 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2018) |
This is a list of musicians who have performed on officially released Frank Zappa recordings. This list does not include musicians who have performed as guest musicians at Frank Zappa concerts unless they appear on official live recordings. Additionally, this list does not include musicians who have only appeared on the London Symphony Orchestra albums or bootleg recordings.
| Name | Year(s) | Appeared on | Instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murray Adler | 1978, 1996 | Studio Tan, Läther | Violin |
| Phyllis Altenhaus | 1987 | Uncle Meat | Voice |
| Mike Altschul | 1972, 1978–1981, 1996, 2004, 2007, 2008 | Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, Studio Tan, Orchestral Favorites, Tinseltown Rebellion, Läther, QuAUDIOPHILIAc, Wazoo, One Shot Deal | Woodwinds |
| Jay Anderson | 1983–1985 | The Man from Utopia, Thing-Fish, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (1985 Remix) | Bass |
| Peter Arcaro | 1962, 1996 | The Lost Episodes | Trumpet, Conductor |
| Harold Ayres | 1968 | Lumpy Gravy | Violin |
| Name | Year(s) | Appeared on | Instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elliot Ingber | 1966, 1968, 1992, 1996 | Freak Out!, Lumpy Gravy, You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5, The Lost Episodes | Guitar |
| Barbara Issak | 1979 | Joe's Garage | Vocals |
| Name | Year(s) | Appeared on | Instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Jackson, Jr. | 1972 | The Grand Wazoo | Woodwinds |
| Jules Jacob | 1968 | Lumpy Gravy | Woodwinds |
| Janschi | 1985, 1996 | The Lost Episodes | Bass |
| Eddie Jobson | 1976–1978, 1981, 1992, 1996, 1997 | Zappa in New York, Studio Tan, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6, Läther, Have I Offended Someone? | Keyboards, Violin, Vocals |
| John Johnson | 1966 | Freak Out! | Tuba |
| Plas Johnson | 1966 | Freak Out! | Saxophone |
| Pete Jolly | 1968 | Lumpy Gravy | Keyboards |
| Name | Year(s) | Appeared on | Instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Nash | 1968 | Lumpy Gravy | Woodwinds |
| Lou Anne Neill | 1976, 1978–1981, 1996, 2004, 2008 | Zoot Allures, Zappa in New York, Studio Tan, Orchestral Favorites, Tinseltown Rebellion, Läther, QuAUDIOPHILIAc, Joe's Domage, One Shot Deal | Harp |
| Name | Year(s) | Appeared on | Instrument |
|---|---|---|---|
| James "Bird Legs" Youman | 1975, 1978, 1979, 1996 | One Size Fits All, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, Läther | Bass, Guitar |
| Graham Young | 1978, 1996 | Studio Tan, Läther | Trumpet |
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.
Dweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Zappa developed a strong affinity for playing the guitar and producing music. Able to learn directly from guitarists such as Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen, Zappa released his first single at the age of 12.
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1989 Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.
Freak Out! is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of guitarist/bandleader Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles. It was the second rock music double album ever released, following Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde just one week earlier, as well as the first double debut album by a rock artist. In the UK, the album was originally released as an edited single disc.
Uncle Meat is the sixth album by the Mothers of Invention, and seventh overall by Frank Zappa, released as a double album in 1969. Uncle Meat was originally developed as a part of No Commercial Potential, a project which spawned three other albums sharing a conceptual connection: We're Only in It for the Money, Lumpy Gravy and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets.
Them or Us is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1984 by Barking Pumpkin Records.
Lumpy Gravy is a 1968 solo album by Frank Zappa, written by Zappa and performed by a group of session players he dubbed the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. Zappa conducted the orchestra but did not perform on the album. It is his fourth album overall: his previous releases had been under the name of his group, the Mothers of Invention.
Thing-Fish is an album by American musician Frank Zappa, originally released as a triple album box set on Barking Pumpkin Records in 1984. It was billed as a cast recording for a proposed musical of the same name, which was ultimately not produced by Zappa, but later performed partially in 2003, ten years after his death.
Napoleon Murphy Brock is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums Apostrophe ('), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, and Bongo Fury. He contributed notable vocal performances to the Zappa songs "Village of the Sun," "Cheepnis," and "Florentine Pogen."
Zoot Allures is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager Herb Cohen, Zappa's recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.
Patrick John O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and recording artist.
Läther is the sixty-fifth official album by Frank Zappa. It was released posthumously as a three-CD set on Rykodisc in 1996. The album's title is derived from bits of comic dialog that link the songs. Zappa also explained that the name is a joke, based on "common bastardized pronunciation of Germanic syllables by the Swiss."
Chad Wackerman is an American jazz, jazz fusion and rock drummer, who has played with Frank Zappa and Allan Holdsworth. He has worked as a band member, session musician, sideman, and leader of his own ensembles. He is the older brother of drummers John Wackerman and Brooks Wackerman.
Ruth Underwood is an American musician best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. She collaborated with the Mothers of Invention from 1968 to 1977.
Jeffrey Lael Simmons is an American rock musician, best known as a former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.
Arthur Dyer Tripp III is an American retired musician who is best known for his work as a percussionist with the original version of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention during the 1960s and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band during the 1970s. Thereafter, Tripp retired from music. He attended an accredited chiropractic college in Los Angeles from 1980 through 1983, graduating with his Doctor of Chiropractic degree and later practising in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Tinsel Town Rebellion is a double live album released by Frank Zappa in May 1981. The album was conceived by Zappa after he scrapped the planned albums Warts and All and Crush All Boxes, and contains tracks that were intended for those albums.
"Sofa" is a composition by American musician Frank Zappa, released in 1975 on One Size Fits All. In 1993, the year of Zappa's death, Steve Vai covered "Sofa" for Zappa's tribute album Zappa's Universe. The cover won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1994. This was Vai's first of three Grammies.
Finer Moments is a compilation album by Frank Zappa. It was compiled and mastered by Zappa in 1972 and released posthumously in 2012.
Lumpy Gravy, also known as Lumpy Gravy (Primordial), is the recalled original debut solo album by Frank Zappa. It is an entirely orchestral recording written by Zappa and performed by a group of session players he dubbed the Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra. Zappa conducted the orchestra but did not perform on the album. It was commissioned and briefly released, on August 7, 1967, by Capitol Records in the 4-track Stereo-Pak format only and then withdrawn due to a lawsuit from MGM Records. MGM claimed that the album violated Zappa's contract with their subsidiary, Verve Records, and the album was recalled.
