Frank Zappa

From the 1960s through the 1990s, Frank Zappa stood apart as a composer, guitarist, singer, and ensemble leader whose career spanned three decades. Drawing on sources as varied as doo-wop and avant-garde classical works, he directed outfits that functioned outwardly as rock ensembles yet forged a hybrid idiom touching jazz and intricate contemporary concert music, at times recruiting full orchestras for the cause. Layered atop these demanding instrumental textures came lyrics and track titles steeped in sharp satire and oblique humor, locating him within a provocative literary lineage that encompassed Beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg alongside boundary-pushing comedians like Lenny Bruce. Though nominally a popular-music figure, his releases seldom secured heavy radio exposure or broad commercial returns; nevertheless, he secured ownership of his masters and distributed them profitably via his own imprints while maintaining an international touring schedule, sustained both by an intensely loyal following of listeners and fellow musicians and by his own skill as a fluent public advocate who transformed lengthy interviews into an extension of his artistic output. On paper he operated within popular music, yet the Mothers of Invention, the ensemble he guided through the 1960s, frequently appeared to satirize mainstream pop and the counterculture itself—despite Zappa’s own long hair and denim attire, he voiced open contempt for hippie mores and recreational drug use. By the 1980s he found himself addressing Congress against censorship, later weaving that testimony into one of his own albums. Far from opposing impulses, these comic and earnest dimensions reinforced one another; in word and deed Zappa championed the most unrestricted articulation of thought, and above all he pursued compositional ambitions exceeding those of nearly every rock musician of his era and most classical composers besides.

Frank Vincent Zappa entered the world in Baltimore, Maryland, on 21 December 1940. For much of his life he labored under the false belief that he had been christened identically to his father, a Sicilian immigrant then employed as a high-school instructor, and therefore introduced himself to interviewers as “Francis Vincent Zappa, Jr.,” a detail widely repeated in print. Only later did examination of his birth certificate reveal that his given name was in fact Frank. The elder Francis Zappa obtained wartime employment with the Navy during World War II and thereafter pursued a succession of government and defense-related posts that occasioned repeated family relocations. Zappa’s mother, Rose Marie (Colimore) Zappa, had previously worked as a librarian and typist. During his earliest years the household resided in Baltimore, Opa-Locka, Florida, and Edgewood, Maryland. In December 1951 the family relocated to California after his father accepted a metallurgy teaching position at the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey. That same year Zappa first displayed musical inclination, enrolling in the school band on snare drum.

Although the Zappas remained in California for the balance of his childhood, frequent moves persisted; upon receiving his diploma from Antelope Valley Joint Union High School in Lancaster in June 1958, he had already attended seven different secondary institutions. His musical engagement deepened concurrently. He gravitated especially toward R&B, joining a band as drummer in 1955 while simultaneously developing a passion for avant-garde classical music, above all the compositions of Edgard Varèse. After graduation he pursued sporadic music studies at several nearby colleges and shifted his principal instrument to guitar.

On 28 December 1960 Zappa married Kathryn J. Sherman; the union dissolved in divorce four years later. In the interim he performed with various groups and composed scores for low-budget films. Seeking to document his music for one such picture, The World’s Greatest Sinner, he began sessions at the modest Pal studio in Cucamonga, California, operated by Paul Buff, in November 1961. Zappa and Buff proceeded to create and capture pop material with studio aggregations, licensing results to Del-Fi Records and Original Sound Records. On 1 August 1964 Zappa purchased the facility outright, renaming it Studio Z. On 26 March 1965 he was arrested after an undercover officer solicited a pornographic audiotape; convicted of a misdemeanor, he served ten days in jail—an episode that left lasting resentment. Upon release he shuttered the studio, moved to Los Angeles, and joined the Soul Giants, whose roster included his acquaintance, vocalist Ray Collins, together with bassist Roy Estrada and drummer Jimmy Carl Black. He promptly persuaded the musicians to abandon cover material in favor of his original compositions and to adopt the name the Mothers, reportedly on Mother’s Day, 10 May 1965.

