Zappa Inducted Into The Hall Of Fame
NEW YORK (Reuter)
JanisJoplin, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young,Martha and the Vandellas and the Allman Brothers Band wereinducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Thursday.
Lou Reed, believed to be fighting back bitterness over notbeing inducted to the Hall as a member of the VelvetUnderground, gave a speech inducting the late Frank Zappa.
"I respected him and I know he respected me,"said Reed after comparing Zappa to Andy Warhol.
Frank Zappa, 1995, Performer
Frank Zappa's scatological lyrics and searing, fluidguitar solos always have overshadowed the serious composer whobrought an appreciation of classical music to his loud rockrecords.
With his band, named the Mothers of Invention because therecord company was afraid the Mothers was short for somethingelse, he recorded albums like "Lumpy Gravy" and "Weasel's RippedMy Flesh," which were an alternative to mainstream rock wellbefore "alternative" had its current meaning.
He recorded "Overnite Sensation" (1973) with the Mothers and"Apostrophe" (1974) under his own name, providing favoritematerial for his concerts and adventuresome deejays: DJs: "DinahMo Humm," "Montana," "I Am the Slime" and "Don't Eat the YellowSnow."
In the '80s, Zappa's music became increasingly political andhe testified before Congress in 1985 against warning labels onrecords. In 1989, he became an adviser to CzechoslovakianPresident Vaclav Havel on expanding the newly democraticcountry's entry into the capitalistic arts world.
A wealth of young musicians passed through Zappa's bands,including Lowell George, George Duke, Captain Beefheart,Jean-Luc Ponty, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai.
Zappa died in 1993 of prostate cancer.
Zappa Honors The Hall Of Fame
If anyone out there is wondering why Lou Reed (who never hada good word to say about Frank Zappa during Zappa's lifetime)was chosen to induct Frank into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.. . well, so is the late rock musician's family.
Says his widow Gail Zappa: 'Ten days before the actualceremony, we still hadn't received invitations; the producersaid, "Oh, thatŐs unconscionable! We can give you two freetickets and arrange for two of you to fly from LA to New York."Well, there's five of us, of course. . . He said, "Well, wecan sell you additional tickets at $1,500 a piece. . . but youcan't sit together." I just laughed. He said something aboutnon-profit organizations, but they can kiss my ass aboutnon-profit organizations, especially when they were going toexploit it this year as a TV show!
'But Moon had expressed interest in going, so we decidedshe'd accept the award. A week before the ceremony, they calledme and said Edward Van Halen - who would have been perfect - hadturned down their offer to induct Frank because he doesn't dothese things. So, I suggested Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, who Frankknew, loved, and had worked with. They said, "No." I won't saywhy, because I don't want to hurt Johnny, but I did tell themthat Johnny was one of the most lucid and articulate people I'veever heard interviewed.
'I suggested Aerosmith, but was told they were going toinduct Led Zeppelin. So, I suggested Led Zeppelin. Again, theysaid no.
'I asked them who chooses these things, and I was told "theBoard." I asked if there were any musicians on the board, and,more importantly, are there any black musicians? They had tocall me back, and they replied: "Yes. One. Berry Gordy."
'They called back, and said "We've invited Lou Reed to doit!" I was laughing. It was just so ironic. I said I'd talk tomy kids, and they were against it; they believed Lou hadmillions of chances to make up with Frank. So Lou called; Itold him, "Listen, you said lots of shitty things about Frank." We discussed it, and he finally said, "If I said anything flipthat was meant to be funny, I'm sorry." Actually Frank admiredhim as a songwriter; Femme Fatale and AllTomorrow's Parties were two of Frank's favorites.
'We asked for a car to take Moon to the ceremony. Theproducer told Moon that I said she'd be the one giving clearanceto use the Frank footage on MTV, which was totally not true! Hesaid, "That's OK, the show's running long, so we'll just cutFrank." Moon called him back, and made him apologize for makingher father sound insignificant. A limo did take her to theshow, but there was no one to pick her up! I have this visionof her standing in the rain, flagging down a cab, with the awardin her hand!
'I watched the broadcast, and they didn't play any of hismusic, although they played at least one song by every otherartist. And then I heard Joe Perry say that Led Zepplin hadasked Aerosmith to induct them months before, so how come we gotword a week before? This is a man who went to Capitol Hill forthese people! When Moon said Frank would've enjoyed it, shemeant the musicians.
'As Lou said, it honored the Hall to induct Frank, not theother way around. It was stupid, insensitive, and justthoughtless.'
Originally published in the SoCal music ragmagBAM (Feb. 10th, 1995 - Issue 452). Transcribed: R Perkins
Text Editing & HTML: AndyMurkin
It's very rare in life toknow someone who affects things; changes them in a positive way.I've been lucky enough to have known some in my life: AndyWarhol, Doc Pomus. People whose vision and integrity wassuch that it moved the world a bit. People who, through thearticulation of their talents and intelligence, were able toleave things better than they had found them. People who werenot only not in it for the money, to paraphrase Frank Zappa.Frank Zappa was such a person and of the many regrets I have inlife, not knowing him a lot better is one of them.
Whether writing symphonies, satirical broadsides or casting acaustic glow across the frontier of madness that makes up theAmerican political landscape; whether testifying before Congressto put the PMRC in its rightful lowly place, or acting as acultural conduit for President Vaclav Havel and the Czechgovernment, Frank was a force for reason and honesty in thebusiness deficient in those areas. As we reward some with moneyfor the amusement they supply to the cultural masses, I thinkthe induction of Frank Zappa in the Rock and Roll Hall of Famedistinguishes the Hall as well as the inductee. [applause]
Musicians usually cannot speak. That's why they communicatethrough their instruments. But Frank was one who could. Andbecause music is pure, the musician is pure as well and whenFrank spoke he demonstrated the power of purity. Who will dothat now? I admired Frank greatly and I know he admired me. Itgives me great pleasure to give this award to his daughter, MoonZappa.
(2:17 min)
This is so nice. Thank you, Lou. I really appreciate that.
I'm a little dyslexic and earlier I freed my ass. I'm hopingmy mind will follow. [sigh, sniff] [Applause] Um, thank you and,uhh, I know you know I had said that this is the year of the endof the bullshit promises and I am really sorry that my fathermissed that. And, um, uhh, I've almost, almost, forgiven theWait Staff here because my heart is open from watching all ofthis. [gestures towards the screen on which Zappa montage hadbeen shown] and it's very odd to be back there [backstage]before you come up because you actually hear the command givenbut I just want to say that this really belongs to his, his fansand um, music really is a language and I think that somelanguages are easy to understand than others. I don't think it'sany accident that the Slavic countries really appreciated myfather the most because it's really hard to get the accents downand everything. And, um, I just really want to say thank you andI think that he would really have enjoyed this. Thank you. Speeches transcribed by John Scialli
(1:44 min)
Text Editing & HTMLby Andy Murkin
NEW YORK (AP)
It may be called the Rockand Roll Hall of Fame, but don't try to limit its newest membersto a single genre.
Neil Young, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin andLed Zeppelin were among the group of category-busting musiciansinducted Thursday. Other inductees were soulsinger-turned-gospel musician Al Green, The Allman Brothers Bandand R&B vocalists The Orioles.
Many of the inductions were posthumous -- Joplin, whooverdosed on drugs in 1970; Zappa, killed by cancer two yearsago.
In a somber moment, Lou Reed remembered Zappa:
"Whether he was writing symphonies, satiricbroadsides or casting a caustic glow across the frontier ofmadness that makes up the American political landscape Frank wasa force for reason and honesty in a business deficient in theseareas," Reed said.
News Stories transcribed by John Scialli. Text Editing& HTML by Andy Murkin
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