Background

Frank Zappa was born on December 21, 1940, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. He was the son of Francis Vincent and Rose Francis Vincent Zappa. For most of his life, he was under the mistaken impression that he had been named exactly after his father, a Sicilian immigrant who was a high school teacher at the time of his son's birth, that he was "Francis Vincent Zappa, Jr." That was what he told interviewers, and it was extensively reported. It was only many years later that Zappa examined his birth certificate and discovered that, in fact, his first name was Frank, not Francis.

Zappa's mother, Rose Marie Colimore Zappa, was a former librarian and typist. During his early childhood, the family lived in Baltimore, Opa-Locka, FL, and Edgewood, MD. In December 1951, they moved to California when Zappa's father took a job teaching metallurgy at the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey.

Education

Zappa graduated from Antelope Valley Joint Union High School in Lancaster in June 1958, it was the seventh high school he had attended. Meanwhile, his interest in music had grown. He had become particularly attracted to R&B, joining a band as a drummer in 1955. Simultaneously, he had become a fan of avant-garde classical music. After his high school graduation, Zappa studied music at several local colleges (one of them was Chaffey Junior College) off and on. He also switched to playing the guitar.

Career

In Frank's early twenties he started to write rock'n'roll (he was particularly fond of doo-wop). During the early sixties, he also bought a recording studio in Cucamonga, California, which he dubbed "Studio Z," to master his craft at music production. The studio was closed in 1964 when Zappa was imprisoned for ten days, after being lured to produce a pornographic tape by an undercover member of the Vice Squad.

In 1964 Zappa joined an R&B group - the Soul Giants - as a guitarist, but as he quickly took over the leadership in the band, they were renamed as The Mothers, with "of Invention" being tagged onto it by Verve Records, the label that signed them. "Freak Out!" was recorded in 1966. It was among the first double-albums in the rock to be released and was an innovative mix of R&B, doo-wop and experimental sound collages. Zappa augmented the Mothers' line-up for the next album, "Absolutely Free" (1967), and even more ambitious set of music, featuring bizarre tales on American lifestyle and alternative underground culture, set to experimental suites of songs. With each successive album, Zappa got more confident in producing his music, and his subsequent 1968 albums, such as "We're Only in It for the Money" (a sardonic and contrarian take on the flower power trend) and "Lumpy Gravy" (his solo album mixing audio collages with orchestral music) started to showcase Zappa's innovative ability to use the studio as a compositional tool. Cruising With "Ruben & The Jets" (1968) however, was Zappa's straightforward tribute to doo-wop. His songwriting was also growing more complex with the time, as "Uncle Meat" (1969), a largely instrumental double-album mixing jazz, chamber music, doo-wop, dialogues, and live cuts, testified. Unexpectedly, Zappa disbanded the original Mothers of Invention in August 1969, releasing two compilations of tracks recorded between 1967 and 1969, "Burnt Weeny Sandwich" and "Weasels Ripped My Flesh," in 1970.

Zappa's first post-Mothers project was the landmark "Hot Rats" (1969) album, which has become a Zappa classic and a favorite of many fans. It was also a pioneering jazz-rock effort, featuring many of the finest session musicians Frank knew. In 1970 Zappa re-grouped the Mothers of Invention with singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan from The Turtles, known as Flo & Eddie. The main subject matters for this edition of the Mothers became groupies, sex and life on the road. This fixation culminated with "200 Motels" in 1971, an ambitious soundtrack to a film that starred Ringo Starr and Keith Moon among others, mixing rock'n'roll with modern classical music. Late 1971 however saw two disasters taking place - on the 4th of December, during a concert in Montreux, Switzerland, the venue the Mothers played in was burned down; and a week later, Zappa was pushed off stage by an irate boyfriend of a female fan. Zappa sustained injuries that confined him to a wheelchair for much of the following year, and The Mothers folded again.

While recovering, Zappa concentrated on studio work, releasing a pair of jazz fusion albums: "Waka/Jawaka" and "The Grand Wazoo," which saw Zappa experimenting with big-band arrangements. When he returned to live playing in late 1972, he toured with a 20 piece big band line up known as The Grand Wazoo big band, which was soon pared down to The Petit Wazoo band.