In Los Angeles the Mothers secured management from Herb Cohen and, by autumn 1965, obtained bookings at prominent clubs such as the Whiskey a Go Go. There they attracted the attention of producer Tom Wilson, who signed them to Verve Records, an MGM subsidiary, on 1 March 1966. Verve stipulated that the potentially offensive name “the Mothers” be altered to “the Mothers of Invention.” The agreement required five albums within two years, and the group entered the studio immediately to begin the first, Freak Out! Guitarist Elliot Ingber had joined by this point, expanding the unit to a quintet. An abundance of material, coupled with Zappa’s willingness to accept a reduced publishing royalty, prompted the unusual choice to issue the debut as a double album—an unprecedented concession for a new act. (Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde appeared around the same time, yet constituted his seventh release.)

Freak Out! reached stores on 27 June 1966. While initial sales proved modest, the set entered the Billboard chart for the week ending 11 February 1967 and ultimately logged twenty-three weeks. In July 1966 Zappa encountered Adelaide Gail Sloatman; the couple wed in September 1967, shortly before the birth, on 28 September 1967, of their daughter Moon Unit Zappa, who would later record with her father. A son, Dweezil, followed on 5 September 1969 and likewise pursued a recording career, as did Ahmet Zappa, born 15 May 1974. Their fourth child, Diva, arrived in August 1979. During summer 1966 Zappa added drummer Denny Bruce and keyboardist Don Preston, swelling the Mothers of Invention to seven members. By November 1966, when the group returned to the studio for Absolutely Free, Bruce had been succeeded by Billy Mundi, Ingber by Jim Fielder, and two horn players—Bunk Gardner on winds and Jim “Motorhead” Sherwood on saxophone—had been enlisted, forming a nine-piece ensemble. The album was completed in four days and issued in June 1967, entering the charts in July and peaking inside the Top 50.

The Mothers of Invention relocated to New York City in November 1966 for an engagement at the Balloon Farm in Greenwich Village that commenced on Thanksgiving and extended through New Year’s Day 1967. Following a fortnight in Montreal they returned to California, where Fielder departed in February. In March Zappa commenced work on his debut solo project, Lumpy Gravy, having signed with Capitol Records under the misapprehension that he was not personally contracted to Verve—a point the label contested. Later that month the Mothers resumed an extended residency at the Garrick Theater in Greenwich Village, beginning during Easter week and proving sufficiently successful that Herb Cohen secured the venue for the summer; performances ran intermittently from 24 May through 5 September. During this interval Ian Underwood joined on saxophone and piano. In August the group began recording its third album, We’re Only in It for the Money.

September 1967 marked the Mothers’ first European tour, encompassing the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. On 1 October Verve declined to extend the contract, though three further albums remained due. We’re Only in It for the Money was finished in October, yet release was delayed by legal concerns surrounding its proposed cover, an elaborate parody of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; the image ultimately appeared on the interior of the gatefold sleeve. The album arrived on 4 March 1968 and reached the Top 30. A separate dispute concluded when Verve acquired the Lumpy Gravy tapes from Capitol; Zappa completed the orchestral piece, and Verve issued it under his name (and that of “the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra and Chorus”) on 13 May 1968, where it spent five weeks on the charts.

Although one additional album was still owed to Verve, Zappa already looked ahead. In autumn 1967 he began recording Uncle Meat, intended as a film soundtrack, with sessions continuing into February 1968. Billy Mundi exited during this period and was replaced by Arthur Dyer Tripp III. In March Zappa and Herb Cohen announced the formation of their own imprint, Bizarre Records, to be distributed by Reprise, a Warner Bros. subsidiary. The label was conceived to document both the Mothers and artists Zappa discovered. Early that summer Ray Collins left the group, which continued touring. Their 25 October 1968 performance at London’s Royal Festival Hall later surfaced in 1991 as Ahead of Their Time. Bizarre formally debuted that month with the single “The Circle” by Los Angeles street singer Wild Man Fischer. In November guitarist Lowell George joined. December saw Verve release the final contractual album, Cruisin’ with Ruben & the Jets, on which Zappa led the ensemble through seemingly sincere doo-wop and R&B material; the LP remained on the charts for twelve weeks. (Although free of Verve, disputes persisted; the label issued the compilation Mothermania: The Best of the Mothers in March 1969, charting for nine weeks.)

