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  2. Arseholes. All of them. And a pox be upon them.

    Although I am a big fan of Frank Zappa’s music, if the sacred Zappa vault was to be destroyed with all of it’s contents I wouldn’t actually be that upset. Maybe then they’d be forced to make their way in the world on THEIR OWN merits.

    • And you know this, how?

      It’s hardly just a tribute band. Given the relative complexity of the music and arrangements, I would hardly say that Dweezil is just riding his dad’s coattails. He is a talented guitarist (even if some of his solos are a bit long-winded), and a good bandleader. He has a tight group of very talented and professional musicians, whom he manages very well.

      I’m glad he is keeping the music alive. The rest of the family – can’t say, but they don’t appear to cover themselves in glory in the current episode. What are their objectives? I don’t think anyone will calling soon to use the music for an ad campaign. They are possibly preventing the setting up of competing Zappa bands by ex band-members, but apart from that, it all seems a bit self-serving.

      • I was just counting. I have 66 officially-released Zappa albums and numerous bootlegs, which is actually more than enough even for me. That’s why I don’t think I care what happens to The Vault.
        Dweezil has the cream of his father’s rehearsed-to-within-an-inch-of-their-lives band touring with him, who know the music absolutely inside-out. It’s been a great payday for them and for him too.
        He is a very good guitar player, but there are thousands of very good guitar players in the USA and among them are enough others who can play music of that calibre well, except the Zappa Family Trust have gone to extraordinary lengths to prevent anyone but Dweezil doing that.
        I was gobsmacked to read in that article that he had to pay the ZFT in order to use the name “Zappa Plays Zappa”. It sounds to me like his late mother and the rest of the clan have never approved wholeheartedly. And presumably they thought if they didn’t charge him, they wouldn’t so easily be able to sue anybody else who used their trademarked nomenclature.

        In short, It’s my belief that he -is- riding his father’s coat-tails. Making a good job of it but it can’t last much longer. And have you heard any of his own material? He released a few albums before he jumped on this bandwagon. They are pretty mediocre, in my opinion. And they’ve never sold.
        As for Ahmet and Diva, it’s just an inherited gravy train. Except the gravy is starting to run out now.

  3. “His mother charged him an exorbitant fee for Zappa plays Zappa!” So even before her death, he was being billed for keeping his Dad’s music in the public eye.

    • It’s been well known for some time Zappa circles that Dweezil has been estranged from Gail and Ahmet for a long time. So I suppose following Dweezil’s announcement last week (in which he distanced himself from the fundraiser), the latest news should come as no surprise.

  4. “My last name is Zappa; my father was Frank Zappa,” Dweezil said. “But I am not allowed to use the name on its own. I’m not allowed to use a picture of him. I’m not allowed to use my own connection with him without some sort of deal to be struck.”

    This seems fair to me. It’s a business, there are other parties involved, he can use his own name. If he was a great musician, everybody would have Dweezil albums and go to Dweezil shows. He should quit whinin’, get a job slinging hash.

    Ultimately, who gives a fuck.

  5. How much is Zappa’s music really worth? He was hardly topping charts all over the world when he was alive.

    I would think the Zappa plays Zappa stuff is easily the only way to make much money out of his songs.

  6. My thoughts on this whole sorry biznis –

    When Frank died in 1993 he made sure that the ZFT owned all his copyrights, publishing and recording. He could never have expected that 20 years later they wouldn’t be bringing in the income he expected from sales. That’s one thing. So I don’t think the Zappa kids are raking in vast amounts of money from that source.

    What they’re feuding about – I have no idea, but all families have their differences that only family members can really understand.

    My understanding is that the Vault contains mostly live gigs, audio and video. I’d like to see some good video, especially “behind the scenes” kind of stuff. And I’m sure there’s a bunch of interesting studio recordings although really only FZ could have made something of them. But there’ll be plenty worth listening to. So yeah make the movie and restore the media and I’ll look forward to something from my hundred bucks donation.

    And Dweezil can just shut up and play his guitar…

    • Just because it’s a family affair doesn’t make the music business a suddenly charitable and kindly environment, does it? Adding the dynamics of family relationships to possibly the most venal business on the face of the planet short of drugs and arms-running only makes it worse.

      When this generation of Zappa fans disappears, it’s very unlikely a new genration of fans will spring up. Not because his music isn’t worth it, or will date badly, but because we were lucky enough to be in on it from the beginning, and follow it like an epic story over the decades. To come fresh to this overpoweringly huge body of work, and to have the will and interest to pursue any or all of it, is asking more than the click-hungry attention-deficient twit generation will be able to give. Some brave souls will discover it, and immerse themselves in the man’s extraordinary work, but ultimately it’ll be like a museum nobody visits. “What’s that huge building over there, with the inflatable stuff and the neon and the classical columns?” “That’s the Frank Zappa Building. Wanna take a look?” “Nugatory. I’m downloading the latest Taylor Swift. It’s awesome!”

  7. There’s a bit of mileage in any good video that’s in The Vault, if it’s used wisely. The audio gets less and less valuable as time passes and it’s not of much monetary value even now.
    When Frank died there was quite a bit of money in the family pot. Anecdotally, the Zappa children spent the reserves frivolously, thinking they were well set up. It now seems they weren’t.

    • Until recently I always assumed Gail was 100% behind ZPZ and was even instrumental in the formation of the band. I seem to remember the original idea was to form a band to play Frank’s music “properly” and so at a stroke nullify the many Zappa tribute bands who, while keeping the music alive, probably weren’t doing it total justice, at least in the eyes of the ZFT.

      Plus Gail hated to see anyone making money off the back of Frank and wanted to keep it in the family.

      Years ago I was in contact with a guy at Rhino records in LA and we got talking about the two Beat The Boots box sets Rhino had issued. I asked if Rhino had plans to release any more Zappa product. The guy laughed bitterly and confided that “dealing with Gail was a nightmare” so we wouldn’t be seeing any more of Frank’s material any time soon. He included a few expletives in there, but you get the picture.

  8. An interview from earlier today with Dweezil ahead of his show in Connecticut tonight where he talks a little about his rift with the Trust and Gail. He’s says there’s more to come.

    [audio src="http://media.chazandajinthemorning.com/Podcasts/4078/5-3-16_DweezilZappa_Interview_615.mp3" /]

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