archival content: Frank Zappa, December 21, 1940 - December 4, 1993
Hoodini
extensive amount of content in the Wiki entry for Frank Zappa. After
the overview I have included the links to download three samples of
his music.
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Frank Zappa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_zappa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Frank_Zappa_Apostrophe_%28%27%29.jpg
Frank Zappa
"A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting
air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians."
- Frank Zappa
Background information
Birth name Frank Vincent Zappa
Born December 21, 1940
Origin Baltimore, Maryland
Died December 4, 1993
Genre(s) Rock
Jazz
Classical
Occupation(s) Composer
Musician
Bandleader
Conductor
Producer
Instrument(s) Vocals
Guitar
Bass Guitar
Keyboards
Vibraphone
Synclavier
Drums
Years active 1950s - 1993
Label(s) Bizzare
Rykodisc
DiscReet
Zappa
Barking Pumpkin
Associated
acts Captain Beefheart
Website zappa.com
Notable instrument(s)
Gibson Les Paul
Gibson SG
Fender Stratocaster
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an
American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist.
Contents
* 1 Overview
* 2 Biography
o 2.1 Early life and influences
o 2.2 1960s
o 2.3 1970s
o 2.4 1980s
o 2.5 1990s
* 3 Trivia
* 4 Samples
* 5 Discography
* 6 Notes
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading
* 9 External links
Overview
In his 33-year career as a professional musician, Frank Zappa
established himself as one of the most prolific and distinctive
musician-composers of his era, and critics still use the term
"Zappa-esque" to describe the musical styles and devices and the
humour for which he became well-known. It is not unreasonable to
describe Zappa as a "Renaissance Man" and, in terms of his prominence
in his field and the sheer volume and scope of artistic output, his
only contemporary rival in the United States was probably Andy Warhol
(and it is interesting to note that both men came from a background in
commercial art).
Although Zappa had only a high-school education and was almost
entirely self-taught in music, he was literate, highly intelligent and
extremely articulate, both musically and verbally, and his musical
knowledge and ability had few equals in the rock world. By the end of
the Sixties he had become a Counter-culture icon, renowned for his
innovative and often challenging music, his wide-ranging intellect,
his iconoclastic views and his penetrating wit.
Although he was sometimes inaccurately portrayed in the media as a
drug-crazed freak, Zappa in fact almost never used (illegal)
recreational drugs, and he famously described drug-taking as "a
license to be an asshole". By his own admission, he tried cannabis
only once in his life (and disliked it) and he sacked several band
members, including Lowell George, when their drug use interfered with
his work. He drank alcohol only in moderation, although he was a
lifelong chain smoker and coffee addict who playfully categorised
coffee and cigarettes as "food".
A legendary workaholic -- by his own account he spent up to nineteen
hours a day in the studio -- he created hundreds of recorded and
written musical works, spread over some sixty music albums released
during his lifetime (plus several posthumous releases). Almost all his
compositions were original or collaborative efforts and there is no
doubt that he would have produced hundreds more had he lived longer.
In addition to his many albums of music, he created feature-length and
short films, long-format music videos, music video clips, graphic art,
album covers, books and many other works.
Zappa is best-known as a "musician's musician" of the rock scene -- a
renowned electric guitarist and a prolific and enormously accomplished
composer, arranger, and producer. He worked in almost every musical
genre and his oeuvre includes pieces written and arranged for rock
bands, jazz ensembles, synthesisers or symphony orchestra, as well as
radiophonic works constructed from pre-recorded, synthesised or
sampled sources. He was also a prolific film-maker, a band-leader, an
author, and a TV, radio and film personality whose scathing social
satire and caustic world-view made him a much-quoted figure and a
performer of international celebrity.
