Great Composers: Frank Zappa 

This was one of the most difficult videos to make because it was by far the hardest script to write. I could have gotten onto endless tangents about any one of his albums or any particular of his style, but I kept to the original intent of the channel (and the _Great Composers_ series) by providing the kind of basic information that should help viewers understand the Zappa pieces they may end up listening to.

"If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education go to a library." -Frank Zappa.

Tom Fowler, Zappa's bass player at the time, broke his finger on tour in late 1974 and I was fortunate enough to get the call to replace him while his finger healed. Zappa had seen me play at a local rock club in Atlanta a year or so before and we talked for a good while after we finished our set and that was how I first met him. We recorded at Caribou Ranch studio near Nederland Colorado during the time I was with him and several of those tracks were put on later albums. I was known then by my nick name of Birdlegs, later shortened to Bird. Needless to say, I enjoyed the experience immensely as you might imagine.

Just imagine Frank Zappa in front of a modern computer, with endless recording space, synths, virtual orchestras and advanced mixing.

The sign of a genius: you can listen to his/her music a hundred times and still be surprised. Zappa was a genius.

Zappa's life, and death, is VERY HARD to describe in less than 40 minutes. Well done Sir!

I'm a simple man; I see Zappa, I click.

29:30 "he was also very good on the guitar". Bit of an understatement!

Discovering Frank's music is one of the best things that ever happened to me. His library is like a musical "Cave of Wonders." I only have 6 of his albums so far, but I think I might end up with a complete collection if I live another 50 years!

No. About Dweezil's name. They called him Dweezil in the womb, but everybody kept saying"You can't actually NAME him that! Think of the teasing..WEASEL...in school. Kids are cruel". Ian was for Ian Underwood, wind instruments. Dweezil's whole name was Ian Euclid Calvin Donald. For Cal Schenkel (album cover art) Euclid for James Euclid Sherwood (Motorhead, Sax) and Don for Don Van Vliet(Beefheart) Frank was very proud when at age 5, Dweezil told a judge why he wanted to change his name; " I've always been called Dweezil. Not any those other names. And I like the name Dweezil best. So I just want that one". He was very precocious. Trout Mask Replica was genius, as was Beefheart....whose name was originally created by Frank, who wrote a screenplay containing a character named Captain Beefheart, which he envisioned Don playing in the movie. In fact, he later sued Beefheart for using that name. They had a number of tiffs over the years, but always made up again. He even joined him on tour again in the 70s. I can't recall if Frank simply lost that lawsuit, or if Don paid him, or if he dropped it. Obviously, Beefheart continued to use it. When Frank was injured in London, he had to stay there for quite awhile, as he was in leg casts, unable to make the long plane flight all the way home to LA. His recovery was slowed by his unwillingness to do the required physical therapy regularly, preferring to spend his waking hours in the basement, working on his music...Gail waiting on him....continuing to use crutches for the next year. Although he did sometimes get in the pool for a few minutes. He finally decided to do the Hollywood Bowl concert of solely instrumental work, hiring many classical musicians from the LA Philharmonic. Not the Mothers. The rehearsal process took a very long time, done in a cramped store front he rented for that purpose. He used wrist crutches by then, leaning on one, his baton in the other hand. Once, he dropped the baton, skittering away under a music stand...and the whole room went silent while he sat down, fumbled with his crutch, then leaning sideways off his chair, reaching out precariously far, and retrieving it himself. The musicians & others in the room froze...knowing not to offer help. It was a very awkward moment, and painful to watch. He got ahold of it, stood up, and tapped the baton, ready to commence the rehearsal. Also...the sheet music was so complex it was nearly black, there were so many notes in the arrangement. The bassoon player from the Philharmonic had a great deal of trouble in the beginning, and Frank barked at him for mistakes I hadn't even heard. The day of the Show, I had said to Frank "You need to book a tour, or you'll be a cripple for the rest of your life. Gail LOVES you being a cripple". That night, I was stunned when Frank walked onstage without his crutches! He almost never turned around to face the audience, since he was conducting...but also because he was standing with no support. It was a fantastic show, although a number of his young fans left early. I heard some girls talking about it during intermission, in the bathroom, saying they were going to leave. I asked them why. "We don't even get to see his face!" One explained. "He should at least turn around and SAY SOMETHING". I told him later that if he planned a repeat of this show, he should wear a mask of his face on the back of his head, to please his young female fans. He threw his head back, laughing. I enjoyed your scholarly video, about his musical history, and composing influences. When I lived with him in Studio Z, one night he played back a recording of himself on the guitar. It sounded different than it had live, and I mentioned it. "I recorded myself slower. Playing it back at normal speed makes it sound like I'm playing faster. Some day I'll be able to actually play that well". He eventually surpassed that dream, of course, becoming far more proficient. He toured with a little Pignose amp, and often had a private room backstage, aside from the Green Room, so he could be alone at times, and to warm up...as well as in his hotel room. Raising his "chops". Your video was an unexpected pleasure...not centering on gossip, focusing on his work. I don't usually click on videos about him, unless it's just his music, as it can make me sad....or mad! (They're sometimes so inaccurate). I thought I'd contribute this stuff...hope you don't mind! Best regards, Lorraine (Pete)

