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Frank Vincent Zappa (/ ˈ z æ p ə / ZAP-ə; December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader.In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he also produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.
- Zappa in The 60s
- Zappa in The 70s
- Zappa in The 80s
What better place to start than at the beginning: the opening track on the Zappa/Mothers 1966 debut, Freak Out! In “Hungry Freaks, Daddy,” Zappa addresses the countercultural view of the Great Society. America was in both class and social turmoil at this time, and a psychedelic treatment was undercut not with Frank’s often-quoted cynicism but a fai...
Skipping with a heavy heart over Burnt Weeny Sandwich we land on Weasels Ripped My Flesh and an expanded Mothers featuring Lowell George (en route to Little Feat fame). Both live- and studio-based – and Mother-great throughout – it boasts a classic early Neon Park artwork and includes “My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama.” Nothing problematic here, j...
After a sequence of albums dedicated to the art (and debunking) of guitar histrionics, Zappa enjoyed a later hit with “Valley Girl,” a song that introduced fans to the culture of San Fernando schoolgirl “Valspeak.” The outcome was a double-edged sword, since Zappa was often viewed as a novelty act, but the track transcends its own joke and stands a...
May 3, 2023 · Frank Zappa primarily played Gibson SG style guitars. His most iconic guitar is likely his “Baby Snakes” SG which was a counterfeit Gibson guitar. He acquired Baby Snakes in the early 1970s and it remained one of his favorite guitars up until his death in 1993. See the full list of Frank Zappa guitars and gear below.
- Gary Mackenzie
- Hot Rats (1969) Harmonically pleasing tunes, warm jazz-fusion styling, terrific playing and incredible sound quality create a triumph of an album. “Peaches en Regalia” remains one of Zappa’s most enduring tunes, and Captain Beefheart adds bizarre vocals to “Willie the Pimp.”
- Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) Most artists treat live albums as greatest hits with crowd noise, but Zappa used the format to present new and dramatically reworked material.
- Joe’s Garage Acts I, II & III (1979) Joe’s Garage has all the elements any prog fan could wish for. A sprawling concept narrative, it takes in rock musicians’ peccadillos, individual freedoms, invented religions and government censorship, along with epic guitar solos, pop, reggae, rock, spoken word and, er, sex with domestic appliances.
- Jazz from Hell (1986) Frustrated that his complex instrumentals couldn’t be played by real musicians, Zappa created digital sounds from scratch and programmed all the music for this album (aside from the live track “St.
Frank Zappa, American composer, guitarist, and satirist of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. One of the great polymaths of the rock era, he was an instinctive postmodernist who demolished the barriers and hierarchies separating ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. Learn more about his music and his significance.
- Charles Shaar Murray
Aug 18, 2021 · “Well, you stick them in where you think they belong when you think they belong. Sometimes you guess right, sometimes you guess wrong. The most dangerous thing is improvising with a band and thinking, ‘Okay, now’s the time to play that diminished scale,’ and somebody in the band is thinking, ‘Now’s the time to play a major chord.’
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Feb 27, 2020 · – Zappa reenters commercial territory on the expert Joe’s Garage Act 1, Shut Up n’ Play Your Guitar and Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, the latter featuring his hit single ...
