Prog Rock Audio Archive

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, recording engineer, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical composers such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern along with 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; he later switched to electric guitar.
Zappa was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often difficult to categorize. His 1966 debut album with The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was rock, jazz or classical. His lyrics—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship.
He was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and worked as an independent artist for most of his career. He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1964. In 1967, he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. They had four children: Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 71 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and in 2011 at No. 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Source: Wikipedia

Frank Zappa discography to download in FLAC:

Freak Out! 1966	Absolutely Free 1967	We’re Only In It For The  Money 1968
Lumpy Gravy 1968	Cruising With Ruben & The Jets 1968	Uncle Meat 1969
Hot Rats 1969	Burnt Weeny Sandwich 1970	Weasels Ripped My Flesh 1970
Chunga’s Revenge 1970	Fillmore East - June 1971 1971	200 Motels 1971
Just Another Band From L.A. 1972	Waka/Jawaka 1972	The Grand Wazoo 1972
Over-Nite Sensation 1973	Apostrophe (') 1974	Roxy & Elsewhere 1974
One Size Fits All 1975	Bongo Fury 1975	Zoot Allures 1976
Zappa In New York 1978	Studio Tan 1978	Sleep Dirt 1979
Sheik Yerbouti 1979	Orchestral Favorites 1979	Joe's Garage (Acts 1, 2 & 3) 1979
Tinseltown Rebellion 1981	Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar 1981	You Are What You Is 1981
Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch 1982	The Man From Utopia 1983	Baby Snakes 1983
London Symphony Orchestra 1983	The Perfect Stranger 1984	Them Or Us 1984
Thing-Fish 1984	Francesco Zappa 1984	Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention 1985
Does Humor Belong In Music? 1986	Jazz From Hell 1986	London Symphony Orchestra Vol II 1987
Guitar 1988	Broadway The Hard Way 1988	You Can't Do That On Stage  Anymore, Vol. 1 1988
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 1988	You Can't Do That On Stage  Anymore, Vol. 3 1989	You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 1991
The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life 1991	Make A Jazz Noise Here 1991	You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 1992
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 1992	Playground Psychotics 1992	Ahead Of Their Time 1993
The Yellow Shark 1993	Civilization Phase III 1994	Läther 1996
The Lost Episodes 1996	Everything Is Healing Nicely 1999	FZ:OZ 2002
Joe's Corsage 2004	Joe's Domage 2004	QuAUDIOPHILIAc 2004
Joe's Xmasage 2005	Imaginary Diseases 2006	The MOFO Project/Object  2006
Trance-Fusion 2006	Buffalo 2007	The Dub Room Special! 2007
Wazoo 2007	One Shot Deal 2008	Joe's Menage 2008
The Lumpy Money Project/Object 2009	Philly '76 2009	Greasy Love Songs 2010
"Congress Shall Make No Law..." 2010	Hammersmith Odeon 2010	Feeding The Monkies At Ma Maison 2011
Carnegie Hall 2011	Road Tapes Venue #1 2012	Understanding America 2012
Finer Moments 2012	Road Tapes Venue #2 2013	A Token Of His Extreme 2013
Joe's Camouflage 2014	Roxy By Proxy 2014	Dance Me This 2015
Frank Zappa 200 Motels - The Suites 2015	Road Tapes Venue #3 2016	The Crux Of The Biscuit 2016
The Crux Of The Biscuit 2016	ZAPPAtite 2016	Meat Light 2016
Chicago '78 2016	Little Dots 2016	The Roxy Performances 2018
The Hot Rats Sessions 2019	The Mothers 1970 2020	Halloween 81 2020
Zappa Soundtrack 2021	Zappa '88: The Last U.S. Show 2021	The Mothers 1971 2022
Zappa/Erie 2022	Zappa '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana 2022	Waka/Wazoo 2022
Zappa '80 - Mudd Club/Munich 2023	Funky Nothingness 2023	Over-Nite Sensation (50th Anniversary) 2023
Whisky A Go Go, 1968 2024