Frank Zappa: Music Industry and American Culture

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Frank Zappa’s Music life
Frank Zappa’s and the American culture
My Opinion
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The impact of music on the society is very significant. Music acts as a mirror to the society. It is used to pass information whether constructive or destructive to the society. This thus implies that it can lead to the overall improvement or destruction of the morals of a society. Musicians thus play significant part in shaping the society although the presence of rejection is experienced. The society values are very important in the development of children.

The information that children get when being brought up is found to play very significant roles in their behavior and interactions in future. To ensure that good ethics are maintained, there are usually various regulations set. The offenders are usually punished as a way of avoiding future occurrences. This paper seeks to look into Frank Zappa’s life in the music industry and how it affected him as well as the American culture.

Frank Zappa’s Music life

Frank Zappa was a great musician who was born in 1940 in Baltimore. His father was a meteorologist who worked in an arsenal in the United States of America. He was the firstborn child in a family of six of which one was his sister. There were numerous movements by his father from one work place to another which made the family to equally move frequently. This made it possible for the family to at least reside in different places some of which included Florida and Maryland among others.

The work his father undertook required them to reside close to their work place so as to be easily available incase of an emergency. Due the risks associated with the arsenal, the family members were provided with protective materials. Frank Zappa is said to have fallen sick more often than not due to the effect of the chemicals at his work place. To ensure that his health was fine, the family had to relocate.

Zappa’s musical interest started when he was still very young. At high school he used to participate in the music festivals and was a keen player of the drum. During the same period, his parents had recognized the interest in him in music and they bought a music record player. This helped him in developing further his interest and knowledge in the music industry. At that tender age he got access to various musical instruments.

As time passed by he gained more interest in the modern music. He was attracted to music played by Varese among others artists of the time. He loved music and understood various forms of music from his cultural music. This gave him a better and wider perspective of the different music categories available as well as the musical instruments used. In some of the instances he found himself lacking in resources to acquire some music or instrument which he really required for his practice.

The presence of many music groups performing different types of music was very effective for his exposure to various music types. His parents bought him various equipments and encouraged him to pursue his interest after discovering that he truly adored music and had a special attachment to it. His point of view on various types of music was not always in line with his parents view.

This made his parents to sometimes encourage him to venture in the type of music that they liked or had some affection towards it. Despite these differences the parents continued to support him in all his undertakings. His attachment to certain forms of music was very strong that he was even ready to undertake activities to the extreme so as to have access to them. This also included some of the well performing musicians of that time who were either from America or others countries.

At school Zappa got access to various musicians. These musicians were of great help in his music development. In times when he was doing things in the wrong way, they usually corrected him. This ensured his gradual but continuous improvement. These musicians sang various forms of music and thus he had a chance of interacting with these musicians and at least get some information about a given category of music ranging from R&B to pop music.

After interacting with these musicians, they noted his interest in music and gave him a chance to be incorporated in their bands. In his first assignments in the bands, he was playing the drums. He was very excited of the opportunity and did it to his level best as it gave him a better chance to increase his knowledge and gain experience on music. In his performance, he did not disappoint the artists and this led to improved relationship between him and them.

Zappa did not complete his college education. He dropped out and had a very negative opinion about it. In 1959 he left his parents and went to stay alone. By this time he was well equipped with composing and the performance of music. The following year he got married. He was awarded a chance to work in advertisement.

This really gave him a chance to gain more knowledge in information and music presentation. After gaining this knowledge he used to prepare some of the material he used in the songs he released later. This made him to be well prepared to venture the music industry easily without so many hindrances. The assistance provided to him at this work by his fellow friends was of great importance for his development.

The leaving of his parents premises meant that he had to look for a job for his maintenance. Thus Zappa decided to venture into the music industry. This was mainly due to the affection and the knowledge and experience he had got from the duties he had undertaken before. He mainly worked as a composer and musician. He used to visit various entertainment places in the country and entertain the customers.

These were mainly night clubs. With the assistance of his fellow workers, he was able to release his first album. The production of these songs was among his greatest achievement at the time. They paved a way for him to the music industry. The music was appreciated by the audience. These songs formed the root of his consequent music production with some ideas borrowed from them. This was a very good entrance of him into the industry.

He continued with his work and even did production for other musicians. He was assisted by fellow workers and thus was given a chance to expand his knowledge. By then the technology in the local music industry was not well established. The production of the music was sometimes limited by the music equipments available. The availability of better equipment was limited to only a few. Zappa accumulated enough money to enable him to improve in his career.

He featured in many shows both organized by him as well as by his friends. He recorded some music but it was rejected by some producers on the grounds that not standard and thus did not reach the required market standard. Despite this, he was really determined and continued in his production. The failure of the music gave him a chance to review it keenly and understand what the main reason for its failure was so that he could provide the necessary corrections in his later productions.