When I turned 13 in '76 I BEGGED to go to a Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult concert. My brother said "Mom, he's 13! He can't go see Sabbath!" My other other brother suggested Zappa and Flo and Eddie. Since I was already a fan I agreed. I saw Frank in concert 8 times until his demise. Every performance was memorable and unique.

You neglected to mention how as a teenager, Zappa poured over the scores of Stravinsky, Webern, and others to teach himself composition.

I was so lucky to have gotten to see Zappa a dozen or more times and every time was just fantastic and beyond

John Coltrane once said "I bow to no one but Edgard Varese".

I'm a classical tuba player and have been obsessed with Frank Zappa for the past year with no signs of it stopping... loved the video! Really informative and an interesting look into his relationship with the classical world

I took the Zappa class at UNT. I already loved Zappa, but that class turned appreciation into true awe. Anyway one day when I lived in NYC I was walking around the Village listening to some music and I saw a blue plaque on a house. Wondering what it said I stopped to take a look. It stated that it had been Varese's residdncd. I was amazed, as I had learned the Zappa relationship with Varese in the class some years before. A nice little moment in my life.

I first hear Frank Zappa when I was 14. There was a stereo store near my house that I could walk to. One of the demo albums was: “We Are Only In It For the Money”. That was my introduction to the myriad of layers in his music.

Good job! I appreciate the way you have applied your general classical nerdiness to the specifics of the zappalogical sub-system of Universe. You are the avante-garde of the recognition of FZ's place in music history. Thank you so much. I can send this to friends who are as yet unconverted

I met Mr. Zappa on Main st. of Winnipeg Mb. Canada in 1973. He was touring and promoting his “mud shark” album with his band that summer and he was waiting to be let into a radio station to be interviewed. My friend and I were returning from a Count Basie concert of all things when we crossed paths. I was young and tongue-tied and shy. I told him how much I appreciated his music and left it at that as I went my merry way. He was a large influence to a career in music for me.

I saw frank zappa with captain beef heart at the Claremont college auditorium back in 1976 .we had third row center seats.perfect seats ,couldn’t ask for better seats!FRANK ZAPPA stared at my eyes the entire time of this concert ! We had a connection!I It was as if we were hypnotizing each other since we were both musicians I had long thick rocker hair as did ZAPPA we both went to the same school.lived in the same town .frank did some work at my mothers bank on Euclid Avenue in Ontario California and frank’s dad did banking with my mother!frank and I had lots of the same stomping grounds.we met many times!the Claremont college auditorium concert was amazing with captain beefheart spinning around on his back on the floor in his boxer shorts playing his guitar exceptionally while singing and ZAPPA played exceptionally well of course along with captain beefheart!I’ve been to many concerts but frank Zappa was my favorite concert in such a small auditorium!!of all time! I will never forget that special evening!!I wish I would have seen more of zappas concerts!!from one musician to another!!god bless frank zappa and captain beefheart!! May the lord be with you! And you reincarnate!!

I so enjoyed this! Thank you for such an entertaining and informative production.

Beautiful, extensive, well done. A true tribute to one of my musical heroes. Now I got to check out your other videos!

Fantastic video, it's always so fun to learn new stuff about my favorite artists

What I love about Zappa's music is that despite all of the experimentation and dissonance it has such a strong melodic element. I think he knows something about writing memorable and catchy melodies that the rest of us don't. Probably his healthy diet of Doo Wop growing up!

I'm a huge zappa fan and this is the best summary of his career I've ever seen. Excellent work!

Just come across your video and am very impressed by the quality of research and presentation. I am now looking forward to checking out your other videos. I am a huge fan of Zappa, but your video gave me some information and insight that I had not previously understood. Thank you!!

