Editing Frank Zappa (section)

==1940–1965: Early life and career==
===Childhood===
Zappa was born on December 21, 1940, in [[Baltimore]], Maryland, to Rose Marie ({{nee}} Colimore) and Francis Vincent Zappa. He was predominately of Sicilian descent but also had Greek, Arab and French ancestors.{{refn|group="nb"|"My ancestry is Sicilian, Greek, Arab and French. My mother's mother was French and Sicilian, and her Dad was Italian (from Naples). She was first generation. The Greek-Arab side is from my Dad. He was born in a Sicilian village called Partinico&nbsp;..."<ref name="Occhiogrosso">{{cite book |last1=Zappa |first1=Frank |author-link=Frank Zappa |last2=Occhiogrosso |first2=Peter |title=Real Frank Zappa Book |date=1989 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-70572-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/realfrankzappabo0000zapp}}</ref>{{rp|15}}}}

The eldest of four children, he was raised in an Italian-American household where Italian was often spoken by his grandparents.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|6}}<ref name="Rolling Stone Book">''The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'', 1993.</ref> The family moved often because his father, a [[chemist]] and mathematician, worked in the defense industry. After a time in [[Florida]] in the 1940s, the family returned to [[Maryland]], where Zappa's father worked at the [[Edgewood Arsenal]] [[chemical warfare]] facility of the [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]] run by the [[U.S. Army]]. Due to their home's proximity to the arsenal, which stored [[mustard gas]], gas masks were kept in the home in case of an accident.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|20–23}} This living arrangement had a profound effect on Zappa, and references to germs, germ warfare, ailments and the defense industry occur frequently throughout his work.<ref name="miles">{{cite book| title = Frank Zappa| first = Barry| last = Miles| publisher=Atlantic Books| location = London| date = 2004|isbn = 978-1-84354-092-2}}</ref>{{rp|8–9}}

Zappa's father often brought [[Mercury (element)|mercury]]-filled lab equipment home from his workplace and gave it to Zappa to play with.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|19}}  Zappa said that as a child he "used to play with it all the time", often by putting liquid mercury on the floor and using a hammer to spray out mercury droplets in a circular pattern, eventually covering the entire floor of his bedroom with them.<ref>{{cite book |title=Real Frank Zappa Book |date=1989 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-70572-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FB0O_HCpBy0C&pg=PA19 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref>

Zappa was often sick as a child, suffering from [[asthma]], [[earache]]s and [[Paranasal sinuses|sinus]] problems. A doctor treated his sinusitis by inserting a pellet of [[radium]] into each of Zappa's nostrils. At the time, little was known about the potential dangers of even small amounts of therapeutic radiation and mercury exposure.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|10}}

Nasal imagery and references appear in his music and lyrics, as well as in the collage album covers created by his long-time collaborator [[Cal Schenkel]]. Zappa believed his childhood diseases might have been due to exposure to mustard gas released by the nearby chemical warfare facility, and his health worsened when he lived in Baltimore.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|20–23}}<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|10}} In 1952, his family relocated for reasons of health to [[Monterey, California]], where his father taught [[metallurgy]] at the [[Naval Postgraduate School]].<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|22}} They soon moved to the [[San Diego]] neighborhood of [[Clairemont, San Diego|Clairemont]],<ref name="slaven03">{{cite book |title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa |edition=2nd |first1=Neil |last1=Slaven |publisher=Music Sales Group|date=2003|isbn=978-0-7119-9436-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4EyfFjQ3DgC}}</ref>{{rp|46}} and then to the nearby city of [[El Cajon, California|El Cajon]], before finally returning to San Diego.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sandiegotroubadour.com/wp-content/pdf/2005_11_Nov.pdf|title=Counter Culture Coincidence|work=San Diego Troubadour|last=Mendoza|first=Bart|page=4|date=November 11, 2005|access-date=September 11, 2010}}</ref>

===First musical interests===
{{quote box|quote=Since I didn't have any kind of formal training, it didn't make any difference to me if I was listening to [[Lightnin' Slim]], or a vocal group called the Jewels&nbsp;..., or [[Webern]], or [[Varèse]], or [[Stravinsky]]. To me it was all good music.|source= — Frank Zappa, 1989<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|34}}|width=25em}}

