Customer Reviews

Mother!: The Frank Zappa Story

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I have read the following books by or about Frank Zappa. In addition, this list constitutes a ranking of my assessment of the quality of these books.

THE REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK by Frank Zappa and Peter Occhioigrosso

MOTHER! THE FRANK ZAPPA STORY by Michael Gray

ELECTRIC DON QUIXOTE: THE DEFINITIVE STORY OF FRANK ZAPPA by Neil Slaven

NECESSITY IS... THE EARLY YEARS OF FRANK ZAPPA AND THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION by Billy James

COSMIK DEBRIS: THE COLLECTIVE HISTORY AND IMPROVISATIONS OF FRANK ZAPPA by Greg Russo

NO COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL: THE SAGA OF FRANK ZAPPA by David Walley

THEM OR US by Frank Zappa

UNDER THE SAME MOON by Suzannah Thana Harris

BEING FRANK: MY TIME WITH FRANK ZAPPA by Nigery Lennon

To my knowledge, this list includes all of the Zappa biographies. Of these, I think MOTHER! THE FRANK ZAPPA STORY by Michael Gray is the second best. Each of these biographies illustrates a different dimension of Zappa's complex personality. It is almost like each author is writing about a different person. Some book reviewers have suggested that some of the authors are not accurate (less delicately - lying). No, it is simply a matter of focusing on a single dimension of the multidimensional, Frank Zappa.

Gray creates a picture of Zappa that the other authors missed. Unlike other authors, Gray offers the reader details of Zappa's perspective on the political economy. He was a libertarian! Fans of Zappa know he was a paradox and an enigma, but Gray is able to help the reader understand this perception with his focus on Zappa's interest in the economy. This is a fascinating excursion into Zappa's life story

My favorite poster of Zappa can be found on the 5th page after page 64. It is a poor reproduction of the original. It's grainy. The key point is, this picture of Zappa offers great support for Gray's thesis.

Gray's portrayal of Zappa is different from the other biographies. Zappa is an enigma. Gray's writing style is informative, enlightening and thought provoking. This book is an important part of everyone's Zappa library.

The copyright date on the copy of this book that I have is 1993, 1994. This points out one of its major flaws--it was clearly rushed to print right after Frank died. The first probably 2/3 of the book is pretty well done, though there's a great deal of information from Pam Zarubica (a friend and sometimes employee of Zappa). There's so much information on the first few incarnations of the Mothers, in fact, that it seems as though Gray was initially aiming to write a fairly long, comprehensive book on Zappa. However, at some point in the mid-70's, the book devolves into "these people left the band, these people joined, and they're on these albums." However, some of his coverage on later Zappa endeavors (such as the PMRC hearings and the recording of the album "The Yellow Shark" are given a fair amount of space.

That all being said, the material about the 60's Mothers and Zappa's musical projects from the early-to-mid 70's is quite good. I just wish that Gray had spent more time to really finish the book.

When I 1st got into the complex & twisted world of Zappa, this was the 1st book I read. It is good especially because it explains the situation in which Frank grew up, talking about stylistic differences between the 40s & the 50s, apparently decor was more bulbous & interesting in the 40s whilst the music was dull & in the 1950s the music got better & architecture/design got boring/staid. Then of course it traces thru the pre- Freak Out! era & many eras past that as wellas discographies & stuff. There are other books on FZ but to get a well-rounded view of him, you probably should read several of them including this, No Commercial Potential, Negative Dialectic of Poodle Play & of course the Real Frank Zappa book. Shoving Burnt Weeny Sandwich on in the background might be a good idea too.