Frank Zappa once asked us “Who are the Brain Police?” and I think that the answer to this particular question would be a lot harder for him to get to the bottom of in our world of today thanks to things like Facebook and the myriad other Social Networking mediums on top of the other things that we contend with in our lives. That said we are officially at the 20th Anniversary of the passing of this great and forward thinking musician and true composing genius.
Zappa influenced so many musicians during his career and after he had passed away this didn’t seem to change at all. There were times when he would leave you scratching your head and wondering what it was that you had heard but it would always impress you and it was without question that his unique wit was second to none. Since Zappa first came onto the music scene in the late sixties I can say that I was far too young to know what he was all about, but I would eventually get to absorb his greatness thanks to some musicians I worked with who loved his material and even more so after seeing him perform live in concert on a few occasions.
I’ve since built up almost all of his catalog on CD and there is a lot of great stuff in there and just when you think you have figured it out, something else about In one of his biographies, Zappa pretty much outlined that a music service like iTunes would be a great idea long before it was ever created so one has to wonder how he would view the very digitized and streaming model that society has adopted for so many things today. I also wonder what a composer such as he was would feel about today’s state of musical affairs. One has to think that a lot of it would leave him scratching his beard. Frank would leave us after a terminal case of prostate cancer got the better of him, he was only 52 years old. Thanks for the music Mr. Zappa, the world of music would be a lot better if you were still around but thanks for everything you left us with. Fans can keep up with Zappa Family Trust activity and learn more about the man and his music via the links below.
Official Website: http://www.zappa.com
Official Wiki Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_zappa
Back in 2012, a majority of Zappa’s catalog was re-issued by Universal Music in conjunction with the Zappa Family Trust. I’ve embedded numerous links below for you to explore and perhaps purchase.