Zappa started at the age of 12, learning [[drum rudiment]]s at a summer school group course in Monterey, California with a teacher named Keith McKillop. Frank said "Instead of drums, he had us practicing on wooden planks."<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|13}} Zappa joined his first band at [[Mission Bay High School]] in San Diego as a drummer.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|29}} At about the same time, his parents bought a [[phonograph]], which allowed him to develop his interest in music, and to begin building his record collection.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|22}} According to ''[[Rough Guide|The Rough Guide to Rock]]'' (2003), "as a teenager Zappa was simultaneously enthralled by black R&B ([[Johnny "Guitar" Watson|Johnny 'Guitar' Watson]], [[Guitar Slim]]), doo-wop ([[The Channels]], [[The Velvets]]), and modern composers, such as [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Anton Webern]] and [[Edgard Varèse]]."<ref name="teentastes"/>

R&B singles were early purchases for Zappa, starting a large collection he kept for the rest of his life.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|36}} He was interested in sounds for their own sake, particularly the sounds of drums and other percussion instruments. By age twelve, he had obtained a snare drum and began learning the basics of orchestral percussion.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|29}} Zappa's deep interest in modern classical music began<ref name="idol"/> when he read a ''[[Look (American magazine)|LOOK]]'' magazine article about the [[Sam Goody]] record store chain that lauded its ability to sell an LP as obscure as ''The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume One''.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|30–33}} The article described Varèse's percussion composition ''[[Ionisation (Varèse)|Ionisation]]'', produced by [[EMS Recordings]], as "a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds". Zappa decided to seek out Varèse's music. After searching for over a year, Zappa found a copy (he noticed the LP because of the "mad scientist" looking photo of Varèse on the cover). Not having enough money with him, he persuaded the salesman to sell him the record at a discount.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|30–33}} Thus began his lifelong passion for Varèse's music and that of other modern classical composers. He also liked the Italian classical music listened to by his grandparents, especially [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s opera arias.

[[File:Frank Zappa HS Yearbook.jpg|thumb|upright|Zappa's senior yearbook photo, 1958]]
By 1956, the Zappa family had moved to [[Lancaster, California|Lancaster]], a small [[aerospace]] and farming town in the [[Antelope Valley]] of the [[Mojave Desert]] close to [[Edwards Air Force Base]]; he would later refer to Sun Village (a town close to Lancaster) in the 1973 track "Village of the Sun".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/lyrics/Roxy_and_Elsewhere.html#Village|title=Lyrics of Village Of The Sun|first=Frank|last=Zappa|date=December 1973|work=Village Of The Sun, Roxy and Elsewhere|access-date=October 20, 2016}}</ref> Zappa's mother encouraged him in his musical interests. Although she disliked Varèse's music, she was indulgent enough to give her son a long-distance call to the New York composer as a fifteenth birthday present.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|30–33}} Unfortunately, Varèse was in Europe at the time, so Zappa spoke to the [[Louise Varèse|composer's wife]] and she suggested he call back later. In a letter, Varèse thanked him for his interest, and told him about a composition he was working on called "[[Déserts]]". Living in the desert town of Lancaster, Zappa found this very exciting. Varèse invited him to visit if he ever came to New York. The meeting never took place (Varèse died in 1965), but Zappa framed the letter and kept it on display for the rest of his life.<ref name="idol">{{cite journal |last=Zappa |first=Frank |date=June 1971 |title=Edgard Varèse: The Idol of My Youth |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1971-06.pdf |journal=Stereo Review |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=62–68 |via=World Radio History}}</ref>{{refn|group="nb"|On several of his earlier albums, Zappa paid tribute to Varèse by quoting his: "The present-day composer refuses to die."<ref>{{cite book|title=Friendly Remainders: Essays in Music Criticism after Adorno|first1=Murray|last1=Dineen|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|date=2011|isbn=978-0-7735-8576-8|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=WV1ta5rlm58C&pg=PA122 122] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WV1ta5rlm58C }}</ref>}}