Zappa was a gifted and innovative record producer and recording
engineer who possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of studio technology
and all phases of the recording process. He was probably also one of
very few figures in rock music who combined the talents of
composer-musician-producer and whose career spanned almost the entire
technological history of the postwar recording industry, from
one-track analogue tape decks to multitrack digital hard drives and
ProTools. His albums of the late 1960s and early 1970s have been
widely hailed as landmarks of record production technique. He
self-produced almost every recording he made with The Mothers or as a
solo artist (except his 1966 debut album), he produced many notable
recordings for other artists -- including the famous 1969 Captain
Beefheart album Trout Mask Replica and the debut recording by Alice
Cooper -- and he amassed an enormous archive consisting of hundreds of
top-quality live recordings spanning almost all of his performing career.
In a commercial environment that was often hostile to the needs and
rights of artists, Zappa achieved a degree of creative control over
his works that few other rock musicians equalled, and he was also an
avid technophile who worked across multiple media, embracing every new
musical and visual format as they emerged during the late 20th century
-- he was a pioneer of music video, he released the first-ever 3-inch
CD single, and in the late 1980s he was one of the first rock
musicians to undertake a complete reissue program of his earlier
recordings in the new CD format.
Politically, Zappa was a self-proclaimed "pragmatic conservative", an
avowed supporter of capitalism and independent business, and his
sometimes rancorous dealings with transport and musicians' unions left
him with a lifelong dislike of the trade union movement, of which he
was openly critical. He was also a strident critic of mainstream
education and organized religion, and he repeatedly lampooned the
emerging "born-again" Christian movement with songs like "Jesus Thinks
You're A Jerk" and "Heavenly Bank Account".
Zappa was also a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of
speech and the abolition of censorship, and his work embodied his
deeply skeptical view of established political processes and
structures. -- not surprisingly, this made him an underground culture
hero in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War era. Thanks to his often
ribald humour and his caustic social observations, Zappa and his work
were at the forefront of debates about censorship many times in his
career, especially during his well-publicised clashes with the
pro-censorship group PMRC in the 1980s. His staunch support for free
expression and individual liberty prompted him to give serious
consideration to running for President of the United States in 1988 on
the Libertarian Party ticket. [1]
His music spanned virtually every musical genre of modern history, and
he was noted for his unique amalgam of high art, rock music, absurdity
and surrealism, scatological and sexual humor, and caustic social and
political satire. Although he only occasionally achieved major
commercial success -- his first gold album award was Apostrophe in
1974 -- he maintained a highly productive career that encompassed
composing, recording, touring, producing and merchandising his own and
others' music, as well as many other business and creative activities.
He received multiple Grammy nominations and won a Grammy award for
'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' in 1987 -- although, with
appropriate irony, it was awarded for his avant-garde instrumental LP
Jazz From Hell.
Zappa was also the leader of a series of renowned bands, and was noted
as a spotter of talent and conductor of extremely stringent auditions
and rehearsals -- on his final 1988 tour his backing band reportedly
had to learn over 250 pieces. His various groups featured leading rock
and jazz musicians including Adrian Belew, Terry Bozzio, Aynsley
Dunbar, Bruce Fowler, Lowell George, Jean-Luc Ponty, Ian Underwood,
Ruth Underwood, George Duke, Chester Thompson, Vinnie Colaiuta, Mike
Keneally and Steve Vai.
Zappa has a large and dedicated worldwide following, particularly in
the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, The
Netherlands and Scandinavian countries. His albums and musical style
were a strong influence on many other groups from The Beatles to Devo.
As demonstrated by his many disparaging comments about the music
business, Zappa cared little for mainstream acclaim, yet his work
enjoyed sporadic mainstream success in the mid 1970s and early 1980s,
with albums like Apostrophe and Zoot Allures and quirky hit singles
such as "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow", "Dancin' Fool" and "Valley Girl".
[2]
Zappa was married twice, once to Kathryn "Kay" Sherman (1960–1964; no
children), and then in 1967 to Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he
remained until his death. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil,
Ahmet Emuukha Rodan (named for Atlantic Records executive Ahmet
Ertegun), and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen.[3] Gail Zappa handles the
businesses of her late husband under the company name the Zappa Family
Trust.
