Zappa Quotes

• Interviewer: 'So Frank, you have long hair. Does that make you a woman?' Frank Zappa: 'You have a wooden leg. Does that make you a table?

  Frank Zappa

  Hair, Long, Doe

  105 Copy quote

• I got married about three years ago again to a wonderful German woman. Her name is Monika and she is beautiful. She is one of the biggest women Zappa fans I have ever met in my life.

  Jimmy Carl Black

  Beautiful, Years, Names

  Jimmy Carl Black Interview by Stephen Moore in Munich, Germany, www.stevemoorebooks.com. March 29, 2000.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• The hardest and worst interview that I have ever done was with Frank Zappa.

  Nina Blackwood

  Done, Interviews, Worst

  7 Copy quote

• Frank Zappa... was Beethoven for insane rock guys.

  Scott Ian

  Rocks, Guy, Insane

  7 Copy quote

• But I mean, again, Zappa's far more musical than the Bonzos ever were.

  Neil Innes

  Mean, Musical

  "Bonzo Dog Band". Interview with Richie Unterberger, www.furious.com. January, 2001.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• People like Frank Zappa were amazing for us Brits.

  Rick Wakeman

  People, Frank, Brits

  7 Copy quote

• We are not a Zappa cover band. We only play Frank's songs that were recorded by the Mothers of Invention and I think a lot of those songs were complex.

  Jimmy Carl Black

  Mother, Song, Thinking

  7 Copy quote

• I think there's plenty of room, even in the most serious activist circles, for humor. Humor can be very effective both to inspire, and as a weapon. Just ask Frank Zappa and Charlie Chaplin.

  Jello Biafra

  Thinking, Circles, Inspire

  13 Copy quote

• Jeff Beck is my idol .. sometimes he finds notes that I just do not have on my guitar. Frank Zappa's another one .. I loved Frank Zappa ... I do think Van Halen reinvented the guitar ... he's an excellent musician, a shrewd guitarist and as a person he's wonderful.

  Ritchie Blackmore

  Music, Thinking, Idols

  394 Copy quote

• The mother of invention in music is necessity, not Frank Zappa!

  Steve Winwood

  Mother, Invention, Music Is

  Source: www.bullz-eye.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• American culture has a lot of great moustaches in its history. Mark Twain had a great moustache, Charlie Chaplin, Ben Turpin ... but Zappa, he's got the best moustache in American history. Got the moustache, right, and he's got that little thing on his chin, I think it's called an imperial, that is, like, the coolest thing. That's like one of the great icons of the twentieth century.

  Matt Groening

  Thinking, Icons, Culture

  7 Copy quote

• I think a solo moves forward the way a song does, because it's reflective of the chords that I'm considering as I'm soloing, and at the same time I'm going as much out on a limb as Frank Zappa used to, in terms of just going crazy on the instrument.

  John Frusciante

  Song, Crazy, Moving

  9 Copy quote

• Frank [Zappa] was not a big fan of having lyrics, but sometimes he had things to say that lent themselves to lyrics.

  Gail Zappa

  Fans, Sometimes, Bigs

  Source: therumpus.net

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• Frank [Zappa]'s music was never for the mass audience. His music contains specific kinds of information that you won't find elsewhere in rock and roll.

  Gail Zappa

  Rocks, Rock And Roll, Information

  Source: therumpus.net

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Frank [Zappa] said he probably would have been a major criminal, given his brain power and his attention to detail, had he not been a composer. But being a composer is not something you can't help.

  Gail Zappa

  Brain, Criminals, Details

  Source: therumpus.net

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Frank Zappa was one of the gods of the Czech underground, I thought of him as a friend. Whenever I feel like escaping from the world of the Presidency, I think of him.

  Vaclav Havel

  Thinking, Escaping, World

  13 Copy quote

• When you think of diversity, George Duke fits that bill better than a lot of people. He's played a lot of straight-ahead jazz with people like Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley; he's played a lot of fusion with his own groups, with Stanley Clarke; and, you know, he did the rock thing with Frank Zappa. He's written all kinds of big arrangements for people like Burt Bacharach. So, he's covered the board. He's still a great pianist.

  Christian McBride

  Thinking, Rocks, Diversity

  6 Copy quote

• Pastoralia by George Saunders. Possibly my favorite book. Its one of the weirdest books Ive ever read. If Monty Python and Thomas Pynchon had a love child, and it was raised by Frank Zappa on a weird commune, that would be this book.

  Libba Bray

  Children, Book, Python

  4 Copy quote

• When I was growing up, when I was 11 years old I was listening to The Mothers of Invention. You know, I mean I was a Frank Zappa fan in Arkansas.

  Billy Bob Thornton

  Mother, Growing Up, Mean

  Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• My first big gig was an opening show for Frank Zappa, and I think that was difficult.

  Tom Waits

  Thinking, Gigs, Firsts

  7 Copy quote

• When Frank Zappa would get an idea for a song, he just did it. He didn't wait for anybody or expect anyone to do it.

  Steve Vai

  Song, Ideas, Waiting

  Source: archive.alternativenation.net

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Somebody under 30, if the name Frank Zappa came up, they would just say, "Who?" To me that didn't sit well, because I felt my dad's accomplishments in music should be better known, not just in a popular way, but better understood.

  Dweezil Zappa

  Dad, Names, Accomplishment

  "Dweezil Zappa plays... whatever he wants". Interview with Allison Stewart, www.chicagotribune.com. October 6, 2016.

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• The first time I ever went to Chicago was with Zappa and I had a fantastic experiences with him and every other band I've played with. It's a great music town.

  Terry Bozzio

  Chicago, Band, Firsts

  Source: beintheloopchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Some great experiences I've had and little by little I've come to the realization that everything Frank Zappa told me was the truth, whether I wanted to believe it or not. You know, I was young and naive or in denial. But he really was a special, special human being.

  Terry Bozzio

  Believe, Special, Realization

  Source: beintheloopchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I'm not Zappa, you know. I'm just Terry.

  Terry Bozzio

  Knows

  Source: beintheloopchicago.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source