Frank Vincent Zappa was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he also produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His work is characterized by nonconformity, improvisation sound experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.
We're Only in It for the Money is the third album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on March 4, 1968, by Verve Records. As with the band's first two efforts, it is a concept album, and satirizes left- and right-wing politics, particularly the hippie subculture, as well as the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was conceived as part of a project called No Commercial Potential, which produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, and Uncle Meat.
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Persons. Bozzio has been a prolific sideman, playing on numerous releases by other artists since the mid-1970s. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997.
The Montreux Jazz Festival is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual jazz festival in the world after Canada's Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Sheik Yerbouti is a double album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records, distributed by Phonogram Inc. in the United States and Canada. The album was released in other countries by CBS Records. It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added in the studio. In an October 1978 interview, Zappa gave the working album title as Martian Love Secrets. It was later released on a single CD.
Joe Chiccarelli is an American record producer, mixer and engineer, who is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and has been active since the 1980s. He has produced albums by Stan Ridgway, Morrissey, Oingo Boingo, Spoon, The Shins, Sandra Bernhard, My Morning Jacket, Counting Crows, Augie March, Manchester Orchestra, Minus the Bear, Boy & Bear, Kurt Elling, Saints of Valory, and Big Talk. Other artists include Elton John, Rufus Wainwright, U2, Alanis Morissette, Beck, Etta James, Jamie Cullum, Al Stewart, Tori Amos, The Strokes, The Killers, Cage The Elephant, Cafe Tacuba, Pink Martini, The Shelters, Christina Perri, Third Eye Blind,All American Rejects, Vanessa Carlton, Rachael Yamagata, Michael Buble', Glenn Frey and Jason Mraz.
Civilization Phaze III is the sixty-third album by Frank Zappa, released posthumously as a double album on October 31, 1994. It was the first studio album of new material from Zappa since 1986's Jazz from Hell. The album marks the third part of a conceptual continuity that started with We're Only in It for the Money (1968), with the second part being a re-edited version of Zappa's 1967 album Lumpy Gravy. Zappa described the album as a "two-act opera", but in lieu of traditional recitatives and arias, it alternates brief spoken word passages with musical numbers created on a Synclavier using a combination of sampled and synthesized sounds. Much of the sampled material in the second half of the album was originally recorded by Ensemble Modern and other musicians to Zappa's specifications.
Does Humor Belong in Music? is a one-hour Frank Zappa concert video composed of live performances at The Pier in New York City along with a few interview segments. It was released on VHS by MPI Home Video in 1985 and reissued on DVD in 2003 by EMI. The video has no recorded material in common with the album of the same name, but some of the tracks were released on Volumes One, Three and Six of the You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore series.
The Meridian Arts Ensemble is an American chamber music ensemble based in New York City, specializing in the performance of new works for brass and percussion.
Baby Snakes is the soundtrack to Frank Zappa's film of the same name. It features seven songs from the film.
"Bobby Brown (Goes Down)" is a song by American musician Frank Zappa released on his double album Sheik Yerbouti (1979). The song was successful in Europe, where it was a number-one-hit in Norway and Sweden, number 4 in Germany, and was featured on the vinyl and European CD version of Zappa's best of compilation, Strictly Commercial (1995).
This is the solo discography of the American singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks.
Cream were a 1960s British rock power trio consisting of drummer Ginger Baker, guitarist/singer Eric Clapton and bassist/singer Jack Bruce. While together they released four albums, the last two being partly recorded live in concert, and ten singles. Since breaking up there have been five albums of music recorded live in concert, and 10 compilation albums.
Edward L. Mann was an American musician best known for his mallet percussion performances onstage with Frank Zappa's ensemble from 1977 to 1988, and his appearances on over 30 of Zappa's albums, both studio recordings and with Zappa's band live. Mann also released a number of CDs as a bandleader and composer.
You Are What You Is is a 1981 double album by American musician Frank Zappa. His 34th album, it consists of three musical suites which encompass pop, doo-wop, jazz, hard rock, reggae, soul, blues, new wave and country. The album's lyrics satirize a number of topics, including hippies, socialites, fashion, narcotics use, cultural appropriation, religion, televangelists and the military draft.
"Dancin' Fool" is a song by Frank Zappa from his 1979 album Sheik Yerbouti. It was the first of two singles released from the album, followed by the second single "Bobby Brown ." The song premiered on stage on the 30th of October 1977.
Hammersmith Odeon is a triple album by Frank Zappa, recorded on January 25, 26 & 27, 1978 and February 28, 1978, and released posthumously in 2010 by the Zappa Family Trust. It is the fifth installment on the Vaulternative Records label that is dedicated to the posthumous release of complete Zappa concerts, following the releases of FZ:OZ (2002), Buffalo (2007), Wazoo (2007) and Philly '76 (2009).
Reid Laurence "Larry" LaLonde, also known as Ler LaLonde, is an American musician. He has been the guitarist for the rock band Primus since 1989, where he is known for his experimental accompaniment to the bass playing of bandmate Les Claypool. Previously, he played guitar for several groups including Possessed and Blind Illusion. He also has collaborated more recently with artists such as Serj Tankian and Tom Waits.
"Jewish Princess" is a song by Frank Zappa, released on his 1979 album Sheik Yerbouti. The song is about a man looking for a "nasty little Jewish Princess" with "long phony nails", "a garlic aroma that could level Tacoma", "a Yemenite hole", "a hair-do that rinses", "a couple of sisters that can raise a few blisters", "titanic tits", and "sand-blasted zits".
Robert "Bobby" Martin is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Martin sings and plays keyboards, horn, saxophones and other instruments. He is mainly known for collaborating in the 1980s with the musician Frank Zappa, although he is also a prominent session musician, composer of music for cinema, theater, television and advertising, musical director and music teacher. He also directs music production company Think Method Production with Stephen Boyd. He recognizes as musical influences Ray Charles, Stravinsky, Coltrane, Rachmaninoff, Mose Allison, Cannonball Adderley, David "Fathead" Newman, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa and Etta James.
