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Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, electric
guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock,
jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music
videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with
the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.
In his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers like Edgard Varèse and 1950s
rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in
rhythm and blues bands—he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer and his
diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album
with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective
improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental
approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to
all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established political processes,
structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright
and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship.
Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and he gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are
considered essential in rock history, and he is=2 0regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of
his time; he remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly
in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement
Award in 1997.
Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1990,Frank Zappa died on Saturday, December 4, 1993 in his home
surrounded by his wife and children.
FRANK ZAPPA STINKFOOT LIVE 1974
FRANK ZAPPA MONTANA 8-23-73
FRANK ZAPPA COSMIC DEBRIS LIVE
FRANK ZAPPA LIVE AT "THE PIER" N.Y.C. AUG.1984
| "Frank Zappa" |
