The Peculiar Frank Zappa
The Peculiar Frank ZappaFrank 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...
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