Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa[nb 1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. 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.

As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa's diverse musical influences led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical modernism, African-American rhythm and blues, and doo-wop music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands, later switching to electric guitar. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. He continued this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was rock, jazz or classical.

Zappa's output is unified by a conceptual continuity he termed "Project/Object", with numerous musical phrases, ideas, and characters reappearing across his albums. His lyrics reflected his iconoclastic views of established social and political processes, structures and movements, often humorously so, and he has been described as the "godfather" of comedy rock. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Unlike many other rock musicians of his generation, he personally disapproved of drugs, but supported their decriminalization and regulation.

During Zappa's lifetime, he was a highly productive and prolific artist with a controversial critical standing; supporters of his music admired its compositional complexity, while critics found it lacking emotional depth. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and worked as an independent artist for most of his career. He remains a major influence on musicians and composers. His honors include his 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, he was ranked number 36 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at number 71 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and in 2011 at number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

1. Religion: Atheism
2. Residence: Baltimore
3. Residence: Laurel Canyon
4. Residence: Monterey
5. Residence: San Diego
6. Residence: Claremont
   

• Reference: Biographical Summaries of Notable People - SmartCopy: Jun 4 2020, 18:46:52 UTC

1. Religion: Atheism
2. Residence: Baltimore
3. Residence: Laurel Canyon
4. Residence: Monterey
5. Residence: San Diego
6. Residence: Claremont

• Reference: Biographical Summaries of Notable People - SmartCopy: Jun 7 2020, 21:55:05 UTC
• Reference: Wikpedia: Frank Zappa

Musician. Widely hailed as one of the most inventive and provocative musicians of his time, his work was characterized by his satiric, often deviant lyrics and his use of advanced musical forms not usually found in rock music, as well as his exceptional guitar technique. His band, The Mothers of Invention (which was essentially an extension of his own creativity rather than a collaborative group) released their first album, "Freak Out," in 1966. Zappa and the Mothers' output in the succeeding years would be prodigious, including such well-received albums as "We're Only in it for the Money" (1968), the Doo-Wop opus "Cruising with Rueben and the Jets" (1968), 1969's "Uncle Meat" (which belied the influence of modern composers like Igor Stravinsky), "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" (1970), "Apostrophe" (1974), and the apocalyptic rock opera "Joe's Garage" (1979). Though Zappa's work was widely appreciated by critics and attracted a loyal cult following, he was rarely a big commercial success. The most notable exception to this rule was the 1982 single "Valley Girl" recorded with his daughter Moon Unit Zappa, which touched off a nationwide linguistic craze whose impact is still being felt. In his later years, he turned to orchestral music, and his compositions were conducted by noted French composer Pierre Boulez. In the 1980s, he would also work against the imposition of warning stickers on music recordings, claiming they were tantamount to censorship. Notable alumni of his bands include harmonica player Captain Beefheart, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, guitarist Steve Vai, and composer Patrick O'Hearn. Frank Zappa was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 7 2024, 19:50:26 UTC