At [[Antelope Valley High School]], Zappa met Don Glen Vliet (who later changed his name to Don Van Vliet and adopted the stage name [[Captain Beefheart]]). Zappa and Vliet became close friends, sharing an interest in R&B records and influencing each other musically throughout their careers.<ref name="slaven03"/>{{rp|29–30}} Around the same time, Zappa started playing drums in a local band, the Blackouts.<ref name="watson96"/>{{rp|13}} The band was racially diverse and included [[Jim Sherwood|Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood]] who later became a member of the Mothers of Invention. Zappa's interest in the guitar grew, and in 1957 he was given his first instrument. Among his early influences were [[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]], [[Howlin' Wolf]] and [[Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown]]. In the 1970s/1980s, he invited Watson to perform on several albums. Zappa considered soloing the equivalent of forming "air sculptures",<ref>{{cite book|title=Frank Zappa|first1=Barry|last1=Miles|publisher=Atlantic Books Ltd|date=2014|isbn=978-1-78239-678-9|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=A5jCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT266 266] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5jCBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> and developed an eclectic, innovative and highly personal style.<ref>{{cite book|title=Academy Zappa: Proceedings of the First International Conference of Esemplastic Zappology (ICE-Z)|edition=illusdtrated|first1=Ben|last1=Watson|first2=Esther|last2=Leslie|publisher=SAF Publishing Ltd|date=2005|isbn=978-0-946719-79-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NBfhgQf1-QwC&pg=PA223 223] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NBfhgQf1-QwC}}</ref> He was also influenced by Egyptian composer [[Halim El-Dabh]].<ref name="Holmes">{{cite book|title=Electronic and experimental music: technology, music, and culture|first=Thom|last=Holmes|edition=3rd|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|date=2008|isbn=978-0-415-95781-6|chapter=Early Synthesizers and Experimenters|pages=153–154|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCthQ-bec-QC&pg=PA153|access-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref>

Zappa's interest in composing and arranging flourished in his last high school years. By his final year, he was writing, [[arrangement|arranging]] and conducting avant-garde performance pieces for the school orchestra.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|40}} He graduated from Antelope Valley High School in 1958, and later acknowledged two of his music teachers on the sleeve of the 1966 album ''[[Freak Out!]]''<ref name="walley80"/>{{rp|23}} Due to his family's frequent moves, Zappa attended at least six different high schools, and as a student he was often bored and given to distracting the rest of the class with juvenile antics.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|48}} In 1959, he attended [[Chaffey College]] but left after one semester, and maintained thereafter a disdain for formal education, taking his children out of school at age 15 and refusing to pay for their college.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|345}} While in college, Zappa met [[Terry Kirkman]] and played gigs at local [[coffee house]]s with him.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Searles |first=Malcolm C. |title=The Association 'Cherish' |date=October 5, 2018 |publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78901-361-0 |pages=7 |language=English}}</ref>

Zappa left home in 1959, and moved into a small apartment in [[Echo Park, Los Angeles]]. After he met Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman during his short period of private composition study with Prof. [[Karl Kohn]] of [[Pomona College]], they moved in together in [[Ontario, California|Ontario]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-21 |title=Frank Zappa zig-zagged around downtown Ontario in early 1960s |url=https://www.dailybulletin.com/2019/12/21/frank-zappa-zig-zagged-around-downtown-ontario-in-early-1960s/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Daily Bulletin |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-10 |title=Frank Zappa once shared pizza and advice with Ontario teen band |url=https://www.dailybulletin.com/2021/01/10/frank-zappa-once-shared-pizza-and-advice-with-ontario-teen-band/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Daily Bulletin |language=en-US}}</ref> and were married December 28, 1960.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|58}} Zappa worked for a short period in advertising as a copywriter. His sojourn in the commercial world was brief, but gave him valuable insights into its workings.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|40}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/jan/18/copywritingisstillwriting |title=Copywriting is still writing |last=Myers |first=Ben |date=January 18, 2008 |website=The Guardian  |access-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref> Throughout his career, he took a keen interest in the visual presentation of his work, designing some of his album covers and directing his own films and videos.

===Studio Z===
Zappa attempted to earn a living as a musician and composer, and played different nightclub gigs, some with a new version of the Blackouts.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|59}} Zappa's earliest professional recordings, two soundtracks for the low-budget films ''[[The World's Greatest Sinner]]'' (1962) and ''[[Run Home, Slow]]'' (1965) were more financially rewarding. The former score was commissioned by actor-producer [[Timothy Carey]] and recorded in 1961. It contains many themes that appeared on later Zappa records.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|63}} The latter soundtrack was recorded in 1963 after the film was completed, but it was commissioned by one of Zappa's former high school teachers in 1959 and Zappa may have worked on it before the film was shot.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|55}} Excerpts from the soundtrack can be heard on the posthumous album ''[[The Lost Episodes]]'' (1996).

