Frank Zappa was a genius, a curmudgeon, a composer, a guitar virtuoso- and a fixture of classic rock until he died in 1993. Forming the Mothers of Invention in the mid-1960s, Zappa embarked on a career dotted with controversy and comedy, powerful rock tracks and political clashes. He was prolific, releasing 62 albums in his lifetime (a number that has grown, thanks to his decision to record practically everything he ever played - ever!).
Zappa is hard to pigeonhole as an artist, which can be a pain for those who want to get into his music. Do you start with instrumental albums likeThe Grand WazooorHot Rats, or the freak scene albums ofAbsolutely FreeorWe’re Only In It For The Money? How about the sophomoric rock albums likeJust Another Band From L.A.orChunga’s Revenge, or the politically-charged albums likeYou Are What You IsorJoe’s Garage? It’s a lot, but these ten songs are a guide that defines Frank Zappathroughout his one-of-a-kind career.
10"Trouble Every Day"
From: Freak Out! (1966)
There may not have been a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention without “Trouble Every Day.“Zappa wrote the song about the Watts Riots, a period of civil unrest in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1965. Zappa channeled his feelings and thoughts into this protest song, and it ultimately landed the Mothers a record deal.
“Tom Wilson, who was producing records for MGM at the time, came to the Whisky-a-Go-Go,” Zappa wrote in the June 1968 issue ofHit Parader. “He heard us sing ‘The Watts Riot Song (Trouble Every Day).’ He stayed for five minutes and said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ slapped me on the back, shook my hand and said, “Wonderful. We’re gonna make a record of you. Goodbye.” Zappa later joked that Wilson had no idea who he’d signed, thinking the Mothers were just a straight blues-rock band and not a gathering of freaks.
“Trouble Every Day” is indeed the moststraightforward rocksong onFreak Out!, the Mothers' debut LP - but it isn’t that much of an outlier. There are other political songs (“Who Are The Brain Police?” “Help, I’m a Rock”), R&B-infused pop (“Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder,” “Any Way The Wind Blows”) and the Mothers' trademark humor (“Motherly Love,” “You’re Probably Wondering Why I’m Here”). This album, and Zappa’s career, came about because of “Trouble Every Day.”
9"King Kong”
From: Uncle Meat (1969)
Though the first iteration of The Mothers incorporated Frank’s classical proclivities, and 1968’sLumpy Gravywas his first orchestral outing, “King Kong” was the song that really solidified Frank’s desire to be seen as a composer. It’s why he revisited the song throughout his career (and it quickly became a fan favorite at shows). Further proof: jazz fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, who would work with Frank onHot Rats, would cover a selection of Zappa tracks for 1970’sKing Kong, with the title track opening up the LP.
8"Peaches En Regalia”
From: Hot Rats (1969)
In 1969, Zappa had just broken up the original Mothers due to the emotional and financial costs of running a 10-person band. Though it’s the second LP under his name, Zappa consideredHot Ratshis proper debut solo album. Mostly instrumental compositions, save for one vocal performance by Captain Beefheart,Hot Ratsis a groundbreaking album that fuses jazz and rock styles. It also highlights Zappa’s skills as a guitar player.
The album opens with “Peaches En Regalia,” a whirling jubilation of sound that is electric, energetic, and melodious. It heralded the next chapter of Zappa’s career. “If Hot Rats is any indication of where Zappa is headed on his own, we are in for some fiendish rides indeed,” wrote Lester Bangs forRolling Stonein 1970.
7"Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow”
From: Apostrophe (') (1974)
A lot could happen in five years. Between ‘69 and ‘74, Zappa reformed The Mothers (with Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles), filmed a movie with Ringo Starr and Keith Moon, survived the concert fire that inspired Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” and was nearly killed by a fan’s attack at London’s Rainbow Theatre.
He also experienced a new level of commercial success.Apostrophe (')became Zappa’s highest-charting album on theBillboard200, reaching No. 10 thanks predominantly to the single, “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow.” Though lyrically comedic, Zappa’s band features jazz star George Duke, percussion virtuoso Ruth Underwood, and the dynamic Napoleon Murphy Brock. Zappa’s music has always beena marriage of the absurd and the sincere, and “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” is a prime example of that.
6"Montana"
From: Over-Nite Sensation (1973)
Released six months beforeApostrophe ('),Over-Nite Sensationis remarkable because it features Tina Turner and the Ikettes. Though she’s uncredited on the album, Tina’s voice can be heard throughout, especially on “Montana.” “It was so difficult that one part in the middle of the song ‘Montana’ that the three girls rehearsed it for a couple of days,” Zappa said in Barry Miles’Zappa: A Biography.
Tina was so pleased that she was able to sing this that she went into the next studio where Ike was working and dragged him into the studio to hear the result of her labor. He listened to the tape, and he goes, ‘What is this sh**?’ and walked out.
This song represents the wealth of talent that worked with Zappa during his lifetime. His stable of musicians would also include violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, guitarist Steve Vai, Duran Duran’s Warren Cuccurullo and his Missing Persons bandmates, Dale and Terry Bozzio.
5"Bobby Brown Goes Down"
From: Sheik Yerbouti (1979)
Let’s say it: “Bobby Brown Goes Down” is a bad song. Though the title character (unrelated to the New Edition singer of the same name) is meant to be despicable, the song is rife with misogynistic and homophobic language. It’s a joke that doesn’t land - in the decades since its release, it’s aged like milk.
