- Born: December 21, 1940 in Baltimore, MD
- Years Active: 1962-1993
- Member of: Frank Zappa & the Mothers
- Genre: Rock & Alternative
- Influenced by: Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Howlin' Wolf, Guitar Slim, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Muddy Waters, Igor Stravinsky, Jazz, Hubert Sumlin, Edgard Varèse
- Followed By: Hoagie Hill, Devo, Circus Devils, Ossi Duri, X-Legged Sally, S.I. Futures, They Might Be Giants, Sean Westergaard, Imahori Tsuneo, Pere Ubu, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Lyle Mays, Shawn Gundersen, Project/Object, Stump, John Frusciante, Ludichrist, Primus, Pierre Vervloesem, Lucy Mongrel, Chris Opperman, Mark Newman, Plug Spark Sanjay, Jim Lynch, MX-80, The Mantras, The Wrong Object, The G.T.O.'s, Bobby Sanabria, The Swamis, Shplang, Steve Vai, Zoogz Rift, That 1 Guy, V. Majestic, Matthew Friedberger, Meat Puppets, André Duchesne, Eugene Chadbourne, Soupcity, Mike Patton, Time of Orchids, Alternative TV, The Disco Biscuits, George Clinton, Joe Gallant, Rick Bartow, Ten Hands, Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer, Star People, Kraan, Rusty Anderson, Aquarium Rescue Unit, Mark Mothersbaugh, Rheostatics, miRthkon, Funkadelic, Scatterbrain, Dilatazione, Basehead, Flat Earth Society, Mats/Morgan Band, Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers, Los Marañones, Robbie 'Seahag' Mangano, Carl Grayson, Tom Marshall, Henry Cow, Nurse with Wound, Peter Vermeersch, Trey Anastasio, Faith No More, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, RAQ, Mr. Bungle, Sandro Oliva, Half Japanese, dEUS, Hampton Grease Band, East of Eden, The Rudds, The Plastic People of the Universe, Amsterdam Saxophone Quartet, Pochakaite Malko, Meridian Arts Ensemble, 12 Stone Toddler, Dale Bozzio, Amy X Neuburg, Roine Stolt, Jordan Shapiro, Zappatistas, The Other Planets, Alice Cooper, The Industrial Jazz Group, Ungdomskulen, Umphrey's McGee, Babe Ruth, Flo & Eddie, Frank Soda, Tom Bailey, Club Foot Orchestra, T.J. Rehmi, Yugen, Stock, Hausen & Walkman, Human Radio, Mark Newman, Frogg Café, moe., Drats, Planeta Imaginario, Subhumans, Crazy Backwards Alphabet, Avial, Autosalvage, Tally Hall, Hamster Theatre, Psychic TV, The Screws, Can, Yolk, Tsuneo Imahori, Shining, Proto-Kaw, The Macpodz, Ant-Bee, Dino DiMuro, John Zorn, Juice Leskinen, Burgess Shale, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Carnival in Coal, Mike Keneally, Bozo Allegro, Joe Gallant & Illuminati, Foetus, Alex Machacek, Fibonaccis, Beastie Boys, Analogue II, Picchio dal Pozzo
- Similar Artists: The Residents, The Bonzo Dog Band, Eugene Chadbourne, Arthur Brown, Devo, The Doors, The Fugs, Henry Cow, King Crimson, The Kingsmen, Moby Grape, The Seeds, They Might Be Giants, The Trashmen, The Velvet Underground, The Who, Don Ellis, Don Preston, Art Zoyd, The Deviants, Insect Trust, Country Joe & the Fish, Marc Ducret, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Captain Beefheart, Moondog, Jimi Hendrix, Tipographica
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