The ambitious double album Uncle Meat, the fifth Mothers of Invention release, appeared on Bizarre on 21 April 1969 and reached the Top 50. (Its accompanying film did not materialize until a 1989 home-video edition.) In May Bizarre issued Pretties for You, the debut by Alice Cooper, the sole act discovered by the label that later achieved substantial success after moving to Warner Bros. proper. That same month Lowell George departed; he and Roy Estrada subsequently formed Little Feat. Zappa began work on a second solo album, Hot Rats, in July 1969. On 19 August the Mothers of Invention delivered their final performance in their original configuration, appearing on Canadian television at tour’s end. One week later Zappa announced the band’s dissolution, though he would later employ the name for subsequent aggregations. Hot Rats, the second album credited solely to Frank Zappa, emerged on 10 October 1969. It charted for only six weeks at the time yet became one of his most cherished collections, with the instrumental “Peaches en Regalia” proving especially popular. Although the Mothers no longer functioned as a performing unit, Zappa retained extensive live and studio tapes; from this archive he assembled Burnt Weeny Sandwich, released in February 1970 and reaching the Top 100.

At the invitation of Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Zubin Mehta, Zappa assembled a fresh rock contingent dubbed the Mothers to perform, alongside the orchestra, a work titled 200 Motels at UCLA on 15 May 1970. Augmenting the lineup with former Turtles vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, Zappa embarked on a tour with this iteration of the Mothers in June 1970. (Returning members included Ian Underwood, keyboardist George Duke, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, and guitarist Jeff Simmons.) In August Bizarre released another archival Mothers album, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, which charted. Chunga’s Revenge, issued in October and presented as a Zappa solo album despite featuring the current Mothers lineup, remained on the charts for fourteen weeks. After autumn U.S. dates the ensemble traveled to Europe on 1 December. From 28 January to 5 February 1971 they recorded a film version of 200 Motels at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and co-stars Theodore Bikel, Ringo Starr, and Keith Moon of the Who. Zappa had arranged a 8 February concert with the Royal Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall as a cost-saving measure, allowing payment for the filming session at rehearsal rates, yet the hall canceled, citing vulgar lyrics. Zappa incurred further expense by suing, ultimately losing the case.

On 5 and 6 June 1971 the Mothers performed during the final week at New York’s Fillmore East, taping the shows for Fillmore East, June 1971, released on 2 August. It became Zappa’s first album to reach the Top 40 since We’re Only in It for the Money three years earlier. John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared as guests on 6 June and incorporated the performance into their 1972 album Some Time in New York City. The Mothers played UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on 7 August 1971; the concert yielded Just Another Band from L.A., issued in May 1972 and reaching the Top 100. Touring continued into autumn. 200 Motels premiered theatrically on 29 October 1971, accompanied by a double-LP soundtrack on United Artists that charted in the Top 100. Meanwhile the European tour proved turbulent. On 4 December 1971 the group performed at the Montreux Casino in Geneva, Switzerland; a fan’s flare gun ignited the venue, inspiring Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” Six days later, on 10 December at London’s Rainbow Theatre, a deranged audience member leapt onstage and shoved Zappa into the orchestra pit. He sustained a broken ankle and other injuries, necessitating months of recuperation and bringing the tour and this edition of the Mothers to a close.

While recovering at his Los Angeles home, Zappa organized a new large ensemble for jazz-fusion material, christening it the Grand Wazoo Orchestra and recording two albums. Waka/Jawaka, credited as a Zappa solo release, appeared in July 1972 and charted for seven weeks. The Grand Wazoo, issued under the Mothers name in December, failed to chart. By 10 September Zappa felt sufficiently recovered to begin a two-week engagement at the Hollywood Bowl, billed as the Mothers. He subsequently reduced the personnel to ten pieces—the “Petit Wazoo” band—and toured from late October through mid-December.

