REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK

Rating:
Summary: Hysterical and Thoughtful
Review: I was never a huge Zappa fan growing up. His music was incredible, but his lyrics were stupid, so I thought then. I started to pay attention to him when the rock and roll trials happened during the 1980's. He skewered the PMRC during both the hearings and late night news talk shows. It was this reason I decided to read his book. What came out of the book was a very thoughtful man who looked on his life with a great deal of humor. He writes about his early childhood along with the early years of the Mothers of Invention. The various stories of life on the road with the hanger-ons is truly hysterical.

This book is not about his music per se, but how he views the world. His decriptions of his version of the rock and roll hearings and the meanings behind them may seem a bit dated today, however they were certainly very important at the time. Zappa also explores his views on marriage and children. What comes across is a man who is very devoted to his loved ones and is actually very ordinary despite the insanity that seemed to surround him with the music world. His section on "What Frank Eats" is truly one of my favorite parts of the book.

My only complaint with the book is that he does not spend enough time on his later work, which I think is a true shame and he does not do analysis of his music. As you read his book you will left thinking that he would think this portion would be a waste of time. This is a wonderful book and is highley reccommended.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read about a highly unappreciated American icon
Review: I have always held that common sense is lacking inAmerica. Frank Zappa has proven it in his social commentary of societyin general in "The Real Frank Zappa Book." From his attacks on extremetism (look at any televangelist, or Tipper Gore's PMRC)to the dangers of breasts and what makes the nipple so evil as not to be shown on television, and his more personal stories (like how his son Dweezil got his name) and the earlier days of the Mothers of Invention, this book is a fantastic look at an extremely intelligent, unappreciated man who unfortunately died way before his time. If only he could've been persuaded to run for public office!

Rating:
Summary: More like "The Rantin' With Frank Zappa Book"
Review: Somewhere in this book, Frank mentioned that he's a huge fan of coffee and cigarettes. This book proves it. It reads far less like a coherent chronicle of his life than a five-hour, stimulant-fueled, stream-of consciousness rant about a number of topics apparently irking Frank that day. The unfortunate result is an unfocused, dated train wreck, where we are "treated" to such groundbreaking insights as Televangelists are Bad, Reagan was Conservative, the War on Drugs is Ineffective and the PMRC is a Joke. Thanks.

Now, I don't blame Frank; he was just being honest. I instead focus my exasperation on the "editor" of this disaster, who should have immediately recognized that most of this book would be completely irrelevant the minute it hit the press. What's more, since anyone with a basic background in journalism would instantly know that most of Frank's diatribes were based almost entirely on conjecture, hearsay and dubious conspiracy theories, it should have been obvious that a full half of this book is complete crap.

The result is that not only is the last half of this book unreadable, but also that a wonderful opportunity for a first-hand account of a fascinating story was forever lost. I mean, here's a guy who, I believe, has released almost 100 albums, has produced some of history's most groundbreaking rock music, and became a virtuoso guitarist and respected composer with no formal musical training-where's that story? Instead, we suffer through 50 pages of Frank watching charismatic preachers from Texas on TV, describing point by excruciating point what's happening on the screen.

If the person overseeing this mess would have had the slightest hint of a spine and reeled this thing in, we might have had a truly insightful glimpse into what made this enigmatic genius tick. Instead, we learn that Frank would like to see Apartheid abolished. Oh wait, that happened 15 years ago. A wasted opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable BUT....
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book but, if you are looking for details and insight from "the man himself" re: Frank Zappa's extensive body of recorded works, then you will be sorely dissapointed.

The first chunk of the book is mostly about his childhood and the last half or so is devoted to barbed essays on a miscellany of dis-jointed topics such as politics, raising a family, inventions that Zappa couldn't get funded, etc. In the middle you get a smattering of chronology describing the formation and first few years run of the original Mothers of Invention... Zappa's musical exploits through the 70's and 80's is nearly completely ignored!!, ...

Instead of devoting numerous pages to tedious diatribes concerning the PMRC Music Labelling initiative, (which now seems like a historical "non-issue"), I would have far preferred to have read an album-by-album review by Zappa offering insight into each of the tracks and any related anecdotes behind their creation.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest composers the US has ever produced
Review: As a guitarist and very amateur composer, someone like Frank Zappa was someone I had always admired on multiple levels. As a guitarist, he was never what you would call "overly gifted". His solos were madcap forays into his own influences, and he could hit it really big sometimes, and sometimes he could be rather choppy and noisy. But that's OK, Frank never touted himself as a virtuoso or even a premier kind of soloist. He had fun with it, he did it with gusto and panache and I was always entertained by what he did. As a composer, he ranks up there with Copeland in my opinion.

This book is not a big hoorah about how culturally important he was and still is, or anything pretentious and high falutin. He was a very normal man with a grasp of the absurd, a very vivid imagination and a firm hold on reality that few other people have. This book is about the MAN and his views on the world. I think he wanted people to really understand that he's not this weirdo genius that other people tried to make him into, but a normal man who writes (brilliant) music and has very intelligent views of the world around him.

His political views virtually mirror my own (very Libertarian) and his stories of the old rock and roll days are amusing. But I loved the fact that, despite all of the weirdness around him, he retained a very grounded view of himself and the world. His caustic wit and acute observations of things he came into contact with are, in my view, utterly brilliant and shows the man for what he was. A true genius and a very nice man who didn't like a lot of what he saw in this world, especially the political powers-that-be in the US.

