Great thread wavels , i cant think of a more important musician in my lifetime , so many innovations he accomplished in music composition have went unthanked by the music industry it sickens me .
Frank was the 1st Composer to incorporate the use of pedals on miked saxaphone , he was also the 1st Composer to use electrified Marimba Vibes in compositions ,his 40 yr old composition The Black Page is still the benchmark of musical achievement for all drummers, Franks style of using complicated super imposed rythms over time & odd order time is unrivaled to this day by any composer ,the music industry said he had no rythmic composition ability or marketability & shunned him .
Frank discovered & gave the 1st shot at the big time for 2 of the biggest rock bands in history when he discovered Alice Cooper & produced Grand Funks 1st album , Frank also taught Paul Schaffer from David Lettermans band how to conduct an orchestra with zero thanks from Paul durring Pauls tribute to the best musical acts to appear on Letterman , lil asswipe he is .
He submitted his 1st Orchestral works with a piece of chamber music at age 17 & Zuben Madea didnt believe a kid could compose serious orchestral music , he taught himself to conduct full orchestras with authority & perfect time by reading a public library book .
It pisses me off that Dweezil won a Grammy for his rendition of one of the most important pieces of music since Beethovens 5th & the Grammy dicks refused to televise Dweezils acceptance of the award & him dedicating the award back to his father , how fucking cool is that where Frank dedicated the album to Dweezil when he was born & Dweezil won a grammy for a song off the album , then dedicated it back to his dad & the grammy morons needed more time for Taylor Swift & Beyonce to do some lip sync teen heart throb bullshit music & never aired the clip & presented him the award to an empty audience with only Gail Zappa & Their kids Diva , Ahmet & Moon Unit in the entire building .
After hearing Freak Out for the 1st time is what inspired me to play guitar in the 1st place , then after hearing Frank play The Translvania Boogie & blow away any composition Hendrix ever did , then get zero critical acclaim i knew how ignorant & biased the music industry was , Jimi Hendrix was illeterate musically but he got critical acclaim as the worlds best guitarist while Zappas compositions were light years ahead of Hendrixs ability to play .
My whole family is into FZ , even my wife was familiar with Franks orchestral works growing up in Beirut Lebanon while 99% of Americans are clueless that America produced a composer who's works are viewed as genius by the orchestral music world & that the London Symphony Orchestra was not able to perform his compositions to their fullest , the LSO made many mistakes while recording the sessions , i'd love to see Snoop Dog or Kid Rock compose music that stumps the worlds most accomplished & most capable orchestra such as the LSO but Kid Rock & Snoop Dog are geniouses , sheer ignorance .
My wife & i both mourned Franks death & still to this day wont watch his last interview , Frank had such an impact on us he's like family , some songs we cant even listen too anymore because the beauty touched us in such a way we feel only sadness , Peaches En Regallia is one of them , Watermellon in Easter hay from Joes Garage will make me burst into tears & we rarely listen to it .
Im gonna have alot more to post in this fan tastic thread , anybody not familiar with FZ should watch the links provided & discover America produced a composer who history will remember alongside the likes of Beethoven, Stravinski & Varees , infact Stravinski played some pieces of Zappas music before he passed away .
