FZ worked like a maniac ... never stopped, and was a really absorbent guy. He used the stuff that surrounded him and the personalities and musical gifts of countless band members to make great records. He was probably too smart (and busy) to ever take an IQ test and the fact that he had no formal education beyond HS, (but dwarfed lots of PHD and Julliard guys) is coolern' hell. To a large degree, he was a musical assembler, control freak and an organiser, (the central scrutinizer). In THE REAL FRANK ZAPPA book he says that he tried the weedus a few times but didn't like it or any other suppliments that impaired recall, rehearsals or control. Not really a guy who invented new compositional concepts, (Varese, Robert Johnson, Eddie Guitar Slim, Bach, Stravinsky and Dolphy were among his heroes and it shows). Still it's kind of obvious that alot of his compositions can really hit a soft spot and will probably be around as long we keep cranking out two legged rats... Genius works for me
thoughts on frank zappa
the thought for this thread started from a response that jeffloistarca gave & he is correct,most people think fz was a drug crazed nut & his music is for stoners,this was farthest from the truth,the thing fish is without a doubt a masterpiece,the line up of his band was always of the best of the best,it seems that frank has 2 different reputations,in the states he is a nut for the most part but in europe he is put beside the likes of motzart & bach,i find it odd that a man who could write a symphony on a whim could be classed with the likes of alice cooper,i just wanted to hear others thoughts on frank,by the way anybody checked out
ZAPPAS UNIVERSE on dvd,a must see for all zappa fans.
ZAPPAS UNIVERSE on dvd,a must see for all zappa fans.