During the early 1960s, Zappa wrote and produced songs for other local artists, often working with singer-songwriter [[Ray Collins (musician)|Ray Collins]] and producer Paul Buff. Their "[[Memories of El Monte]]" was recorded by [[the Penguins]], although only Cleve Duncan of the original group was featured.<ref>Gray, 1984, ''Mother!'', p. 29.</ref> Buff owned the small [[Pal Recording Studio]] in [[Rancho Cucamonga, California|Cucamonga]], which included a unique five-track tape recorder he had built. At that time, only a handful of the most sophisticated commercial studios had [[Multitrack recording|multi-track]] facilities; the industry standard for smaller studios was still mono or two-track.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|42}} Although none of the recordings from the period achieved major commercial success, Zappa earned enough money to allow him in 1963 to stage a concert of his orchestral music and to broadcast and record it.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|74}} In March of that same year Zappa appeared on [[Steve Allen]]'s syndicated late night show playing a bicycle as a musical {{nowrap|instrument<ref>{{cite web |title=Video footage of Frank Zappa performing music on a bicycle on Steve Allen's Show in 1963 |url=https://twitter.com/SkotArmstrong/status/1473331952929296384 |website=Twitter feed of Skot Armstrong |publisher=[[Twitter]] |access-date=December 21, 2021}}</ref><ref name="slaven96">{{cite book |first=Neil |last=Slaven |date=1996 |title=Electric Don Quixote |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0711959835}}</ref>{{rp|35–36}}{{mdash}}}}{{hsp}}using drum sticks and a bow borrowed from the band's bass player he proceeded to pluck, bang, and bow the spokes of the bike, producing strange, comical sounds from his newfound instrument. With Captain Beefheart, Zappa recorded some songs under the name of the Soots. They were rejected by [[Dot Records]]. Later, the Mothers were also rejected by [[Columbia Records]] for having "no commercial potential", a verdict Zappa subsequently quoted on the sleeve of ''[[Freak Out!]]''<ref name="watson96">{{cite book| title = Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play| first = Ben| last = Watson| date = 1996| publisher=St. Martin's Griffin| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-312-14124-0}}</ref>{{rp|27}}

In 1964, after his marriage started to break up, he moved into the Pal studio and began routinely working 12&nbsp;hours or more per day recording and experimenting with [[overdubbing]] and [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording#As a musical instrument|audio tape manipulation]]. This established a work pattern that endured for most of his life.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|43}} Aided by his income from film composing, Zappa took over the studio from Paul Buff, who was now working with [[Art Laboe]] at [[Original Sound]]. It was renamed Studio Z.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|80–81}} Studio Z was rarely booked for recordings by other musicians. Instead, friends moved in, notably James "Motorhead" Sherwood.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|82–83}} Zappa started performing in local bars as a guitarist with a [[power trio]], the Muthers, to support himself.<ref name="watson96"/>{{rp|26}}

An article in the local press describing Zappa as "the Movie King of Cucamonga" prompted the local police to suspect that he was making [[pornography|pornographic]] films.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|85}} In March 1965, Zappa was approached by a [[Vice unit|vice squad]] undercover officer, and accepted an offer of $100 ({{Inflation|US|100|1965|r=-1|fmt=eq}}) to produce a suggestive audio tape for an alleged [[bachelor party]]. Zappa and a female friend recorded a faked erotic episode. When Zappa was about to hand over the tape, he was arrested, and the police stripped the studio of all recorded material.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|85}} The press was tipped off beforehand, and next day's ''[[The Daily Report]]'' wrote that "Vice Squad investigators stilled the tape recorders of a free-swinging, a-go-go film and recording studio here Friday and arrested a self-styled movie producer".<ref>{{cite news |last= Harp |first=Ted |title=Vice Squad Raids Local Film Studio | newspaper=The Daily Report | place = Ontario, California | date = March 1965}}</ref> Zappa was charged with "conspiracy to commit pornography".<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|57}} This [[felony]] charge was reduced and he was sentenced to six months in jail on a [[misdemeanor]], with all but ten days suspended.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|86–87}} His brief imprisonment left a permanent mark, and was central to the formation of his anti-authoritarian stance.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|xv}} Zappa lost several recordings made at Studio Z in the process, as the police returned only 30 of 80 hours of tape seized.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|87}} Eventually, he could no longer afford to pay the rent on the studio and was evicted.<ref name="slaven96"/>{{rp|40}} Zappa managed to recover some of his possessions before the studio was torn down in 1966.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|90–91}}