Frank Zappa: life and musical legacy

¶ … life of famed musician Frank Zappa. The writer explores his life, his works and why he is a solid candidate for being labeled a 20th century genius in the field of music. There were five sources used to complete this paper.

It used to be that the word genius only applied to a standardized IQ score on an Intelligence Quotient test. In more recent years the world has come to the understanding that there are many types of intelligence and that genius can be found in many areas of life. One area that has always escaped the watchful eye of genius identifiers has been that of the music world. While musicians were often referred to as talented or gifted, the word genius was rarely used. Today, with the new understanding that genius can come in many forms; artists from the past and present are being recognized for the true genius they possessed. One of the most talented geniuses in the field of music was famed artist Frank Zappa. Zappa will always be remembered as a 20th century genius because of his lifetime achievement and contributions to the world of music.

THE GENIUS PROVEN

When Zappa passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 52 the world lost out on several more decades of musical genius. While he was most well-known for his contributions to rock and roll, Zappa also made many positive contributions in the world of Jazz and Classical music (Swenson, 1994).

Zappa left behind a treasure-trove of unperformed classical pieces. The financial difficulty involved in mounting live performances of these challenging works kept him from being able to realize them despite numerous invitations from orchestras around the world (Swenson, 1994)."

Any time one wants to examine the limitless genius of Frank Zappa and his music talent one only needs to look as far as the blending of his own music.

One of the most telling tales of Zappa's abilities included the commission to perform at a benefit in which Zappa surprised the audience with a melody of blended Zappa notes.

Zappa selected the best moments from the three concerts and combined them in his customized studio to assemble "The Yellow Shark (Swenson, 1994)." Three selections, "G-Spot Tornado," "Food Gathering in Post-Industrial America, 1992" and "Welcome to the United States" were conducted by Zappa (Swenson, 1994). Ensemble member Peter Rundel recorded the rest. The 19 pieces range in style from piano duets to string quartets to the full 26-piece orchestra (Swenson, 1994)."

This and other evidences of Zappa's genius provide the proof that he was a true genius in the 20th century. While his adult life was captured in the public eye with his ability to create notes, his love of music began at a much younger age.

HIS LIFE

Frank Zappa was the father of invention, the most caustic iconoclast of the rock-and-roll era. "My job," he once said, "is extrapolating everything to its most absurd extreme."

Zappa was a lover of music. He didn't just write and perform it but he embraced and defended its right to be born (BIOGRAPHY (http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.3/FrankZappaBio.html).Zappa spoke before senate committees and accused one such committee of censorship. One of the proofs of his right to be labeled a genius in the world of music was the many avenues he took to protect his love of the art.

Zappa, of course, was worried: about artistic integrity, about musical adventurousness, about free speech. His 1979 epic, "Joe's Garage," dealt with what would happen if music were illegal; this was six years before the Parents Music Resource Center recommended voluntary album labeling and Zappa went to Capitol Hill. There, he accused a Senate committee of fostering censorship and branded the PMRC "a group of bored Washington housewives" who wanted to "housebreak all composers and performers because of the lyrics of a few." He later memorialized the encounter in "Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention," which included the 12-minute "Porn Wars" using sound bites from the hearing (BIOGRAPHY http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.3/FrankZappaBio.html)."

Zappa's distrust of authority and his love of music was evident years before he became an icon.

He was born in Baltimore and moved to the west coast when he was 10-years-old. Is father was an equally bright man who made his living as a meteorologist for the military, specializing in poisonous gas research.

Zappa's love of music was evidenced in many areas including a stint in his high school band. When he was ousted from the band for smoking a cigarette in band attire he was not swayed, and instead chose to start his own garage band. According to Zappa he became who he was musically after reading an article about avant-garde dissonance in music (BIOGRAPHY http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.3/FrankZappaBio.html).

Zappa once said he felt "stuck between the slide rule and the gutbucket" and much of his career could be seen as an attempt to reconcile those two extremes (BIOGRAPHY (http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.3/FrankZappaBio.html)." Which is often another indicator of genius in many different areas of life. Einstein was reputed to be "slow" by teachers though he proved himself to be a scientific genius, Thomas Edison was taken out of school by his mother in fourth grade because the school believed him to be stubborn and rebellious. Zappa is among good company with his growing dissent in the field of his choice and he used his genius to challenge conceptions of music and censorship. Zappa used his talent to challenge the comfort levels of listeners and make them stretch their ears and minds.

His penchant for composing, as opposed to performing, was first evident in soundtracks concocted for the B-films "Run Home Slow" (written by his high school English teacher) and "The World's Greatest Sinner" (for which he put together a 52-piece orchestra).

But Zappa also liked having an audience, and in rock he found not only that, but an environment in which he could explore new sonorities (BIOGRAPHY (http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.3/FrankZappaBio.html)."