A very comprehensive intro to audiences unfamiliar with Zappa's work. I was only 15 when I first heard Hot Rats. Now I am 61 and still learning about his work. Had the privilege of seeing him live in Philadelphia, Dweezil and Diva were there. I got the impression he was a mild form of "stage Dad". Such prolific genius are not common

I love and enjoy your channel so much. Thank you!

Thank you very much for this!

Fantastic synopsis of the maestro. Not only was Frank’s music a textbook in rhythmic clusters and harmonic tension, but he was one of the greatest bandleaders and purveyors of talent; Vinnie Coliuta, Terry Bozzio, Steve Vai..a who’s who of genius musicians.

Great job, really great job!

This was fantastic, thanks! My first exposure was one morning in early 1997. There was this blaphemous wonderful orgasm of a song on the radio in my office. I called the radio station to ask what the hell that was. 2 minutes later I ran to a nearby record store and asked for it. I swear the owner looked at me sternly like gauging if I was worthy to join the Freemasons or something. He asked me "are you sure? This music is not something to take lightly, this music demands respect" I said yeah dude, sure, fuck he scared me. The song? This wonderful blasphemous hymn of magnificence? PEACHES EN REGALIA from Hot Rats. And so my obsession with FZ began.

That was brilliantly delivered and researched. I really enjoyed it, thankyou. Frank was and still is my favourite. Thank you again.

This is an excellent video. Huge respect because even scratching the surface of Zappa is deemed nigh on impossible

I really enjoyed this. I am an actor (retired from film and TV) and still active in narrating audiobooks and composing music. All that blather to say this. When I lived in Studio City, CA. Dweezil and I had the same voiceover agent, and I would see him from time to time. He was always affable and interested in the "goings on" of his colleagues. This was prior to that family squabble over Frank's estate and the use of his name in performance venues. Zappa's studio was perhaps 5 minutes from where my wife and I lived...it was located on Ventura Blvd. near the apex of Tujunga Blvd....One story you may not be aware of is Frank working with Mehta and the L.A. Phil. decades ago. I was not present but my brother was, and always loved to tell the tale of Zappa coming onto the stage to perform with The Phil. and saying, "Hit it, Zuban."

thanks for the post it was so good zappa would have been proud of this

nice job! Good delivery of the information

Good video! Congratulations! I love Frank! 🎸❤🔥Greetings from Italy! 👍

This is a great overview - much appreciated!

Zappa was the best. This is a very nice overview of an extremely broad topic. I'm currently about half-way done editing a video analysis of the '73 version of RDNZL - looking forward to moving onto an analysis of Mo 'n Herb's Vacation, which fast became my favourite orchestral piece when I first got the LSO album, when I've finished with that.

Thomas, you have done an outstanding job in this presentation. So much, that a college or high school class could be built on this foundation. Thank you so much for this as I learned a little more about America's best composer. Bless you, sir!

some 10 years ago, my Music 101 teacher asked us who we thought was the greatest composer ever. A boy in the back of the class stood up and replied, "Frank Zappa" , at which the teacher laughed. I reckon nobody else in the class knew who Frank Zappa was...

Music is the best! Thanks for this video!!

I miss him so much! Thanks for this video!

Very nice... thank you for doing this. I can tell you are a serious fan. Several years back I made an all-instrumental Zappa mix CD called "The Composer" which is why your video caught my eye.

Thanks for the very good presentation.

Dude thank you SO MUCH for educating me to this level about Zappa..

For the avante guard classical buffs, the two albums I think you want to find are his last two. Yellow Shark , recorded with The Ensemble Modern, probably the only chamber orchestra that Zappa truly believed where up to the task, and he *adored* them. The other is Civilization Phaze III, a hybrid Synclavier and actual-instrument albums thsat really shows off just how vast and probing his ideas where. Theres some stuff on there that might take decades before anyone truly understands how it works.

Great video. The second I saw the Casio, the demo song from my youth popped into my head.

Thanks for this! Great job

Thank you for the great video!

kudos... really hard to brief it all up but you've done it!

My man. This bio/doc on the great F. Zappa is superb!

Kudos to you Classical Nerd that’s a very good and interesting video that you made! I’m learning more and more about Frank Zappa over the years, he certainly was a ahead of his time and a weird but interesting musician. Thanks for sharing your video!

Wonderful encapsulation.. I am most grateful..