In 1973 Zappa once again reformed the Mothers, with him as the lead vocalist, releasing several albums in a row that fully established Zappa's post-60s aesthetics, relying less on relentless experimentation and more on technical proficiency. His bands were becoming increasingly tighter, as the "Roxy & Elsewhere" live album (1974) would testify. During the mid-seventies he started to work on an ambitious project: he planned to release a quadruple album Läther, but disagreements with Warner Bros. Records led the material to be released on albums such as "Zappa in New York," "Studio Tan," "Sleep Dirt" and "Orchestral Favorites." "Läther" was eventually released as a triple CD in 1996.

In 1979 Zappa built his own studio called Utility Muffin Research Kitchen and in the early 80s, he unleashed, in addition to other releases, "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar" that showcased Frank Zappa's skills as a guitarist. His social criticism started to tackle organized religion, particularly the nascent Religious Right, as songs like "Dumb All Over" on You Are What You Is would show. "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch" in 1982 yielded Zappa's most successful single "Valley Girl," featuring his daughter Moon Zappa. The middle of the decade also saw Zappa's first experiments with the synclavier, a digital synthesizer that allowed him to record his most complex compositions without relying on backing bands. "Jazz From Hell" (1986), performed almost entirely on synclavier, won a Grammy for best rock instrumental performance.

Zappa, a life-long detractor of the conservative establishment and censorship, testified before the United States Senate Cotion Committee against the Parents Music Resource Center in September 1985. PMRC is a pro-censorship organization led by Al Gore's wife Tipper Gore, that claimed that rock music encouraged and glorified drug use, pornography, murder, suicide and sought censoring and rating of music. Zappa said that record labeling is a violation of the First Amendment.

Zappa's last tour with a rock band took place in 1988, and this yielded three albums: "Broadway the Hard Way," "The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life" and "Make a Jazz Noise Here." The late 80s and early 90s also saw the release of six double-CD live compilations in the "You Can't Do That Onstage Anymore" series.

Zappa's last musical activities concentrated on orchestral music, such as Ensemble Modern's interpretations of his classical music released on "The Yellow Shark;" and synclavier works, that yielded "Civilization Phaze III," a continuation of "Lumpy Gravy."

Since the death of Zappa, his family released 38 posthumous albums, reaching a total of 100 albums.

Achievements

• 

  Frank Zappa was a versatile musician who was highly respected and admired for his unconventional style of ‘hybrid’ music which combined rock, jazz, and classical genres. The prolific entertainer had released over 60 albums during his lifetime which continue to inspire avant-garde musicians even today. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his era.
  
  Frank was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1994 and in 1995 he was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Zappa is the first, and so far only, artist to be inducted into both the Jazz and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame. In 1997 Zappa was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1997.
  
  In March of 2003 his 1979 album "Joe's Garage" came 20th in Classic Rock Magazine's list of the 30 greatest concept albums of all time. Zappa was named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004. He was inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in 2015 (inaugural class) in the category Music & Arts.
  
  

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Real Frank Zappa Book 1990
  • Frank Zappa - Hot Rats 2001

• music

  • Freak Out! by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention 1966
  • Absolutely Free by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention 1967
  • Lumpy Gravy 1967
  • We're Only In It For The Money 1968
  • Cruising With Ruben & The Jets 1968
  • Mothermania 1969
  • Uncle Meat 1968
  • Hot Rats 1969
  • Burnt Weeny Sandwich 1970
  • Weasels Ripped My Flesh 1970
  • Chunga's Revenge 1970
  • Fillmore East - June 1971 1971
  • 200 motels 1971
  • Just Another Band From L.A. 1972
  • Waka/Jawaka 1972
  • Grand Wazoo 1972
  • Over-Nite Sensation 1973
  • 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 Acts I, II & III 1979
  • Tinseltown Rebellion 1981
  • Shut Up And 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
  • Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger 1984
  • Them Or Us 1984
  • Francesco Zappa 1984
  • Thing-Fish 1984
  • Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention 1985
  • Does Humor Belong In Music? 1986
  • You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 1988
  • You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 1988
  • You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 1989
  • You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 1991
  • You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 1992
  • You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore - Vol. 6 1992
  • Make A Jazz Noise Here 1991
  • Ahead Of Their Time 1993

Religion

Zappa was an atheist, but he grew up in a religious Catholic household. He said that by the time he was 18, he had "escaped the bondage of being a devout believer." But the rebellion against religion started long before that.