I still miss him greatly, and this is a great book because you get to see him as he wanted to be seen and, in my opinion, how he really was. I'd recommend it to anyone, anywhere at any time. It was such a loss for everyone in the world when we lost Frank Zappa. Besides the music he left behind, this book is an incredibly humble view of a great man.

Rating:
Summary: Good book but what about you frank?
Review: Frank made me laugh while reading this book. Especially the parts where he was messing with explosives as a kid... I won't ruin it for you... but you never really get past the outline of the edge of fz's personality. DOesn't talk about how he feels about life itself. Just music. could be that frank was an olympic size pool, with a deep end and a shallow end... I am not sure. I was really trying to see inside FZ on this book, but it just made me laugh. I get the feeling that frank was 'performing' for this outing as well.

Rating:
Summary: You Must Pick This One up!
Review: We start with Zappa's rather sarcastic yet opinionated introduction in which he claims that he never reads. That claim may be misinterpreted by a few, yet I took it as a stab of sarcasm at those who never bother to, preferring to keep their mind on what's on TV at the time. From that point, it's a short read to the first chapter, which opens with a quote from a Baltimore Sun interview in which Zappa observes: "I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird". The first chapter is a brief recollection of his childhood years, in which he describes in detail why his birth certificate lists his first name as Frank rather than Francis and his early interests in science. In the second chapter, he talks about developing a love for music (Rock, Jazz and Classical especially Stravinsky) and his first attempts at bands.

It continues that way through the first half of the book. We get chapters on his various bands through the years up until 1988 (when this book was written), his association with Lenny Bruce, his formation of The Mothers Of Invention, Various tour stories, a treatise on why he doesn't like Great Britain and a chapter devoted to his own dad.

The second half of the book shifts gears totally and moves away from the memoir side to the polemical side. We get chapters in which Zappa comments on marriage, the failed drug war, the PMRC, Reagan, Republicans, the religious right, Big government, high taxes and so on.

What's interesting about the polemical second half of the book is that while a lot of the events that much of it was written in response to are now history, so many of the rants about them are still on target. From the opening of his Church and State chapter: "A lot of the mongos in the TV religion industry claim to be conservative. But are in fact the US equivalent of the Mongos blowing the shlt out of the Middle East".

In the chapter titled "Practical Conservatism", Zappa makes a strong case for the Libertarian point of view and offers up a good skewering of so-called anti big government Republicans. I also highly recommend reading the chapter entitled "Porn Wars" in which Zappa details his battle with the PMRC. Highly essential reading, especially in the recent puritanical crackdown by the FCC on people such as Howard Stern.

The final two chapters in the book feature Zappa showing off some of his more outrageous ideas that never really came to fruition (IE: A Football Opera) and the last one allows him to get in a few more digs at certain political targets as well as offering some advice to the readers (IE: Vote!).

The Real Frank Zappa book is an interesting read overall. I liked both halves of it equally. But some of the not so politically minded readers will prefer the first half. Puritanical types are advised not to read the second half, as it will doubtlessly infuriate you. Pick up a copy! Another unconventional Amazon quick-pick I heartily recommend is THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez -- just wonderful!

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest composers the US has ever produced
Review: As a guitarist and very amateur composer, someone like Frank Zappa was someone I had always admired on multiple levels. As a guitarist, he was never what you would call "overly gifted". His solos were madcap forays into his own influences, and he could hit it really big sometimes, and sometimes he could be rather choppy and noisy. But that's OK, Frank never touted himself as a virtuoso or even a premier kind of soloist. He had fun with it, he did it with gusto and panache and I was always entertained by what he did. As a composer, he ranks up there with Copeland in my opinion.

This book is not a big hoorah about how culturally important he was and still is, or anything pretentious and high falutin. He was a very normal man with a grasp of the absurd, a very vivid imagination and a firm hold on reality that few other people have. This book is about the MAN and his views on the world. I think he wanted people to really understand that he's not this weirdo genius that other people tried to make him into, but a normal man who writes (brilliant) music and has very intelligent views of the world around him.

His political views virtually mirror my own (very Libertarian) and his stories of the old rock and roll days are amusing. But I loved the fact that, despite all of the weirdness around him, he retained a very grounded view of himself and the world. His caustic wit and acute observations of things he came into contact with are, in my view, utterly brilliant and shows the man for what he was. A true genius and a very nice man who didn't like a lot of what he saw in this world, especially the political powers-that-be in the US.

I still miss him greatly, and this is a great book because you get to see him as he wanted to be seen and, in my opinion, how he really was. I'd recommend it to anyone, anywhere at any time. It was such a loss for everyone in the world when we lost Frank Zappa. Besides the music he left behind, this book is an incredibly humble view of a great man.

Rating:
Summary: I laughed out loud reading this
Review: This is a loosley structured brain dump which touches lightly on a variety of topics. There is some biographical background and rock and roll anecdotes included. Zappa had a twisted sense of humor and that comes through loud and clear. I thought the last third of the book was less amusing since FZ used it as a sort of Dennis Miller style collection of rants on many aspects of American culture that clearly bugged him. The guy was not without his insight and at times he is serious and funny simultaneously. I enjoyed the book and learned a bit as well.

Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: Very little historical information; instead, mostly dated rants, opinions, and ah, yes, information about what Frank ate for dinner, if that strikes your fancy.

It was somewhat interesting, however, to read Frank's reasoning concerning the whole PMRC/Tipper Gore/censorship thing, that it was being used to draw attention from other legislation that was much more evil.