No Commercial Potential: The Saga Of Frank Zappa [Paperback]

David Walley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0306807106 | ISBN-13: 978-0306807107 | Publication Date: August 22, 1996 | Edition: Updated

For nearly thirty years Frank Zappa (1940–1993) pursued an idiosyncratic but influential course in music—rock, jazz, and classical composer (releasing over fifty albums); founder of the Mothers of Invention; guitarist, conductor, and producer; as well as social satirist, sonic scientist, First Amendment champion, and all-around iconoclast. This updated edition of David Walley's cutting-edge classic includes a new foreword, a substantial chapter carrying the Zappa saga through his death from cancer, an afterword, bibliography, discography, videography, and guide to Zappa on the Internet. From 1960's Freak Out! to the posthumous Civilization Phaze III, No Commercial Potential offers converts and connoisseurs the most practical and penetrating book ever written on the musical phenomenon known as Frank Zappa.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Once considered the best biography on American composer Frank Zappa available, David Walley's No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa still contains the most compelling and accurate portrait of Zappa at the beginning of his career. The latest edition has been updated by the author--which is odd, as Walley seems almost completely disenchanted with Zappa in the closing chapters--to quickly gloss over the last two decades of Zappa's life up to and including his death in 1993. The gold of this biography is still the original material from the seventies, which Walley wrote after spending a great deal of time with his subject. Anyone interested in Zappa and his music will not want to miss this fascinating, firsthand account of the man in what many consider to be the prime years of his career. Anyone interested in a broader view of Zappa's life will also want to investigate Ben Watson's astounding intellectual analysis of Zappa's work, The Negative Dialects of Poodle Play, the collected offerings of The Frank Zappa Companion, and the word from the man himself, The Real Frank Zappa Book.

About the Author

David Walley is a freelance writer, editor, and cultural historian who lives with his wife Geli, four children, and numerous animals in Williamstown, Massachusetts."

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Updated edition (August 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306807106
• ISBN-13: 978-0306807107
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #449,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars condescending, January 22, 2005

By 

mike53669 - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Commercial Potential: The Saga Of Frank Zappa (Paperback)

This was a pretty comprehensive biography of Frank's earlier years, but the last hundred pages or so are terrible. The author simply pontificates on Frank's life and work, making judgement after judgement. This part of the book is extremely condescending toward Frank, as if the author were Frank's teacher and making notes on his final report card. This incredibly superior, pompous attitude toward the book's subject was very annoying. Including negative opinions about Zappa from people like Captain Beefheart is interesting and informative, but the author should have kept his own heavy hand out of the mix. A really good biography leaves conclusions about what kinf of guy the subject is up to the reader. Not so here, where toward the end the reader finds him/herself struggling to crawl out from underneath the heavy pile of the author's ponderous philosophy to glean any information at all about Zappa.

I did listen to all of the albums mentioned in the book, which, I guess, is all of them. I got a lot more out of listening to the records than I did this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Counter-Opinions For Your FZ Mythology, February 26, 2001

By 

Sir Charles Panther "Life is hard. It's hard... (Alexandria, Virginny, USandA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: No Commercial Potential: The Saga Of Frank Zappa (Paperback)

This is an adequate follow-up read to The Real Frank Zappa Book. This book is valuable to the FZ fan as it takes a slightly revisionist approach. The opinions are not always positive, and there are some unpleasant things said. Yeah, the hard-core Zappa fan-atic might find this unpalatable, but there's nothing here serious enough to put the book down.

This updated edition dates from 1996, and there is precious little this book tells about us about FZ in the years since the last edition. What the reader will notice is that the book previously was published in 1972 and 1980. It is clear that this updated edition has simply had the 28-page "I'm Not Satisfied" chapter added since the 1980 edition. The chapter's opening sentence, "Frank Zappa's last thirteen years . . ." is a dead giveaway that it's an add-on. As such, it just doesn't have any depth; the cynic in me sees a hastily-produced chapter put together to capitalize on interest in FZ after his 1993 death. (The lightweight, 25-page "Cosmic Debris" chapter covering the 1972-80 period is also a lame add-on to the original 1972 edition.) The years 1980-93 were FZ's most productive, most vocal, and most creative, and to sum up this period with a short chapter to justify an updated edition is just plain disrespectful. There are also updates to the bibliograpy, discography, and clearly a newly-added "Zappa on the Internet" section.

The book is best when discussing the early FZ/Mothers years. Keeping in mind that this book was first published in 1972, it's not surprising to see that the first 150-odd pages of this 211-page book are devoted to this period. There are lots of great quotes, photos, and graphics such as old handbills and maps. Lots of good information on the satellites in the FZ universe, such as the band members, groupies, the GTOs, etc.

The layout makes this book an easy and flowing read. It goes quickly, and is very much enjoyable. Despite some of the observations made above, I do recommend this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good. Doesn't pull punches!, April 4, 2001

By 

"theslime" (DUBLIN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Commercial Potential: The Saga Of Frank Zappa (Paperback)

Even though it's 'diluted' with the added on chapters (ie 1972-1993) the earlier stuff is excellent. This was the first book on frank zappa, the benchmark. There are lots of negative quotes included here, giving a balanced view, because david didn't want his book to become just another piece of 'promotional trash'. These quotes are mainly from captain beefheart and artie tripp, who give their own controversial views on frank's genius. Anyway, frank tried to prevent it being published because he was angry with what it said. But this is an excellent read, it gives you a great feel for what was happening in LA/America in the 60s, the freak scene and all that, also it gives excellent insight into the albums. The later stuff is given a less intensive treatment, mainly because there is a lack of enthusiasm about most of it. There is also a piercing obituary ('afterword'), with some perceptive comments. You don't necessarily have to be a zappa fan to enjoy this book. Thank you.