It is very interesting the fact that even before Zappa could read music (he liked the way music looked written on paper), he was already trying to make compositions for his school band to play. Zappa was very particular about the way he composed his music, he knew exactly what he wanted and they way it had to be executed. He was always looking for the complexity of music. In his songs, he always went the extra step when it came to the levels of sophistication; levels who hadn't been achieved by anyone before at that time.
His first major composition "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" from the album Absolutely Free became a classic song because of the constant fluctuations in its rhythm, and the rhythm fluctuations, a trademark in all Zappa's future songs. His songs included free floated rubatos, or a sophisticated discourse of a 3/4 rubato and then a 7/8, very unusual for rock bands.
Zappa liked to experiment with different genres of music, it is therefore normal to find 1930's jazz, burlesque, foxtrot, vaudeville and beat-boxing, all in one song. He developed a technique known "xenochrony" by extracting parts of songs already recorded in a studio or during a concert, and placing it in another.
Frank always liked Spike Jones, and entertainer from the 1950's because he always managed to find a way to say what he really wanted to say in is songs without saying the precise word. Jones worked around the system, and Frank followed this idea in his avant-garde songwriting.
In his lyrics, he always gave a piece of his mind on whatever the subject was. Most of his songs included controversial topics that were current at that point in time, whether political or social. He was candid when it came to giving his opinion, usually delivered with a dose of heavy sarcasm. The lyrics of his songs were often interconnected and inspired by real people or real events of Zappa's life. Although his songs songs rarely included emotions, there are some that do such as "Mom and Dad" which is very rare in Zappa's pieces.
His first major composition "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" from the album Absolutely Free became a classic song because of the constant fluctuations in its rhythm, and the rhythm fluctuations, a trademark in all Zappa's future songs. His songs included free floated rubatos, or a sophisticated discourse of a 3/4 rubato and then a 7/8, very unusual for rock bands.
"Brown Shoes Don't Make It" - MOI
Zappa liked to experiment with different genres of music, it is therefore normal to find 1930's jazz, burlesque, foxtrot, vaudeville and beat-boxing, all in one song. He developed a technique known "xenochrony" by extracting parts of songs already recorded in a studio or during a concert, and placing it in another.
Frank always liked Spike Jones, and entertainer from the 1950's because he always managed to find a way to say what he really wanted to say in is songs without saying the precise word. Jones worked around the system, and Frank followed this idea in his avant-garde songwriting. In his lyrics, he always gave a piece of his mind on whatever the subject was. Most of his songs included controversial topics that were current at that point in time, whether political or social. He was candid when it came to giving his opinion, usually delivered with a dose of heavy sarcasm. The lyrics of his songs were often interconnected and inspired by real people or real events of Zappa's life. Although his songs songs rarely included emotions, there are some that do such as "Mom and Dad" which is very rare in Zappa's pieces.
"Mom & Dad" - MOI (from the album Freak Out!)
In his early years, Zappa was highly influenced by R&B and doo-wop groups of his time, musicians such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Weber, as well as from Indian, Tibetan and Middle Eastern music. From these, he stated synthesizing what he really liked.
He was interested in doing what hadn't been done before in terms of rhythm and in getting his point across in terms of lyrics.
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