Zappa’s discography is dotted with such rancid moments, which is why this song is included here. He is someone that is meant to be taken warts and all. His legacy hasn’t shied away from his provocateur status: the 1997 posthumous collectionHave I Offended Someone?collected most of the problematic tracks (including “Jewish Princess,” which got him in hot water with the Anti-Defamation League).
None of the songs have any concentrated malice behind them (and Zappa claimed he was a “journalist” as a lyricist, writing about things he personally witnessed). While he will never beat the chauvinistic accusations, Zappa was not anti-gay or racist. “Bobby Brown,” however, is such a bummer, and it’s indicative of how there’ssome legitimate grossness in Zappa’s discography.
4"Joe’s Garage"
From: Joe’s Garage (1979)
An authoritarian American government enforces censorship and restricts free will. A shadowy mastermind enforces “all the laws that haven’t been passed yet” while inflicting “cruel and inhuman punishments” that are being described “in tiny paragraphs so they won’t conflict with the Constitution, which, itself, is being modified in order to accommodate the future.”
Sound familiar? This is the opening toJoe’s Garage, Zappa’s rock album, introduced by the nefarious Central Scrutinizer. The title track, released as a single, shows Joe starting a band, which leads to conflict with the authorities.
Zappa was outspoken against government censorship of the arts. After seeing how the Iranian Revolution of 1979 made rock music illegal and the power of the Moral Majority and the religious right in the US, Zappa channeled his fears and concerns into this cautionary tale. Frank would continue to attack what he saw asoppressive theocracy and religious hypocrisyin songs like “Heavenly Bank Account,” “Dumb All Over,” and “Jesus Thinks You’re A Jerk.”
3"Valley Girl"
From: Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch (1982)
“Valley Girl” has acomplicatedlegacy. It’s Zappa’s highest-charting song in the U.S., reaching No. 32 on the Hot 100. It helped popularize “Valspeak” in movies likeClueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and, of course,Valley Girl. It’s a collaboration between a daughter and her father, with teenage Moon Unit Zappa improving the vocals.
It is, however, a novelty song, one not entirely representative of Frank’s body of work. It also pegged Moon as a “one-hit wonder,” when she just wanted to record music as a way to spend time with her father. In her memoir,Earth To Moon, the eldest Zappa child reveals that Frank almost cut her out of the royalties. Moon wrote that her mother, Gail, would often point out thatshewas the reason Moon had any credit on the track.
“You mean you filled out the paperwork?” I naively asked the first time. “No, she hisses, “Frank didn’t want to give you any writing or performing credit, period. Earth to Moon, improvisation isn’t writing.”
Frank had a history of clashing with bandmates over using improv on official recordings (and the royalties that came with it), so cutting his own daughter off from any credit is not far-fetched. It is, however,low, adding a caddish side to his legacy that fans shouldn’t ignore.
2"G-Spot Tornado”
From: Jazz From Hell (1986)
There’s an urban legend that Zappa’s 1986 instrumental album,Jazz From Hell, was given the “Parental Advisory” sticker, butFar Outsays that only a single retailer requested it be included on the release. The album was Zappa’s first since testifying before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The 1985 hearing was the result of the Parents Music Resource Center, a committee of four women (including Tipper Gore and Susan Baker, wife of then-Treasury Secretary James Baker), seeking warning labels on albums containing sexually explicit or offensive content.
Zappa, Dee Sniderof Twisted Sister, and John Denver testified against any governmental labels, equating them to censorship. Before the hearing ended, the RIAA agreed to issue the “Parental Advisory / Explicit Content” sticker on releases at their discretion.
“G-Spot Tornado” defined Zappa’s late 80s period, one of political clashing and emerging technologies. The album was mostly created with the Synclavier digital synthesizer, allowing Zappa to compose arrangements without having to hire, train, and conduct an orchestra. “G-Spot Tornado” would be performed organically by Ensemble Modern on 1993’sThe Yellow Shark.Jazz From Hellwon Frank his only Grammy during his lifetime, for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
1"Watermelon In Easter Hay"
“When Frank was asked whether or not he felt he had written or recorded anything that was unique or special to him, he replied, ‘Yes.’ He then mentioned the names of 3 guitar instrumentals: ‘Black Napkins,’ ‘Zoot Allures,’ and ‘Watermelon In Easter Hay.’ He considered these his ‘signature pieces,'” wrote Dweezil Zappa in the liner notes ofFrank Zappa Plays The Music of Frank Zappa, a posthumous tribute album.
Thematically, “Watermelon In Easter Hay” is the last guitar solo - ever. It’s what the title character ofJoe’s Garageplays before giving up, succumbing to the censorship and oppression of a world where music (and expression) are illegal. It isheavy, and it is also quite moving.
The song contains a subdued beauty. Imagine it akin to gazing upon your last sunrise; ignore the grim, stark reality of what that means and bask in that moment. That feeling of resolution and peace is “Watermelon In Easter Hay.”
you’re able to read into it being symbolic of Zappa’s career. It’s an elegant composition with killer guitarwork. It is grace mired in darkness, similar to how Zappa’s incredible music legacy is tied to how he was largely unkind to his family and friends. It’s a song that, in the setting ofJoe’s Garage,no one hears, summing up how most of Zappa’s work was largely ignored by the mainstream. It’s the ultimateFrank Zappasong.
