Editing Frank Zappa (section)

===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}}