Search - Artist/Band: Frank Zappa

• Name: Frank Zappa
• Birthday: 12/21/1940
• Birth Place: Baltimore, MD
• Died: 12/04/1993
• Decades Active: 1960,1970,1980,1990
• Genre: Rock
• Styles: Comedy Rock, Experimental Rock, Hard Rock, Jazz-Rock, Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Album Rock, Modern Composition, Computer Music, Experimental, Novelty, Fusion, Proto-Punk, Progressive Big Band
• Moods: Acerbic, Confrontational, Eccentric, Knotty, Uncompromising, Brash, Elaborate, Freakish, Freewheeling, Humorous, Ironic, Rousing, Sardonic, Snide, Theatrical, Whimsical, Witty, Clinical, Complex, Dramatic, Energetic, Outrageous, Playful, Sleazy, Visceral, Wry, Rowdy, Sexual, Party/Celebratory, Cerebral, Cynical/Sarcastic, Irreverent, Provocative, Quirky, Silly

Title	Release
Zappa Plays Zappa [Vaulternative]	11/2007
Mofo Project/Object W	11/07/2006
The Classic Interviews	05/31/2005
The Best of Frank Zappa WA	11/01/2004
Joe's Domage WA	10/01/2004
Joe's Corsage WA	2004
For Collectors Only WA	12/24/2002
Zappa Picks [Jonathan Fishman] WA	10/15/2002
Zappa Picks [Larry LaLonde] WA	10/15/2002
Son of Cheap Thrills	04/27/1999
Everything Is Healing Nicely	1999
Mystery Disc WA	09/15/1998
Cheap Thrills WA	04/28/1998
Cucamonga WA	1998
Prophetic Attitude	11/11/1997
Strictly Genteel: A Classical Introduction to Frank Zappa WA	05/20/1997
Have I Offended Someone? WA	04/08/1997
Virtusos Organ Music	1997
Lost Episodes WA	02/27/1996
Strictly Commercial: The Best of Frank Zappa WA	08/22/1995
Civilization Phaze III WA	1995
London Symphony Orchestra, Vols. 1 & 2 WA	1995
The Yellow Shark WA	11/02/1993
Jazz From Hell WA	11/15/1986
Apostrophe/Over-nite Sensation WA	09/01/1986
We're Only in It for the Money/Lumpy Gravy WA	1986
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention WA	1985
Thing-Fish WA	11/1984
Them or Us WA	10/1984
The Perfect Stranger WA	1984
The Man from Utopia WA	03/1983
London Symphony Orchestra WA	1983
Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch WA	05/1982
You Are What You Is WA	09/1981
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar	05/11/1981
Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar [2 Disc] WA	05/11/1981
Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar [3 Disc] WA	1981
Joe's Garage: Acts I, II & III WA	11/19/1979
Joe's Garage: Acts II & III WA	11/19/1979
Joe's Garage: Act I WA	09/17/1979
Orchestral Favorites WA	05/04/1979
Sheik Yerbouti WA	03/03/1979
Sleep Dirt WA	01/19/1979
Studio Tan WA	09/15/1978
Zoot Allures WA	10/29/1976
One Size Fits All WA	06/25/1975
Apostrophe (') WA	03/1974
Over-Nite Sensation WA	09/1973
The Grand Wazoo WA	05/1973
Waka/Jawaka WA	07/05/1972
200 Motels WA	10/1971
Chunga's Revenge WA	10/23/1970
Weasels Ripped My Flesh WA	08/1970
Burnt Weeny Sandwich WA	02/1970
Hot Rats WA	10/10/1969
Uncle Meat WA	06/1969
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets WA	10/1968
We're Only in It for the Money WA	09/1968
Lumpy Gravy WA	12/1967
Absolutely Free WA	05/26/1967
Freak Out! WA	07/1966
10 Years After from December 4th 1993
Absolutely Free/Over-Nite Sensation
American Pageant: Nullis Pretii WA
Imaginary Diseases WA
Joe's Xmasage
Lumpy Gravy/Hot Rats
Watermelon in Easter Hay

Frank Zappa was one of the most accomplished composers of the rock era; his music combines an understanding of and appreciation for such contemporary classical figures as Stravinsky, Stockhausen, and Varèse with an affection for late-'50s doo wop rock & roll and a facility for the guitar-heavy rock that dominated pop in the '70s. But Zappa was also a satirist whose reserves of scorn seemed bottomless and whose wicked sense of humor and absurdity have delighted his numerous fans, even when his lyrics crossed over the broadest bounds of taste. Finally, Zappa was perhaps the most prolific record-maker of his time, turning out massive amounts of music on his own Barking Pumpkin label and through distribution deals with Rykodisc and Rhino after long, unhappy associations with industry giants like Warner Brothers and the now-defunct MGM.

Zappa became interested in music early and pursued his studies in school, up through a six-month stint at Chaffey College in Alta Loma, CA. He scored a couple of low-budget films and used the money to buy a low-budget recording studio. In 1964, he joined a local band called the Soul Giants, which, over the course of the next two years, evolved into The Mothers, who played songs written by Zappa. The band was signed to the Verve division of MGM by producer Tom Wilson in 1966 and recorded its first album, a two-LP set called Freak Out!, which introduced Zappa's interests in both serious music and pop as well as his scathing wit. (Verve insisted on adding "of Invention" to the band's name.)

Subsequent albums extended the musical and lyrical themes of the debut, and they came frequently. Three albums, for example, hit the charts in 1968: We're Only in It for the Money, a Mothers album that made fun of hippies and Sgt. Pepper; Lumpy Gravy, a Zappa solo album recorded with an orchestra; and Cruising With Ruben & the Jets, on which The Mothers played neo-doo wop. Toward the end of the '60s, Zappa expanded the Mothers lineup, turning more toward instrumental jazz-rock, much of which displayed his technically accomplished guitar playing. But by the end of the decade, he had broken up the band.

In 1970, however, Zappa reassembled a new edition of The Mothers, featuring former Turtles lead singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan as frontmen. The lineup moved the group more in the direction of X-rated comedy, notably on the album Fillmore East: June 1971, but it was short-lived: during a performance at the Rainbow Theatre in London, Zappa was pushed from the stage by a demented fan and seriously injured.

While he recovered, Zappa released several albums, then he re-formed The Mothers with himself as lead singer and made pop/rock albums such as Over-nite Sensation that were among his best-selling records ever. By the end of the '70s, Zappa was recording on his own labels, distributed in some cases by the majors, and he had attracted a consistent cult following for both his humor and his complex music. (Zappa's band, in fact, became a training ground for high-quality rock musicians, much as Miles Davis' was for jazz players.)

In the '80s, Zappa gained the rights to his old albums and began to reissue them, at first on his own and then through the pioneering Rykodisc CD label. He wrote his autobiography and embarked on a world tour in 1988. That was the end of his live performing, except for such isolated appearances as one in Czechoslovakia at the invitation of its post-Communist president, Zappa fan Vaclav Havel. In late 1991, it was confirmed that Zappa was seriously ill with cancer. Nevertheless, his schedule of album releases continued to be rapid. Zappa died in December of 1993, with a number of posthumous releases to follow. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide