Whiskey & Facts: Frank Zappa

Whiskey & Cream Media
Whiskey & Cream Media
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Published 2024-05-11
The Mothers of Invention were a California rock band that Frank Zappa joined in 1965. His love of R&B, doo-wop and modern orchestral giants transformed the group into a creative force that took free form jazz and sonic dissonance to a whole new level of artistic maturity and performance energy.

The Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water" was inspired by the Montreaux Casino fire in 1971 that happened during a Mothers of Invention encore as they played in Switzerland. A member of the audience fired a flare into the ceiling of the venue and promptly burned it all down to the ground.

While playing a cover of a Beatles song during a show later that year at a London theatre, Zappa was pushed off the stage by a jealous fan who nearly killed him. He suffered a broken leg and a concussion, along with a crushed larynx that changed his vocal style forever, forcing him to sing at a lower, huskier octave.

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