Due to total commitment in the music and film production by him, he was able to improve his financial status. There was a studio that was owned by Buff that did local music production. Because Buff had moved to a different well established studio, Zappa used his (Buff’s) resources to develop his music farther.

This achievement was welcomed by many people including his friends. He changed the name of the studio to studio Z. The studio became better established and popular among the people. He worked from the studio as well as performed with his fellow musicians on some occasions.

During the time he was working at his studio, there was an article about him on the media that caught the attention of the police. The police thought that he was involved in the production of pornography. The police thought of the best way into this investigation and decided to use an undercover investigator and somehow Zappa was aligned in court.

The police took all his recording from the studio. He was charged and sentenced to imprisonment for six months. He served his term until it was over. When he was released, he only recovered less than half of the recordings that were seized. This was a very big blow to him and due to the reduction of his income; he could not maintain the studio (Schwartz and Schinder 359).

He went back to music industry as a guitarist. This was due to some differences that had made a former guitarist to quit his job. When in the band, Zappa was interested in the band singing his songs. The band changed its name to “mothers” which was proposed by Zappa. With time Zappa became a leader of the group. His intention was to change the band’s music production from R&B to rock music. He played the music and released “freak out” which was a good venture into the rock music.

The music was found in a way to criticize the American culture. The band performed together releasing more music in America and Europe. This made them well known. Despite their continuous growth, they usually faced financial problems. There were various accidents that were encountered and had significant impacts on the band. Conflicts among the members in the group were evident and this greatly affected the progress of the band.

Frank Zappa’s and the American culture

Frank Zappa sang so many songs touching various aspects of the American culture. These songs raised concerns between various stakeholders such as the parents and the administrators. In his response to the various issues raised about him by them and the music he played he was not apologetic to anyone. The graphics used in the cover of his albums were not very pleasing. He criticized the American culture and the society about hypocrisy. This usually led to the decline of the cultural values attached to them.

Frank Zappa is remembered for boldness and speaking his mind out without any fear. He utilized his freedom of expression maximally and maybe at times went overboard. In his songs Frank spoke his mind out and set precedence for the American people to speak out their minds on whatever they felt irrespective of whoever was involved. In some of his songs Frank Zappa is seen even ridiculing God; take for example the song ‘Dumb all over’ where Frank declares that if we are dumb then God too is dumb.

These sentiments may be in the context of the scripture that says men are created in the image of God. In another song ‘Church Chat,’ Frank attacks the church on the issue of getting money from the congregate “the church comes up with a new gimmick to make you spend to Heaven” (Stewart 1). It can be argued that Zappa set forth a culture of freely expressing oneself especially where there is a feeling that something is not being done right.

The Mothers of Inventions has been viewed as a political band because of its criticism on the wrongs that the political leaders engaged in; for instance, the band fired out against the Reagan administration.

It is also recorded that Zappa spoke against the Gulf war. In some instances, Zappa has been described as one who was in confusion especially in reference to his views: “he launched an ‘onslaught’ on Reagan and the Republicans whilst simultaneously advocating typical Reaganite policies like lower taxes and union busting” (Watson 1). In general, as noted above Zappa set forth precedence for self-expression without fear a culture which the American people have embraced.

Frank often referred to the American culture as being plastic and too shallow. Probably he was not satisfied with the ways issues were carried out and probably he thought there was too much pretense in the society while everything was going in the wrong direction. The lack of audacity to point out this wrongs probably led to view the American as being too superficial hence he set out to do it through his band.

In undertaking his duties as a musician, Zappa encountered many obstacles. Some of them were mainly from the community as well as the administration. In almost all cases, Zappa did not apologize for the conflicts that he created and developed. It is pointed out that Zappa played a significant role in carrying out some corrective measures about some of the wrongs that were being carried out in the society.

One of the cases where Frank was witnessed helping in solving some crisis was when the workers union demanded for large amount of fees to be paid to them by the musicians. In his early entry into the music industry, Zappa used to be asked to pay the money.

Despite the large sum of money collected, nothing was done by the workers union to improve and develop the music industry. In their undertaking the union would not allow any musicians to hold shows without having to pay the fees. On the other side there were some rules set by the musician’s union which regulated the industry as well as ensured that there was sanity in the undertaking of the musical activities such as shows. The union extorted the musician’s money without offering great assistance to the musicians.

To overcome this extortion, Zappa had to improvise a way out. He used to book initial rehearsal as those of the stage performances. In undertaking this, he was able to avoid paying the large sum of money although legally. On his side, Zappa was not comfortable with the way the union was undertaking its duties. He sang three songs for expressing his discomfort with them by criticizing them.