Zappa's life certainly provides many colorful stories, and you have done a nice job of covering the basics here. I wish you had been a bit more specific about certain incidents, projects and works that might especially be appreciated by your audience. You glossed over 1969's HOT RATS completely. Zappa's "Movie For Your Ears," which remains at once one of his most accessible and one of his most elaborately produced album works, deserved a mention. Its fusion of Jazz, Rock, and "Orchestral" remains a great "gateway" towards understanding Frank's gift for melody, as well as his trademark rhythmic eccentricity. You also missed mentioning 1970's 200 Motels Suite for Orchestra, chorus and rock band, whose Albert Hall debut was scuttled by Britain's archaic obscenity laws. That work was preserved, played by The Mother's along with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, in the film (and LP/CD) of the same name, and it represents an achievement, even though Frank considered it butchered and truncated in both forms. Zappa did reframe some of those pieces for the London Symphony Orchestra project with conductor Kent Nagano in 1983, and those two CD's provide a good overview of Frank's eclectic, yet intensely melodic orchestral sensibilities. It's also too bad Frank's incredibly fulfilling and productive relationship with The Ensemble Modern during the last few years of his life did not merit a mention. Their skill and dedication to playing his modern music with both passion and accuracy brought him a lot of gratification during the time while he was slowly dying of prostate cancer. The recordings of the German concerts were released as The Yellow Shark, and a CD called Everything Is Healing Nicely was released posthumously, with recordings of The Ensemble Modern working with Zappa, improvising and learning new and pieces, as well as figuring out how to arrange and perform pieces written for the Synclavier. I am sorry this is so long. My friend Charles Ulrich wrote the book you cited, called The Big Note, which I know he spent 25 year researching and writing, so I am a Zappa obsessive. Honestly, your video was really good. I just talk too much!

This made my day. Thank you, Captain Beefheart.

Trout Mask Replica is been a real BIG earthquake in the music world... I'm 66 year old and I remember it very well. After all, from a couple of geniuses as FZ and Don Van Vliet You can't expect nothing less than this marvelous double album. Unfortunately I had it only 2 years after the issue because i'm Italian and, at that time, was very hard to find many great news including FZ & CB (my absolutely preferred composer FZ anyway). I collect everything on Zappa from 1971 when I was only 15 and DJ (I got my fist promo single by FZ "Tears began to fall/Junier mints boogie". After that is been unbelievable to discover both FZ and CB... but I close here or I'll go on hours talking about FZ in my poor/bad english speaking. Thank you for the video, I've enjoyed it very much, Thanx again. All the best from Italy, Romano Manara

finally a more spherically complete video of Zappa's bio! thanks man :)

Great job nerd! I would love to see something in depth on some of his actual music, featuring examples of all the styles he was either influenced by or ones he pioneered. One thing I would take issue with is his use of the score. He has explicitly stated that he basically fell in love with the score and how he would read along with it to pick out the instruments while listening. His talents as a visual artist were his way to "draw the dots" on the page. His symphonic work is heavily visual, which would account for the air sculpture idea he would speak of. Thank you again for making this!

ZAPPA IS THE BEST!!! Cheers & happy new year from France!!

Excellent presentation .

Great video man thanx 4 all the study and contents of the video! keep up the good work bro!👏I'm seeing Zappa in hologram in April with Steve Vai and alot of other original band members can't wait!but u rock I'm subbing thanx again!And 200 motels is one of the greatest and strangist movies I have ever seen!way ahead of it's time!

My first time seeing your videos. Im on a Zappa kick so the algorithm recommended it. Man that shit was great. I can't wait to watch the rest of your stuff. Thank you.

Great video, listening while I’m playin in the shop. I just discovered your channel. As a classical lover this is cool. I am subscribing.

I used to listen to FZ and have gained a new and much greater appreciation of his music after watching this video. Thanks Classical Nerd!

This is freaking awesome! So much to learn better watch the second half tomorrow. I loved your laugh man!

Thank you for this excellent video on zappa. He was a truly great modern composer

Thank you for this Oustanding discourse!

Absolutely fantastic . I am a huge F.V.Zappa fan. I was lucky enough to have met him a few times and even have a photograph from 1984. Great piece sir. You Did Frank well.

Great work!

I believe the band YES used zenochrony on their song Perpetual Change, after Steve Howe's jazz styled lead/solo, roughly two thirds of the way through the song. This was released in 1971 & recorded in the autumn of '70. 👊🤓

Excellent video......great overall presentation of his life

This is brilliantly and scholarly researched and presented ..... and ... What a fascinating shelfie? ;)

These videos are great.

