Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa was an American singer, composer,
arranger, guitarist, bandleader,
and all around musician who was one of the
greatest iconoclastic musicians of
the 20th Century. He also produced over 60
albums in 30 years. Some considered
him to have demonstrated a mastery of pop
idioms ranging from jazz to rock of
every conceivable variety. As astute an
entrepreneur as he was a musician, he
was impatient with any division between
popular and high art; he combined
scatological humor with political wit,
required of his players an intimidating
skill, and displayed consistent
innovation in instrumental and studio
technology. "I knew there was a big
thing here that was unique, because the
beat matched the great rhythm of the
human body." (Frank Zappa, The New Rock;
p.1) He was born in 1940 in
Baltimore where his Sicilian-born, Greek-Arab
meteorologist father was
employed by an arsenal that manufactured poison gas
during World War II. The
eldest of four children of a guitar-playing government
scientist, Frank Zappa
moved with his family at age ten to California. At the
age of twelve Zappa
became interested in drums, learning orchestral percussion.
By 1956 he
was playing drums in a local R&B band called the Ramblers. "I
was
extremely suspect of any rock music played by white people. The sincerity
and
emotional intensity of their performances, when they sang about
boyfriends
and girlfriends and breaking up, etc., was nowhere when I compared
it to my high
school Negro R&B heroes like Johnny Otis, Howlin’ Wolf and
Willie Mae
Thornton." (Frank Zappa, The New Rock; p.1). Early exposure to
a record of
Ionisation by avant garde classical composer Edgard Varese
instilled an interest
in advanced rhythmic experimentation, which lead to the
fascination of the
electric guitar. "Enlightenment is , to a certain extent,
attributable to the
evolution of rock and vice versa." (Frank Zappa, The New
Rock; p.1). In 1963
Mr. Zappa wrote a score for a Western called Run Home
Slow and with the money
built a studio in Cucamonga, California. But along
with success come some
misfortune in which Zappa was charged for conspiracy
to commit pornography by
the San Bernardino Vice Squad after an undercover
policeman requested some sex"party" tapes. Zappa delivered tapes of faked
grunting, and served ten days
of a six-month jail sentence. In 1964, Zappa
joined a local R&B outfit, the
Soul Giants and started writing songs
for them. Eager to gain a heavier image
Flo and Eddie joined up with
Zappa for the film 200 Motels. But once again
misfortune struck Zappa. On
December 4,1971 there was a fire that destroyed the
bands equipment and a
crazy accident in which Zappa was pushed off-stage at
London’s Rainbow
theatre. He crushed his larynx (lowering his voice a third),
and damaged his
spine, which kept him wheelchair-bound for the best part of a
year.
Apostrophe (‘) showcased Zappa’s talents as a story - teller in the
Lord
Buckley tradition. I reached number 10 in the Billboard chart in June
1974.
In 1975 Captain Beefheart joined Zappa for a tour, Zappa
overdubbing most of the
instruments himself. He was experimenting with what
he termed"xenochronicity" (combining unrelated tracks to create a piece
of
non-synchronous music) and produced intriguing results on ‘Friendly
Little
Finger’. "Through rock music, the audience is being exposed to an
assortment
of advanced musical and electronic techniques that five years ago
might have
sent them screaming into the street." (Frank Zappa, The New Rock;
p.3). In
1976, Zappa filed a lawsuit against Herb Cohen, which in 1977
severed ties with
Warner Bros., moving to Mercury two years later. There
he set up Zappa Records
and retired the Mothers name, calling all later
groups Zappa. In 1980 Zappa
recorded a single, "I Don’t Wanna Get Drafted,"
which Mercury refused to
release, prompting him to leave the label and
eventually establish his own
Barking Pumpkin Label. In 1981 Zappa
released his first Barking Pumpkin album,
and that year, some ex-Mothers,
including Jimmy Carl Black, Don Preston, and
Bunk Gardner, united to form
the Grandmothers. "They did everything they could
to make sure their audience
was moved erotically." (Frank Zappa, The New Rock;
p.2). In 1984 he was quite
outrageously prolific: he unearthed the an 18th
century composer named
Francesco Zappa and recorded his work on a synclavier.
Two releases, Shut
Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar and Guitar, proved that Zappa’s
guitar playing was
unique; Jazz From Hell presented wordless compositions for
synclavier that
drew inspiration from Conlon Nancarrow; Thing-Fish was a
‘Broadway musical’
about AIDS, homophobia and racism. In November of 1991,
in New York on the
eve of a tribute concert entitled "Zappa’s Universe,"
Moon Unit and
Dweezil Zappa announced that their father had been diagnosed with
cancer of
the prostate. A lifelong teetotaler and abstainer from drugs (Zappa,
however,
smoked cigarettes and drank coffee incessantly), the composer continued
a
rigorous work schedule. And in May 1993 Zappa, clearly weak from
intensive
chemotherapy, announced that he was fast losing the battle as it
had spread into
his bones. At the age of 52, shortly before his 53rd
birthday, at his Los
Angeles home Zappa succumbed to the disease. Zappa’s
career in perspective
shows a musical perfectionist using only the highest
standards of musicianship
and the finest recording quality. "It has been
discovered and revealed that
song can capture the fancy of the American
public efficiently." (Frank Zappa,
The New Rock; p.2). History will
certainly recognize Zappa as a sophisticated,
serious composer and a highly
accomplished master of music. Zappa was one of the
most exotic, original and
complex figures to have emerged from rock culture.
Guitar hero, satirist,
and political commentator, Zappa managed to avoid being
easily categorized
for over three decades. And to show their appreciation the
Critics
elected Zappa into the Down Beat Hall of Fame. "It’s not important
to even be
remembered," he said, "I mean, the people who worry about being
remembered
are guys like Reagan, Bush.... I don’t care."
Bibliography
"Frank
Zappa-Biography." Yahoo. Online. Yahoo Online. 7 April, 2000
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"Frank Zappa Tribute."
Yahoo. Online. Yahoo Online. 7 April, 2000 ?
"The New Rock.." Yahoo.
Online. Yahoo Online. 7 April, 2000 ?
"Zappa BR Home Page." Yahoo.
Online. Yahoo Online. 7 April,
2000