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| 1984 INTERVIEW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eT8Ip5mpZ0 FRANK ZAPPA BIOGRAPHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcI2dAJNMSw |
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Frank Vincent Zappa was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 21, 1940, the first of four children to Rose Marie (Colimore) and Francis
Vincent Zappa, a Sicilian immigrant. The family moved frequently due to
Francis Vincent Zappa's expertise as a chemist and mathematician,
contracted with various aspects of the defense industry.Frank Zappa was
largely a self-taught musician, whose 30-year career embraced a wide
variety of musical genres, encompassing rock, jazz, synth and
symphonies. Avant-garde composers, as well as math and chemistry from
his father's work, all fell into Zappa's mix of influences and comprised
his unique approach to his art, coupled with a flouting of convention.
Zappa also directed films, showing early interest in innovation but this soon turned to
music. Avant-guard composers such as Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse
attracted him alongside interest in doo-wop/R&B and modern jazz.
The family eventually settled outside of Los Angeles in Zappa's late
teens, and he soon took up drum and guitar. His proficiency grew so
quickly that by his last year in high school, he was writing, composing
and conducting avant-garde arrangements for the school orchestra.Musical CareerFrank Zappa launched his career as professional musician shortly after high school but income was sporadic; recordings brought in more money than local gigs—his racially diverse band, The Blackouts, bumped up against 1950s racism. There was some scoring of independent films, one commissioned by his high-school English teacher. A job at a recording studio led to acquiring it as a business but an entrapment arrest by local authorities over a "pornographic" audiotape, shut it down. Going back to the band route, Zappa joined The Soul Giants, soon converting them from a bar cover band to performing his original material—they morphed into The Mothers on Mother's Day, 1965.But the band was starving, until impresario Herb Cohen (who's career credits include Pete Seeger, Alice Cooper, Lenny Bruce and Linda Ronstadt) took them on and began booking them at hotspots such as Whiskey A-Go-Go. Their debut album, Freak Out!, launched them as The Mothers of Invention. It wasonly the second double rock album ever released—a groundbreaking mélange of musical genres both innovative and irreverent. That tone continued with their second album, Absolutely Free, and regular New York shows that were part concert, part free-for-all circus with stuffed animals and vegetables. Their reputation established, they gained a European following as well with a memorable appearance with the London Philharmonic. But in 1971, serious setbacks occurred: during a concert in Switzerland, the venue went up in flames—the event was memorialized in Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." Just one week later, Zappa suffered an on-stage fall that resulted in serious injuries including a crushed larynx and multiple fractures—he was left with a limp, a lowered voice, and back pain for the rest of his life. Never fully fitting into the rock genre anyway, partly due to his refusal to embrace its drug culture, he moved toward the formation of new bands with more of a jazz base. The decade of the '70s cultivated his reputation as one of the music industry’s most accomplished and demanding bandleaders. His prolific orchestral output was bisected by an unexpected Top 40 hit, "Valley Girl," performed with his daughter, Moon Unit, which funded more of his less commercially viable musical projects. Other ProjectsOutside of playing music, Zappa directed music videos, short films and features, and he became obsessed with the infinite possibilities synthetic music offered because it could accommodate almost most anything he dreamed up. Stints as a guest speaker on social activism emerged after his Senate testimony about censorship in music.In 1990, Czechoslovakian President Václav Havel appointed Zappa as his cultural liaison officer, but Pesident George H.W. Bush soon quashed the appointment. Thereafter, Zappa briefly considered running for U.S. president. While the general public's perception was often one of a kook, Zappa was deeply respected as a consummate musician and composer, an innovative filmmaker, and a prolific cross-genre artist. Death and LegacyFrank Zappa died from prostate cancer on December 4, 1993, at the age of 52, in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife of 26 years, Gail Sloatman, who had managed much of Zappa's business concerns in his later career, and their four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. After Zappa's death, his family released the statement: "Composer Frank Zappa left for his final tour just before 6 p.m. Saturday."In 1995, Frank Zappa was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; in 1997, he was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. |
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| OFFICIAL DISCOGRAPHY http://www.discogs.com/lists/Official-Frank-Zappa-Discography-Albums/21356 |
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| (1973) OVERNITE SENSATION (Complete album) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSsRTuXfAUc |
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| (1982) SHIP ARRIVING TOO LATE TO SAVE A DROWNING WITCH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AFT6O91Rqs |
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| (1983) THE MAN FROM UTOPIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q46fNYBXtyU |
Hi. Love your blog. Just one correction though, the picture of zappa playing in "1969" at the Civic Center is from 1980, actually. Can confirm that two ways, (1) Spring 1980 was the first time Frank went out on the road with super-short hair; and (2) the drummer seated behind him in the photo is David Logeman, who played for FZ ONLY during the first half of 1980 (he was the last minute replacement for a guy named Sinclair Lott, who got fired just prior to the start of that tour). By late summer 1980 Vinnie Colaiuta was back in the band for the remainder of 190 and early 1981. Thanks!
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