THE MOTHERS (which was a subtle
abbreviation of 'motherfuckers') and soon after the
band caught the attention of producer Tom Wilson. THE MOTHERS were contracted
by the Verve-division of MGM and after they had changed their name into THE
MOTHERS OF INVENTION (to satisfy some MGM Records executives, who thought the
other name was too provocative), they released 'Freak Out!', the second
double-album ever (after Bob DYLAN's "Blonde On
Blonde") and also what is said to be the first concept album ever. This
milestone contained a strange mix of rhythm and blues, satyrical
lyrics and avant-garde dissonance. With this first edition of THE MOTHERS,
Frank ZAPPA recorded a number of progressive rock masterpieces. All of his
records from the sixties are fantastic, except for "Cruising With
Ruben & The Jets", which is a satiric tribute to doo-wop
music. Worth mentioning is the fabulous "We're Only In It For The Money", on
which ZAPPA ridicules the hippie-culture in general, and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band" from THE BEATLES in particular. The entire sleeve of "We're
Only In It For The Money" is a parody on that record.
On August 20, 1969,
ZAPPA disbanded THE MOTHERS. The most important members of the early MOTHERS OF
INVENTION had been Frank ZAPPA (guitar, vocals, much more) Ray COLLINS
(vocals), Jimmy Carl BLACK (the indian of the group,
drums and percussion), Roy ESTRADA (bass, vocals), Don PRESTON (keyboards),
Billy MUNDI (drums), Bunk GARDNER (winds), Jim 'Motorhead' SHERWOOD (winds), Ian UNDERWOOD (winds, piano)
and Ruth UNDERWOOD (percussion). Some of those member
would later reappear in other editions of ZAPPA's
band.
In 1970, ZAPPA composed a new edition of THE MOTHERS, including Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan from THE
TURTLES, also known as Flo & Eddie. This second edition didn't last very
long either, because during a show in the Rainbow Theatre in London, ZAPPA was pushed off the stage by a
crazy 'fan'. He was badly injured. After his recovery
he reformed THE MOTHERS. At that moment, the band consisted of, amongst others:
Ian and Ruth UNDERWOOD, Tom FOWLER (bass), Bruce FOWLER (trombone), George DUKE
(keyboards), Jean-Luc PONTY (violin) and Napoleon Murphy BROCK (saxophone) and
most of the time, ZAPPA was the lead vocalist and guitarist. In this
(legendary) line-up, ZAPPA recorded a few more accessible, funny bluesrock records. While some fans of the early MOTHERS
didn't like what he was doing at that moment, other consider the albums "Over-Nite Sensation", "Apostrophe (')" and "One Size Fits All"
as his finest moments. I think both periods of his career are fantastic. It was
during the seventies, that ZAPPA also started experimenting with overdubs and
he recorded an album with his high school friend Don VAN VLIET
(CAPTAIN BEEFHEART). The tour from 1975 and 1976 (with Terry BOZZIO on drums) was the last one under the name of THE
MOTHERS.
Now ZAPPA officially went 'solo'. During the late seventies and early eighties,
he worked with Terry BOZZIO (drums), Adrian BELEW
(guitar, vocals), Tommy MARS (keyboards, vocals), Patrick O'HEARN
(bass), Eddie JOBSON (violin, keyboards), Ray WHITE (guitar, vocals) and Ike
WILLIS (guitar, vocals). In 1979, ZAPPA recorded "Joe's Garage", a rock opera
about what would happen if music became illegal. In the eighties, ZAPPA was
very busy. He recorded the "Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar" - series and "Guitar",
on which he showed what a good guitarist he had become. Besides that, he
recorded a few albums (some of them pretty heavy) with a partly new band,
including Ray WHITE, Ike WILLIS, Tommy MARS, Bobby MARTIN (keyboards, vocals),
Scott THUNES (bass), Chad WACKERMAN
(drums), Ed MANN (percussion) and (sometimes) Steve VAI (guitar). ZAPPA also
went to Capitol Hill, to fight censorship (the Parents Music
Resource Center was planning to label
all albums that included 'explicit lyrics'). Pieces from the hearing can be
found on "Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention".
In the same time, he started experimenting with the synclavier. After a big
quarrel in 1988, ZAPPA decided to fire almost the entire band. He was fed-up
with working with a band, so he filled the rest of his life playing guitar and
synclavier, releasing the "You Can't That On Stage Anymore" live compilations
and doing 'classical' music projects, such as "The Yellow Shark". He even
continued working when doctors had discovered that he was suffering from
prostate cancer. When Frank Vincent ZAPPA died on December 4, 1993 at age 52, the world lost one
of his greatest innovators, critics, and composers.
Here's a small list of ZAPPA-records I recommend. They're all must-haves, and
some of them may be a good starting point for people who are unfamiliar with
his work. Firstly, all of his albums with the early MOTHERS (except for
"Cruising With Ruben & The Jets") are very good. I
think the best ones are "We're Only In It For The
Money", "Uncle Meat" and "Weasels Ripped My Flesh". "Freak Out!" is less interesting,
but it does have great historical value, for it was, in my opinion, the first
progressive rock record ever. Zappa's second solo-album "Hot Rats" contains
some great instrumental (except for CAPTAIN BEEFHEART's
vocals on "Willie The Pimp") jazzrock.
"Hot Rats" is definitily among his best albums. But,
if you are unfamiliar with ZAPPA's work, the albums
of THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION and ZAPPA's solo-albums
from the sixties may scare you off. If you'd like some more accessible music,
you could start with "Over-Nite Sensation",
"Apostrophe (')" or "One Size Fits All". They're all great jazzy bluesrock records. ZAPPA's most
poppy record was the controversial "Sheik Yerbouti" though. It contains many
accessible ZAPPA-classics, with very funny lyrics. You could also start with a
compilation. "Strictly Commercial", "Have I Offended Someone?", "Cheap Thrills"
and "Son Of Cheep Thrills" are all decent
compilations, that give you a nice insight in what diverse kinds of music Frank
ZAPPA made
