Frank Zappa
Acting
- Born:
- 1940-12-21
- Died:
- 1993-12-04
- Place of birth:
- Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Biography
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, 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 The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as 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 social and 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, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. He also 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. Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1964. In 1967, he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa manages the businesses of her late husband under the name the Zappa Family Trust. Description above from the Wikipedia article Frank Zappa, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
Nova '78
Frank Zappa: Cheaper Than Cheep
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968
Cover Your Ears
Steve Vai - His First 30 Years: The Documentary
Rock this Town
Kalvøyafestivalen - 50 år siden første riff
The Velvet Underground
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!
The Art of Dissent
Larry Flynt for President
Zappa
Laurel Canyon
Stupor Mundi: Book 3, The Most Dangerous Encounter
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind
Echo in the Canyon
Cosmic Debris
Take Your Pills
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Stupor Mundi: Livre 1, Rituel de décapitation du pape
Stupor Mundi: Livre 2, Les Hommes qui mangèrent la montagne
Zapped: Frank Zappa par Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68
Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Roxy: The Movie
Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George
Led Zeppelin Played Here
Frank Zappa – Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily
Made in Japan: The Rise of Deep Purple Mk II
Cheepnis
Super Duper Alice Cooper
Frank Zappa: A Token Of His Extreme
From Straight to Bizarre
Frank Zappa: The Freak Out List
Hart & Soul - The Hart Family Anthology
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's
Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980
An Evening with Frank Zappa During Which... The Torture Never Stops
Frank Zappa: The Broadcast Archives
The Wrecking Crew
Frank Zappa: Music In Review
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation
Frank Zappa: A Pioneer of the Future of Music
Frank Zappa: Roxy, 1973
Fuck
EAV Rarities
Girls and Boys - Sex and British Pop
Frank Zappa: A Token of His Extreme
Derailroaded
Frank Zappa - John, Dan And Me
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s
Frank Zappa: Phase II - The Big Note
Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die
The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart
Classic Albums
Porridge and kerosene
Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
The Yellow Shark
The Ren & Stimpy Show
Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth
Pražákům, těm je hej
Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko
Your vote
Decade
Služební cesta podporučíka Svěráka
Funny
The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
Frank Zappa: Live in Barcelona
Video from Hell
The Amazing Mr. Bickford
Uncle Meat
Night Flight with Frank Zappa, Porn Wars
Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
Miami Vice
Cocaine Blues
Faerie Tale Theatre
Frank Zappa: The Dub Room Special!
The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years
Frank Zappa: New York and Elsewhere
Baby Snakes
Frank Zappa: We Don't Mess Around
Saturday Night Live
Frank Zappa: Opopoppa Stockholm, Sweden
Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
Deep Purple: Made In Japan
The Making of 200 Motels
200 Motels
Frank Zappa, John Lennon & Yoko Ono: At Fillmore East
Frank Zappa
Amougies (Music Power - European Music Revolution)
Pink Floyd: Amougies Pop Festival
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Head
All My Loving
You Are What You Eat
Omnibus
Good Evening — I'm Jonathan King
Mondo Hollywood
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Sex in Today's World
The Monkees
The Big T.N.T. Show
Beat-Club
Late Night Line-Up
The Male Swagger