Frank Zappa 1940-1993

Frank Zappa was known as one of the most accomplished composers of the rock era. He has a genius for using the combination of contemporary classical music with the sound of the 50's Doo Wop, and guitar heavy rock, which was prevalent during the 70's. He is also best known for being the most creative recording artist of his time, recording 65 albums.

Born Frank Vincent Zappa in Baltimore, Maryland on December 21, 1940, Zappa was the eldest of 3 children.

Zappa became interested in music at a very early age, and pursued music studies in school. He took summer courses in drumming, as well as 6 months at Chaffey College in California.

In the early 60's, he wrote music for some low-budget movies, and used the money to buy a recording studio. In 1964, he joined a local band called the Soul Giants. Over the course of the next two years, it evolved into The Mothers. They played songs written by Zappa. The band was signed by MGM in 1966, and they recorded their first album. It was a 2 LP set called Freak Out! This first album showed Zappa's interest in serious music, and biting wit. MGM then insisted that the name be changed to Mother's of Invention because they thought "Mothers" to be too scandalous.

Ensuing albums came frequently. In 1968, three albums hit the charts: We're Only in it for the Money, which was an album that made fun of hippies, Lumpy Gravy, a Zappa solo album recorded with an orchestra, and Cruising With Ruben and the Jets, a "neo-doo wop" album.

Toward the end of the 60's, the Mothers seemed to turn more toward instrumental Jazz-Rock, which revealed Zappa's technically accomplished guitar playing. At the end of the 60's, he broke up the band after much frustration with the financial losses, and the band members.

In 1970, Zappa teamed up with former members of Turtles. The group seemed to move their music into the direction of x-rated comedy as you can hear on the album Fillmore East. But during a performance in London, England, Zappa was pushed off the stage by a member of the audience. Zappa fell ten feet into the orchestra, and broke his leg. He spent a month in the hospital, and Trevor Howell (the man who pushed him) spent a year in jail. While Zappa recovered, he released several albums. He then reformed The Mothers, with himself as lead singer, and recorded Pop/Rock albums, which were his best selling records.

By the end of the 70's, Zappa was recording on his own labels, and he had a huge following of fans for both his humor and his music.

In the 1980's, Zappa gained the rights to his old albums and re-released them. He also wrote an autobiography, and began a world tour in 1989.

At the end of 1991, Zappa got confirmation that he was very ill with prostate cancer. However, his scheduled album releases never waned.

On December 4, 1993, Frank Zappa succumbed to his illness, but his albums were released until the end of 1996.