Frank Zappa...Too me he's a genius. His career spanned several decades and varied in style. What do you think?

Question

I have always been a huge fan from the start of his career to the end. Here he is with 'Monkees' star Mike Nesmith in the 60's. They've both swapped places to screw with our heads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgNxuNaYHsk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNJy-OgCzB0
With Flo and Eddie (from the 60's pop band The Turtles)Aynsley Dunbar on drums:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBkOber74OY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M60ewo56rTo
Here's Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) introducing him in 1976:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtAjotVrYpc
On the Mike Douglas show without his band, he even talks about ho he gave Alice Cooper his big break:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJA1nRMyVxI Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pO7UeXvqX0&mode=related&search=

Classic from 1982 when Frank hired a young Steve Vai:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW53fiwyskA
Frank on David Letterman 1983:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRhZPqQ66L0
Live on the BBC 1968:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew3Dq82Q1bQ

Answer 1

I was probably too young to appreciate him back in the early 70's---my first reaction when I heard "Yellow Snow" was "Ewwww!" His humor seemed adolescent at a time when I didn't want to be an adolescent, and listening to his "Filmore East Live" album didn't help things, though by today's standards Zappa's jokes seem pretty tame. As I became better acquainted not only with his music but with postmodern and absurdist literature however, I realized Zappa was a trickster, that rare creature who uses humor---the more scatological, the better---to reveal our foibles and foolishness. He "got it" back when Nixon was president; he got it when Tipper Gore was pushing for censorship of lyrics in the music industry (that still makes me look a bit skeptically at her husband); and I wish he was still here to comment on Bush and the war in Iraq. A lot of the so-called satirical humor you see on cable, for instance, is little more than trying to claim 3 minutes on E! or "The View": it's a lot easier to make fun of Paris Hilton than Dubbaya or the war, though Zappa probably would have done that too---he had no qualms about making fun of disco or Valley Girls.

He wasn't always popular: satire rarely is, though his following is probably bigger in Europe where political and scatological humor are better appreciated. But I thought his triple album "Joe's Garage" was his masterpiece, and I can't help wondering why it hasn't been nominated to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame---it has, besides some great songs, one of the greatest guitar and drum performances in late 70s rock.

(But then I visited Cleveland and the Hall of Fame last year, and I realize now it's kind of a joke, the hall I mean, not Cleveland....just my two bits.)

Anyway, here's to a Frank Zappa revival. He's been underappreciated for 'way too long.

Answer 2

7th grade music class...First day of school..1976..Our teacher freshly graduated from U.C. Berkeley. I will never forget her first words to us..Class we are going to study and discuss the poetry of Bob Dylan, The innovations of Jimi Hendrix and the humor and technique of Frank Zappa. Having been a F/Z fan since 1970 ...I had my first crush on a teacher right then and there. To this day his music continues to be a part of my life. I was lucky to have seen him twice, in 78 and 82. There will never be another like him.

Answer 3

An independent and questioning mind, ferocious guitar chops, sardonic, irreverent wit, and a deeper understanding of composition and arrangement than most musicians can aspire to.

It's sad that's he's not around to shake up the safety of the music industry any more - it needs another Zappa.

But there may never be another one.

RIP.

Answer 4

I think he was a talented artist who made some ground breaking music. Thats what Ray Charles did and I consider him a genius, so maybe Zappa was too.

Answer 5

I agree
I had the pleasure of seeing Frank Zappa live in 1974 for his Apostrophe tour
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8O6NUhG6IdE

sheer genius

Answer 6

Love Frank Zappa! Heard alot of him while growing up but don't hear alot now. But I agree he was a genius. Not sure about his choice in children's names but his music is genius.

Answer 7

I liked his "Sheik Yerbouti" album and a few of his other songs but I saw him in 1977 and it was the only concert I ever walked out of and asked for my money back!!!! He was horrible!!!! He did a great job of producing Grand Funk's "Good Singing, Good Playing" album back in the 70's but I never was really into him, even though he was a great musician!!!

Answer 8

Yes.
A Master. His "The Black Page" is one of the most challenging pieces ever composed for percussion in any genre of music.

Answer 9

yep. very clever writer and a wonderful guitarist.

Answer 10

No one has done what he did