Thanks for the well researched insights into Frank Zappa's career and legacy, it was very enlightening! Quick suggestion: in your video editing program, if you select all the clips and put a 1 second or so cross dissolve between them it will be way easier on the eyes. The cuts from scene to scene without any transition blending can be jarring after a while. But you did a great job on this; I look forward to checking out more from your channel. Thumbs up! Thanks

You, Sir, are one heck of a teacher... Thanks.

The Classical Nerd's giggling at Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Repluca" betrays his belonging to a younger generation. I was an avid music fan at the time that album was released, and I can guarantee you that the album cover was the least of the general impression that that LP left on the public. Beefheart was first a poet, and TMR was a true rock and roll-, blues-influenced strike of genius. It's a must-have record.

Even though I had read one bio on Zappa, and knew quite a bit about him, I enjoyed your video. He was definitely one of a kind.

I really enjoyed watching this. :)

Excellent presentation of a much loved genius and his work.

Excellent view of Zappa. Thanks

Wow what a comprehensive breakdown of the work and life of Frank Zappa best I've ever heard

Love this thank you!

I'm going to instantly like this video and subscribe to you on the title alone. I'm going to enjoy this I know already.

just discovered your channel with this informative and enjoyable look at one of my lifetime favorite musicians. nice job! I'd still recommend the album Studio Tan (despite the Warner Bros problems surrounding its release) for a great mix of small orchestral ensemble, jazz and rock tunes, killer guitar solo, and avant weirdness ('Gregory Peccary') -- still a favorite in a vast output of amazing music.

Great video. I saw Frank Zappa in 1974. This was a great expo on the great man. Thank you.

great video, thanks man

I really enjoyed your video. It was very informative and touched on a few things that even a long time fan like myself didn't know. However, I was surprised that you didn't mention The Yellow Shark, the final album released during Zappa's lifetime, along with his experience with the Ensemble Modern. It's an album of classical music which features some classical arrangements of some his more famous rock tunes, but is primarily made up of fiendishly difficult classical pieces that the Ensemble Modern played to near perfection. Zappa had said of the Ensemble Modern that never before had he heard his music performed with such accuracy. Perhaps in the final work of his lifetime, he finally found that level of musical perfection he had been searching for all those years.

Thanks for this great informative video.Great job!! . Coincidentally I'just finished reading Frank's auto biography. THANKS AGAIN.

Great in depth video.

His idea of Z synchronizing actually could be found first on Sheik Yerbouti on a tune called Rubber Shirt. The bass track is in 4/4 and the drum track is in 11/4. His idea was to create rhythmic indentiality between the time signatures.

Very interesting! Love Zappa.

No matter how many times i listen to a Frank Zappa song, when his guitar solo was coming up, I always felt it was a treat. Frank is the only guitarist I ever felt that way about

Really cool video 👍🏽

New subscriber! I, too, am a “classical nerd,” but I was liberated from being exclusively classical by a random encounter with “Studio Tan” soon after its release in 1978. I was already as much of a composer/arranger as I could be at 17 years old, but Zappa changed my trajectory: I began listening to rock & jazz, began playing electric bass, I’ve obsessed over Zappa’s music for four decades, and listening to his music has heavily influenced my compositions, which I now consider to be examples of “free jazz.”

I enjoyed this very much. Thank you. The company I was with provided Frank with the Pressure Zone Microphones Frank used to record his orchestral works with the LSO in 1983. I was invited to the UMRK before the recordings so I could show him the different configurations we had come up with for the PZM baffles that shaped the pick-up patterns. Frank had just taken delivery of 2 Sony 24 track digital recorders. He said he had been renting them for a month but decided that at what he was spending to rent them it would be better to just buy them since he didn't see going back to analog. We provided him with 64 mics that he took to London which because of the recording situation ended up being the only mics used on the session. When he returned he invited us up to his studio again to hear the recordings of the LSO and we got to hear stories first hand aboout working with orchestras and how they might have played his works better if he had written it a bit more "Star Wars."

Having studied the life and work of Frank for 35 years, I already knew this information. But you did a good job summing it up, and I must say that your bookshelf works remarkably well as a framing device.

Thanks for this overview - greatly appreciated - loved F.Z.

"the conceptual continuity" FZ thanks for your lovely contribution.