The outset of 1973 inaugurated a commercially successful new chapter. Zappa assembled another Mothers lineup, recorded material featuring his own lead vocals (his range having lowered by half an octave following the stage fall), and undertook the most extensive touring of his career. Debuting the band in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on 23 February, he spent 183 days on the road that year, encompassing the United States, Europe, and Australia. The Bizarre/Reprise arrangement with Warner having expired, he launched DiscReet Records, also distributed by Warner; its inaugural release, Over-Nite Sensation, arrived in September 1973, reached the Top 40, remained on the charts nearly a year, and earned gold certification. It was followed in April 1974 by the solo album Apostrophe (’). To Zappa’s surprise, radio embraced “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow.” A single edit charted modestly on the Hot 100, and Apostrophe (’) peaked at number ten for the week ending 29 June 1974—the highest position attained by any Zappa album—while also achieving gold status.

Zappa maintained a rigorous touring schedule through 1974. The double live set Roxy & Elsewhere, credited to “Zappa/Mothers,” surfaced in September 1974 and reached the Top 30. Adding longtime associate Captain Beefheart, he recorded performances at Austin’s Armadillo World Headquarters on 20 and 21 May 1975 that became Bongo Fury, credited to Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart/The Mothers and issued in October; it charted in the Top 100. Preceding that release was One Size Fits All, credited to Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention and appearing in June; it also reached the Top 30. On 17 and 18 September 1975 two concerts of Zappa’s orchestral music were presented by the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Zearott, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The performances were taped but not released until May 1979 as Orchestral Favorites, which charted briefly. Beginning 27 September 1975 Zappa embarked on another extended tour, remaining in the United States through a New Year’s Eve concert at the Forum in Los Angeles before proceeding to Australia, Japan, and Europe, concluding on 17 March 1976. This concluded another era. He parted ways with longtime manager Herb Cohen and disbanded the group, which legal conflicts with Cohen ensured would be the final ensemble billed as the Mothers or the Mothers of Invention. Thereafter he performed and recorded simply as Frank Zappa. Additional legal matters were resolved when, in October 1976, he reached an out-of-court settlement with MGM/Verve securing ownership of the early masters.

Fans were surprised when Zappa’s name appeared as producer of Grand Funk Railroad’s Good Singin’, Good Playin’ in August 1976. In September he commenced his first world tour under his own name, traveling through the United States, the Far East, and Europe until February 1977. Zoot Allures, the final album credited to the Mothers, was released by Warner Bros. on 29 October 1976—DiscReet apparently having been claimed by Cohen—and reached the Top 100. Zappa simultaneously sought to terminate his Warner contract. In March 1977 he submitted four albums at once (initially titled Studio Tan, Hot Rats III [with Waka/Jawaka counted as Hot Rats II], Zappa’s Orchestral Favorites, and the double album Live in New York, recorded December 1976), demanded the stipulated $60,000 advances per title, and sued Warner for breach when payment was withheld. That summer he declared the Warner relationship concluded and announced that the four albums formed a single work, Leather (later spelled Läther), which he sold to Mercury/Phonogram. Warner sued to prevent its release.

On 8 September 1977 Zappa launched another North American tour lasting until New Year’s Eve. Shows from 28–31 October at New York’s Palladium were filmed and recorded, later appearing in the film Baby Snakes. The European portion opened in London on 24 January 1978. Resolution of the legal disputes precipitated an unusually prolific release schedule. Zappa in New York (originally Live in New York) appeared on DiscReet in March 1978 and charted. Studio Tan followed in September and charted. Sleep Dirt (originally Hot Rats III) emerged in January 1979 and charted. Orchestral Favorites completed the material delivered to Warner in March 1977. With these issues settled, Zappa established Zappa Records, distributed domestically by Mercury/Phonogram and internationally by CBS; the double album Sheik Yerbouti was released on 3 March 1979. It peaked at number 21—his strongest showing in five years—bolstered by the single “Dancin’ Fool,” which reached the Top 50. That track received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance (Male), while “Rat Tomago” earned a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Zappa toured Europe and Japan in spring 1979, then returned to the United States to complete construction of his home studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, on 1 September. The facility and his ongoing practice of documenting live performances, combined with greater control over releases, enabled an accelerated output. Joe’s Garage Act I appeared in September 1979 and reached the Top 30; it was followed in November by the double album Joe’s Garage Acts II & III, which charted in the Top