And he did not have kind words to say about religion, especially the Abrahamic traditions. Just look at some song titles: "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing," "Jesus Thinks You’re a Jerk," "Heavenly Bank Account," "Dumb All Over."

Zappa's disgust of religion was rooted in the belief that religion is anti-intellectual, that it promotes ignorance.

He was especially critical of religious leaders who he viewed as hypocritical, preaching one thing and practicing another, those who became wealthy off the donations of their followers, and those who use religion to influence political change.

Politics

Zappa said that he was a registered Democrat but added: "that might not last long - I'm going to shred that." He described himself as a Practical Conservative, meaning he wanted a small government and lower taxes. He said he understood that there were certain large services that only the federal government could provide, like national defense and large infrastructure projects, but that these services should be administered with the most efficiency and at the lowest price possible.5 He advocated for the elimination of income taxes and a greatly reduced role for the federal government.

He was especially critical of the Reagan administration for, among other things, what he saw as its pandering to the Christian right.

Zappa clearly wanted government out of all business except that which only government can provide, and he was willing to attack both political parties when he thought the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights were threatened.

Zappa was a libertarian politically and considered running on the Libertarian Party ticket in the 1988 Presidential Election.

Views

Zappa was critical of anything he considered conformist, from organized religion to the hippie culture that was ascendant around the same time his music began to be. He is also notable for his staunch opposition to illegal drugs, which he maintained throughout his life (though, being a libertarian, he still considered drug legalization a necessary policy).

Quotations: "Some scientists claim that hydrogen because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe."

"The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced."

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."

"There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another."

"Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read."

"I searched for years I found no love. I'm sure that love will never be a product of plasticity."

"The computer can't tell you the emotional story. It can give you the exact mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows."

"There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life."

"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds."

"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something."

"No change in musical style will survive unless it is accompanied by a change in clothing style. Rock is to dress up to."

"You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream."

"Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, uses that something to support their own existence."

"A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians."

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."

Personality

Zappa sponsored Hagstrom guitars early in his career. However, on his first three albums with The Mothers of Invention, he used a Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster. During the mid to late 1970s, he played a highly modified Gibson SG clone. He had one of Jimi Hendrix's guitars which were lit on fire by Jimi at the 1968 Miami Pop Festival.

Frank Zappa valued his artistic freedom more than commercial success and preferred to work as an independent artist for most of his long and productive career spanning over three decades.

Zappa did not like being called "rock legend" and considered it a "pathetic" term. He also did not like being called a "test pilot pushing the edge" since he felt the term sounded too military. As far as being called an "eccentric genius," Zappa said in an interview prior to his death, "Eccentric, yes. Genius, maybe."

He gave up his driver's license voluntarily because he hated standing in line at the DMV. As a child, his favorite television program was Robert Clampett's puppet show Time for Beany (1949).

Frank Zappa was approached by a crazed fan with a gun. Zappa persuaded him into walking with him, and numerous others to a nearby lake. He then persuaded everyone present to start throwing things into the water, including the attacker, who threw in his gun.

He "cured" his kids of sibling rivalry by making a tape of them squabbling, then forcing them to listen to the said tape while handcuffed together in the bathroom; this was to show them how dumb they sounded when bickering.

Zappa wrote his own copyright notice, that appeared on his later records, and was the first to specifically mention sampling. He also released the first 3-inch CD single, with a remix of "Peaches En Regalia," in the late 1980s.

