Frank Zappa

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.  I’d been listening for years – since high school – but more recently the interest has mushroomed.  The more I hear, the more I’m impressed.   I can’t claim to have heard every album – he has over 60.  He was, by far, the most creative and versatile musician I can name – and that beats Robert Fripp.  It seems like every Zappa album was unique, you never knew what to expect.  He covered a wide range of music: Monkees-sounding pop (We’re Only In It For the Money and Lumpy Gravy), jam band mode (Hot Rats), novelty/humor, jazz, fusion, 50’s rock and roll, psychedelic, classical – he was all over the place. 

 The Mothers.  This was his late 60s band, “of Invention” being added to avoid the “MF” connotation which was gaining popularity at that time.  The band, though, was essentially his, so “Mothers” vs. “FZ” is fairly meaningless.

 Hot Rats.  I love this album: almost nonstop jamming.  I was used to much of Zappa’s later material with a surplus of humor and less serious music, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear this album.  It includes “Peaches en Regalia”.

 “Smoke on the Water”.  In December 1971, Deep Purple were due to record an album at the Casino at Montreux, Switzerland.  Immediately beforehand, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention played a concert, which was interrupted by “some stupid with a flare gun”, who “burned the place to the ground”.  Fortunately Zappa and the Mothers were unhurt, but the experience inspired Deep Purple to write the song “Smoke on the Water” about it, and about recording Machine Head at the Grand Hotel in very ersatz, makeshift conditions which probably produced a much different album than otherwise might have occurred.  At the very least, their anthem would have completely absent.

 The Blow Job.  In his autobiography, The Real Frank Zappa Book, Zappa describes his constant problem with musicians: invariably, his male colleagues were obsessed about performing music in a way calculated to ensure female attention, particularly oral sex. 

 “200 Motels” and “Baby Snakes”.  These are his movies, from 1971 and 1979.  “200 Motels” features Ringo Starr as “Larry”, but clearly meant to be Zappa.  His band at the time, another lineup of the Mothers, plays various tunes with Zappa himself, although Zappa himself contributes no spoken words to the whole thing.  Much of it is avante garde, trippy, and difficult to follow, very similar to the Monkees’ “Head” film a few years before (in which Zappa has a cameo).  “Baby Snakes” is more of the same, with extensive use of trippy claymation, much of the musical material coming from Sheik Yerbouti.

 Valley Girl.  In the early 80s, on his album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, his daughter Moon Unit “sang” this one, which parodies the Valley Girl slang of California of the time.  Although most of the particular jargon (“tubular”, “gag me with a spoon”) are long gone, the basic speech patterns, liberally dosed with “like” and “you know” remain a typical feature of many US teenage girls.

            Zappa’s music has a heavy dose of cynical humor.  Some of it is silly (“The Dangerous Kitchen”, “Help! I’m A Rock!”), some is naughty (“Easy Meat”, “SEX”), some reflects his anti-drug attitude (“Cocaine Decisions”, “Who Needs the Peace Corps”).  Often times his singing is more like talking, but it’s not nonsense or rambling – he has a point.  Sometimes there’s even a story (“Jazz Discharge Party Hats”).   In fact, if all you knew were those songs, you’d think he was simply a novelty song writer, like Weird Al Yankovic.  Which is why you have to listen to more of his serious music.

 Zappa vs. Gore.  In the 80s, Al Gore’s now ex-wife Tipper went on an ill-advised and idiotic crusade to save America’s children from rock’n’roll music.  In particular, she wanted warning labels attached to records; her Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) demanded censorship.  Zappa himself testified before Congress and made them look like idiots, particularly Al Gore and his wife.  Although Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and John Denver also came out on his side, Zappa himself was the most outspoken, articulate and intelligent. 

 Zappa For President.  I usually don’t think rock stars have the appropriate mentality and mindset to be politicians.  Most can write decent lyrics or good music, but fall far short of being intelligent enough to be put in any position of leadership.  I’d even put Roger Waters and John Lennon in that category, but to their credit I’ve never heard of either of them espousing any political ambitions whatsoever, notwithstanding their consistently strident political views and expressions thereof explicitly in the music.  The one notable exception to this is Zappa.  And I was surprised to hear Jeff Beck, of all people, sharing my opinion that Zappa should have been in our Oval Office.  It’s too bad he died of prostate cancer in 1993.

 Zappa Plays Zappa.  His son Dweezil learned to play guitar – many lessons from Eddie Van Halen.  In recent years, DZ has started playing concerts playing his father’s music, mainly in the hopes of keeping his father’s memory alive but also emphasizing the MUSIC part of the career, as the HUMOR and NOVELTY seem to be most of what people associate Zappa with.

            I saw them play in Baltimore at the dedication ceremony to a Frank Zappa bust at the corner of Eastern Ave. and Conkling (northeast Baltimore, close to Johns Hopkins): a two hour show that rocked big time.  But rather than review the show myself, here is a Classic Rock magazine review of a similar show in Europe, which pretty much sums it up:

 ‘The Best Tribute Band in the World…Ever,’ Zappa Plays Zappa are astonishing as the virtuoso collective romp through easily the most complex, unique and demanding music of the HV weekend.  Resurrecting Frank-favourites such as “Easy Meat”, “Cosmic Debris” and, of course, “Peaches En Regalia”, and aided hugely by an almost hi-fi scound, they’re worth the price of admission alone and are rewarded with a deservedly enthusiastic reception.  In a nutshell: brilliant.