FZ! This guy comes behind only the Beatles on my list of all-time faves.
I tellya, the guy was an effing genius. If all you’re familiar with is novelty stuff like “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow,” “Sheik Yerbouti,” and “Valley Girl,” I’ll have you know that Zappa was also a classical music composer, with his stuff being performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Pierre Boulez.
One of my favorite Zappa stories is his making contact with the modern composer Edgar Varese at age 15 (Zappa was 15; Varese was … oh, I don’t know … much older). His mom actually paid for a phone call to Varese (in New York, from California) as a birthday present.
A very young Frank
(though possibly not 15)
Hot Rats is one of his best. It was the first album after the Mothers of Invention broke up, and is mostly instrumental. There are some real gems on this one, with “Peaches en Regalia” leading the pack.
The cover features a photo by Andee Nathanson, done with infrared photography. She’s only got four other credits , none of which are worth sharing here.
BTW, that group – AKA Girls Together Outrageously – was a creation of Frank’s, who produced their only album.
And just in case you were wondering about his influence on the band, well just take a look at these song titles:
- "The Captain's Fat Theresa Shoes"
- "Wouldn't It Be Sad If There Were No Cones?"
- "Miss Pamela And Miss Sparky Discuss Stuffed Bras And Some Of Their Gym Class Experiences"
- "The Eureka Springs Garbage Truck Lady"
- "Miss Christine's First Conversation With The Plaster Casters Of Chicago"
Christine, who would date Todd Rundgren, Alice Cooper, and the Byrds’ Chris Hilman, would be the inspiration for the Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Devil in Disguise.” She would also die at age 23 of a heroin overdose.
The pool is on Errol Flynn’s old estate, by the way.
There will be more Zappa album covers in this blog. Indeed, I probably could have included a half dozen more. Here are a few more faves:
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