---------------------------
Samples
* Download sample of "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" from Freak Out!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/HungryFreaks%2CDaddy.ogg
* Download sample of "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" from
We're Only in It for the Money.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/We%27re_Only_in_It_for_the_Money_-_What%27s_the_Ugliest_Part_of_your_Body_sample.ogg
* Download sample of "Bobby Brown Goes Down" from Sheik Yerbouti.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Fz%2C_bobby_brown.ogg
--
Flat Mouth never met George W. Bush...
"Tell him I blame him for the children we have lost, for the sickness
we have suffered, and for the hunger we have endured. The fault rests
on his shoulders."
~ Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay (Flat Mouth), Leech Lake Ojibwe speaking of
Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey
Matthew Kruk
homes...@netburner.net
I am grateful to have had the privilege to see him perform live.
Tommie Hicks
MWB
<homes...@netburner.net> wrote in message
news:1165223783.9...@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I saw him in Portland, Maine in the early 1980's. It was a great show.
Mark
stasha
once at Royce Hall at UCLA with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra as
his "back up band". An amazing man all the way around. My life, and the
world would not have been the same without him.
Hoodini
I regret that I attended only four of his concerts. I whole-heartedly
agree with both of your last two sentences.
Dblspace
Hoodini wrote:
> stasha said the following On 12/4/2006 11:53 AM:
>
Frank Zappa was ahead of his time in the 60's & were he still alive
today he'd be ahead of the times today. His sons now carry on his
legacy & I'll be seeing them two weeks from tonight at the HOB in New
Orleans. I can't wait! The tour is zalled Zappa Plays Zappa & is well
worth checking out. I saw the Los Angeles show earlier this summer & it
was fantastic.
David
MGW
> Frank Zappa was ahead of his time in the 60's & were he still alive
> today he'd be ahead of the times today. His sons now carry on his
> legacy & I'll be seeing them two weeks from tonight at the HOB in New
> Orleans. I can't wait! The tour is zalled Zappa Plays Zappa & is well
> worth checking out. I saw the Los Angeles show earlier this summer & it
> was fantastic.
I assume you mean his son and his daughter.
--
MGW
I have yet to see a problem, however complicated, which when you looked at
it in the right way, did not become still more complicated. ~ Poul Anderson
homes...@netburner.net
of my job I acknowledged his passing and played HARDER THAN YOUR
HUSBAND. No complaints and I got away with it.
Tommie Hicks
On Dec 4, 8:04 pm, MGW <mgw1...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On 4 Dec 2006 16:15:11 -0800, "Dblspace" <Dblsp...@aol.com> scrawled:
>
> > Frank Zappa was ahead of his time in the 60's & were he still alive
> > today he'd be ahead of the times today. His sons now carry on his
> > legacy & I'll be seeing them two weeks from tonight at the HOB in New
> > Orleans. I can't wait! The tour is zalled Zappa Plays Zappa & is well
> > worth checking out. I saw the Los Angeles show earlier this summer & it
> > was fantastic.I assume you mean his son and his daughter.
Matthew Kruk
Fillmore East (album) show - unbelievable live.
<homes...@netburner.net> wrote in message
news:1165223783.9...@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
King Daevid MacKenzie
> I was working at a country music radio station when he died and at risk
> of my job I acknowledged his passing and played HARDER THAN YOUR
> HUSBAND. No complaints and I got away with it.
...I pretty much pulled a similar stunt at country-formatted WYNE in
Kimberly, Wisconsin, on the 5th anniversary of Phil Ochs' death. Of
course, it's not that far a stretch from Charley Pride to Phil Ochs, but
the last three songs I played that particular night were "Lake Shore
Drive" by Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah, "Lydia" by Dean Friedman and Ochs'
"Pleasures of the Harbor." Got three thank-you calls from the audience
and the station brass, if they ever learned of it, never let on...
--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
http://www.myspace.com/kingdaevid
heard Sundays 8:00 A.M. PST/PDT at
http://www.krfp.org/documents/listen_windowsmedia.asx
archived in mp3 at http://www.radio4all.net
"You can live in your dreams, but only if you are worthy of them."
HARLAN ELLISON