Frank Zappa was also seen taking the government head on about racism issues. During his time, the government used to retain some of the information that would be very useful if availed to the public. The government used to work in favor of certain groups of people. This was not right as it played a bigger part in racism. Due to the impact it had on the community and the country as a whole, Zappa decided to address it publicly through his songs.

For example, in addressing the issue of aids in the society, there was a lot of resistance from conservative Christians who were part of the administration though some were not. In addressing the issue, Zappa addressed all the issues responsible for the spread of the disease. The government played a significant part by not availing the information to all the people and its reaction on the issue was not timely. The government used the African American in its tests on various drugs which were not right (Lowe 192).

Due to Zappa’s music growing in America as well as Europe, he gained favor from some of his fans. They included people of all classes. In one occasion he visited the Czechoslovakia president. The president awarded a chance to be a consultant for the government on various issues either locally or internationally.

One of the issues he was to handle was on cultural matters. After receiving the post, other governments such as the American administration intervened to have his appointment revoked. Instead the president changed his role. This chance made Zappa to be more interested in international consulting (Chapman 629).

Music usually affects our behavior either directly or indirectly. Whatever we see or hear always has an impact on how we view and handle various ideas. This has great influence on the young children and the youths than on adults. This was one of the main aims of Zappa’s music.

He knew that the music was a great avenue in pinpointing and influencing the culture. Through it he was able to criticize various issues in the culture. He used words such as plastic in his music to indicate how shallow the American culture was. This usually acted as an eye opener to many on various issues. The administration was also found to be hypocritical in undertaking of their duties which had indirect interference on the American culture.

My Opinion

It is worth noting some few facts about what could have possibly affected Frank Zappa in his music. He grew up in not so comfortable a family. It is noted that his often fell sick and that the family was constantly on move putting up residence in different regions. All this happened when Frank Zappa was still young and in school.

It can be argued that he was not yet psychological mature and the effect that this continuous shifting of the family residence and constant illness of his father cannot really be downplayed. I have a strong feeling that these two events had a great influence on Frank Zappa’s life.

It is significant to point out that at this tender age when all these was happening, he was given a platform which he could have easily used to express his feeling about life. Though literature does not point out Frank Zappa growing up as a disturbed kid, the prevailing facts about his early childhood life string and boldly point in that direction.

It is also noted that Frank dropped out of college and had negative views on college education. This cannot be viewed to be very good as it is obvious that education will impact a person with knowledge which will help him/her to think positively and face situations in a wise manner.

Apart from the disturbing childhood life we see Zappa still struggling against all odds to achieve some success in his life. At one moment the he lost a lot of possession after being imprisoned; it must have been a bit hard for Zappa because he lost property which he used to develop his music.

Zappa’s band “the mothers” was keen on playing rock music. Their themes were mainly on societal criticism. Most of the songs that the band played were composed by Frank. Being the composer implies that the songs were passing across his personal feeling to the society and what were the feelings? The feelings were that the society was unfair.

Frank often portrayed the society as being very shallow. It is correct to assume that what one has gone creates an image of what the society is to him or her. For the case of Zappa, the society had not been very good to him taking into consideration his childhood circumstances as covered above.

I strongly feel, as I noted early, that his dropping out of college might have equally made a contribution to his negative attitude towards the society. Education will help to understand that there are no opportunities waiting for anybody and that life cannot be the same for all the people thus the need to work hard to gain status to the level that one needs to be.

By pointing out some wrongs in the society, Frank was able to make a contribution towards the society. Frank is a classic example of a musician who has risen above all odds to the extent of being chosen as a consultant for a government on issues touching on culture.

Conclusion

Music is usually a reflection of society values. Frank Zappa gained his interest in the music industry from childhood. The support from his parents played an important role in his development in the music industry. Despite him not completing his education, he thrived through the challenges in the music industry to emerge victorious.

In his struggles he got a lot of assistance from other musicians who were already established. On the cultural issue, Zappa viewed the American culture as one which was not well established and very shallow. He criticized various authorities in the community for failing in administering their duties and was not ready to apologize to anyone.

Zappa played a significant role in the evolution of the American culture because he never feared anyone especially when he was pointing out wrongs in the society. It can then be conclusively be said that though Frank had a humble beginning with an education background that was not so well grounded, he nevertheless by using his music tried to shade light on some cultural issues in the society.

Works Cited

Chapman, Roger. Culture wars: an encyclopedia of issues, viewpoints, and voices. New York, NY: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

Lowe, Kelly. The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. Lincoln: U of Nebraska Press, 2007. Print.

Schwartz, Andy and Schinder, Scott. Icons of Rock. Velvet Underground. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. Print.

Stewart, D. Frank Zappa – The Man without God. Jesus is Savior, 2011. Web.

Watson, B. (1994). Spanner in the Workers. Socialist Review, 1994. Web.

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