Miles 2004 frank zappa biography

This book was first printed in November and re-printed in softcover with revisons and corrections. In USA the book is titled Zappa: A Biography,  in UK Frank Zappa: The Biography. The book is translated into German, Italian, Finnish, Japanese and Dutch (Zappa De biografie, ISBN X, softcover, ).

Bitesize: Studious and engaging biography of one of music's most revered figures:

Biographies of dead personalities rest shakily between two wobbly stools – mostly.

Miles 2004 frank zappa biography book Visit Seller's Storefront. About this Item Ten years after his death, Frank Zappa continues to influence popular culture. Stock Image. William Burroughs: El Hombre Invisible.

Stool one is hagiography of the most odious aggrandizing type, cosily back slapping its chosen subject into some kind after-deathly fantasy and raising whatever bar their reputations rested on to undeserved heights. These make me want to 'bowk-up', as the once mighty Viz once said.

Stool two is salacious character assassination.

Dredging up the worst foibles and indiscretions, drug addictions, wife/husband beatings and whatever nasty childhood neuroses the biographer can find before announcing that their chosen subject was really just another version of Pol Pot.

But hey, I'm waffling a load of old pony.

Miles 2004 frank zappa biography About this Item Former library book; may include library markings. He was a born tinkerer and a groundbreaker in early digital production. Scores of bands have been influenced by and have shamelessly imitated Zappa's music, and a talented roster of musicians passed through Zappa's bands, including Captain Beefheart, Jean-Luc Ponty, George Duke, Lowell George, and Steve Vai. View all copies of this book.

Barry Miles and his biography of Frank Zappa are under scrutiny. A fine book all round it has to be said, if not without the usual minor quibbles but neither of the two terrible types just described.

Let's get one thing out of the way – Frank Zappa is unquestionably one of the most critically revered, if musically wayward artists of the last 35 years.

Like him or loathe him, you can't ignore him. His status as socio-political cultural commentator and muso-satirical genius (ahem) is undisputed.

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    • And prolific? Christ, how many albums? He is, ok I'll say it, a phenomenon.

    Anyway, Barry Miles is one thorough kind of guy.

    Frank zappa biography his own: Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Orders usually ship within 1 business days. About this Item Former library book; may include library markings. He dropped out of community college after one semester and tried making low-budget films.

    Read his trawl though the s, Hippy, for an example of his attention to detail, the word I believe you are looking for is 'exhaustive'. Here the minutiae of Zappa's childhood and adolescence are dissected to such a degree that you are virtually a third of the way through the book before he releases Freak Out – his album that set the whole Zappa/Mothers industry off and wailing.

    Too much Barry. As anyone with any knowledge of Zappa knows, there are LOTS of albums to discuss and pour over before we get to his sad and untimely death from cancer in Zappa was a man who worked tirelessly all his life from the s dropout shit holes of Los Angeles to the legendary Muffin Research Kitchen, where he was still working practically on his deathbed.

    Frank zappa photo gallery Contact seller. Visit Seller's Storefront. Better World Books BWB values your satisfaction and offers you returns within thirty 30 days after the estimated delivery date on most items. Search for:.

    So, am I being curmudgeonly? Probably, I wanted to have Miles discuss Frank's music in as much depth as his early days. Relatively scant coverage is given to his constant battle with censorship, PMRC and the right-wing flatheads (still bright eyed and bushy tailed and living in a town near you) and his role in the Czech Velvet Revolution.



    But for all that, everything that is important is touched on and you can only say so much about an individual that packed such a mammoth amount of activity into his life. Ultimately we find that Zappa was honest, creative, funny but also argumentative, belligerent and unforgiving. Obsessed with Doo Wop, a guitar virtuoso and able to survive on a diet of cigarettes and chilli for most of his life.

    For the completist there is also a handy discography with track listings so you can sniff out various albums that may have slipped off your radar and make sure you know where to find the seminal Why Does it Hurt When I Pee or Too Ugly for Show Business.

  • Zappa: A Biography: Miles, Barry: 9780802117830: Amazon.com ...
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  • Frank Zappa: A Biography by Barry Miles (2004-11-11) Hardcover

    • There are few better books on Zappa and certainly none as well researched and lovingly written. Enjoy.

    G-man

    Kelly Fisher Lowe (The Words And Music Of Frank Zappa, p ):

    Miles is a long-time journalist and fan; he has published two other works on Zappa, including Frank Zappa: A Visual Documentary (London: Omnibus Press, ) and Frank Zappa: In His Own Words (London: Omnibus Press, ), and interviewed Zappa a number of times throughout his life.

    That said, the second half of the book becomes an increasingly acid attack on Zappa the person.

    Frank zappa biography songs Addicted to black coffee and cigarettes he was fiercely antidrugs , he slept during the day and saw little of his family. AbeBooks Seller since March 14, Miles follows Zappa from his sickly Italian-American childhood in the s his father worked for the military and was used to test how effective new biological warfare agents were to his youthful pursuit of what was a lifelong dream: becoming a classical composer. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.

    Miles, who seems to admire Zappa's music, becomes increasingly disgusted with Zappa's personal life. Although the book is useful to scholars, (Miles's numerous interviews with Zappa are alone worth the effort) one must be careful to separate Miles's agenda from the scholarship.

    PenguinInBondage (Zappa forums):

    There are actually many points in Mr.

    Miles' book that I find myself rolling my eyes. He's very hard on FZ throughout the book and never seems to forgive Frank for breaking up the original MOI lineup (among other things). Some of his viewpoints though have gotten me to change some of my opinions so it's still definitely worth the read.

    ARF: Bibliography
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    - Inside the head of Frank Zappa
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    First Chapter The New York Times
    Super Freak Rolling Stone
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