Zappa told an interviewer he considered cigarettes to be "food," tobacco his favorite vegetable and did not believe cigarettes caused the reported health problems. Zappa's countless and zany characters and hearing his fantastical lyrics, one would be forgiven for thinking that Zappa often found inspiration through the use of various illicit substances... And yet, he was strictly opposed to the consumption of any mind-altering drug. Disgusted by his experience with cannabis, he waged war against hallucinogens and threatened to fire any and all of his musicians found to be using drugs during a concert. During the 1960s, he even recorded a series of radio announcements warning against the use of mind-altering drugs. He also didn't drink alcohol.

Gene Simmons visited with the Zappa family at their home, socializing, sometime before Zappa's death. During their visit, Zappa showed him something that proved how prolific Zappa was: hundreds of master tapes of unreleased music.

Physical Characteristics: As a child, Frank was accidentally exposed to mustard gas and radium due to which he was afflicted with several sicknesses, such as, asthma, earaches, and sinus.

He was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 1990 and died in 1993 at the age of 52.

Quotes from others about the person

• "Admirers and detractors agree that Zappa's music - with its odd time signatures, unorthodox harmonies and fiendishly difficult lines - boasts a rare cerebral complexity. But that's where the agreement ends. Some fans find his sophomoric jokes ("Don't Eat the Yellow Snow") and pop music parodies ("Sheik Yerbouti") a crucial counterbalance to the rarefied density of the music; other devotees find the jokes an irrelevant sideshow to music best appreciated in a chamber or orchestral setting. The critics find the humor's smug iconoclasm a symptom of the essential emptiness of Zappa's intellectual exercises." - Geoffrey Himes
  
  "Frank Zappa was one of the first to try tearing down the barriers between rock, jazz, and classical music. In the late Sixties, his Mothers of Invention would slip from Stravinsky's "Petroushka" into The Dovells' "Bristol Stomp" before breaking down into saxophone squeals inspired by Albert Ayler." - The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll

Interests

• Writers

  Franz Kafka, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, James Joyce, Robert Sheckley, Cordwainer Smith, Bram Stoker, Theodore Sturgeon

• Music & Bands

  Igor Stravinsky, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Edgard Varèse

Connections

Frank was married twice. In 1960 he married Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman. The couple divorced in 1964.

Frank Zappa and Adelaide Gail Sloatman married in a "severely ridiculous civil ceremony" in 1967. Frank recounted the ceremony comically in the book, stating that Gail was nine months pregnant at the time, and that he didn't have a wedding ring and that she still didn’t have a wedding ring at the time he wrote the book, which came out in 1989.

The couple had four children - Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva - over the course of their marriage, which lasted until Frank's death. The composer recalled affectionately in his book that it was her idea to name their son Dweezil, after a "funny-looking little toe" she had. "I thought then, and continue to think today, that Dweezil is a nice name," Frank wrote.

When Frank died of prostate cancer, Gail kept Frank's recordings in the public, putting out dozens of posthumous albums and judiciously licensing his image where appropriate.

Father:

Francis Vincent Zappa

1905-1973

Mother:

Rose Marie Colimore Zappa

1912-2004

Son:

Dweezil Zappa

Daughter:

Moon Unit Zappa

Son:

Ahmet Zappa

Daughter:

Diva Zappa

Wife:

Adelaide Gail Sloatman Zappa

Brother:

Bobby Zappa

Brother:

Carl Zappa

Sister:

Patrice Zappa

ex-wife:

Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman

colleague:

Ray Collins

colleague:

David Coronado

colleague:

Roy Estrada

colleague:

Jimmy Carl Black

Friend:

Don Van Vliet

References

• Zappa: A Biography
  2005
• The Big Note: A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa
  2018
• Zappa Gear: The Unique Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Units, Keyboards and Studio Equipment
  2019
• Frank Zappa Coloring Book: by Fantoons
  2019
• Frank Zappa 1966 to 1979: Every album, every song
  2019
• Frankie and Bobby: Growing Up Zappa
  2015
• Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa
  2003
• Mother! Is the Story of Frank Zappa
  1984
• Necessity Is ...: The Early Years of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
  2002