Zappa.com

In 1971 Frank Zappa was pulled off a stage by a jealous fan, after his girlfriend admitted to be in love with zappa.
While in recovery he released another band from l.a. What if Zappa had died that day in December 1971? Would people still listen to him with only the amount of output of records back then,.

The "Butterfly Effect" would have caused a nuclear holocaust resulting in complete or nearly complete annihilation of human civilization.

So no.

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Never argue with stupid people; they will drag you
down to their level and then beat you with experience.

If FZ had died that night, people wouldn't remember John Lennon as the first rock and roll assassination...

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I'm petulant, and I'm having a frenzy...

I always ask myself the question vice versa: which way would Jimi have taken if he hadn't died in 1970?

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Ike Willis would be a lawyer...

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Steve Vai would probably be not famous.

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I thought for sure you were going to tell the decomposing joke again.

And probably healthier and happier.

I'll disagree on this one. Steve wasn't famous until he left FZ (and Alcatrazz for that matter). Vai's talent was cream destined go rise to the top IMO.

What would had happened if he wasn't pushed off-stage in 1971? Would he keep the Flo And Eddie band? Would Waka and Wazoo be released anyway?

Frank wanted to a) put the horns back in his band and b) release a sequel to Hot Rats. Early ideas for "Big Swifty" and the "Grand Wazoo" were already quoted in Zappa's guitar solos during the late stage of the '71 Euro tour.

However, FZ' post-71 albums could've certainly turned out different for the lack of a) lower voice and b) the embitterment of his attitude as a result of the Rainbow trauma. I do maintain FZ came out of the Rainbow accident angrier and more disillusioned than ever before.

Had he died then maybe Zappa's reputation today amongst the rock press would be different. There would lot less dismissals of Zappa as a writer of stupid sexist lyrics and a performer of over-indulgent noodly solos. The Mothers of Invention would be just as mythologised and influential to indie rock bands as the likes of Velvet Underground. Hot Rats would still retain the same "milestone of jazz-rock" reputation that has also been bestowed upon the likes of Bitches Brew, or in England, Third by The Soft Machine. Maybe the soundtrack to "200 Motels" would have a different status today (read: it would be in print and it would not have such horrible sound quality issues) had that been the last released FZ album in his lifetime. Your guess is as good as any!

EDIT: Forgot one thing, perhaps FZ would not have as much of a reputation in the classical world than he actually managed to build up during the remaining two decades of his life.

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Lies are like quicksand, soft and comfortable, but they will swallow us. Truth is like bedrock, hard and uncomfortable, but we can always stand on it

Provided that he made it through law school, and passed the bar.





I'll agree. And opinions seem to be divided on Vai's talent, and whether he sold himself out with the DLR and Whitesnake projects. I will say this about Vai. He took that money he made, created a record label which he knew would make no money, and allowed guitarists like Neal Schon to record albums outside their normal realm. Some of those albums are quite good, so I applaud him for that.




That definitely would have happened, and it's a tragedy that it hasn't happened anyway.

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"Everything dies baby that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back"

In The Netherlands his classical career was pretty much off the ground before the pitfall. 200 Motels was scheduled to be played at Holland Festival in 1970; not a small feat for someone who was in business for less than five years. Plus in 1969 he was influential enough to partly inspire the massive Dutch opera Reconstructie (by compositorial greats Louis Andriessen, Reinbert de Leeuw, Misha Mengelberg, Peter Schat and Jan van Vlijmen). It was only performed 5 times but it still counts as a major event within Dutch 20th century art music.

Zappa did not really start singing until after his crash. He has such a unique humour about his voice that gets me every time (this is the central scwootinaisah!) and without that, Greggery Peccary wouldn't be nearly as colourful. Heard three different versions of the piece but FZ's is the only one that has the vocals juuuust right.

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I think Frank's humour was never the same after the stagefall. Although it kept a bit of humour, his music became more serious. That's only my opinion, of course a lot of people here won't agree.

- the groundbreaking early albums would have ensured him massive mythological status and he would have been a rock legend.

- his lifetime output would never have been out of print after he died, and there would have been a number of "definitive" boxes with all the albums from Freak Out! to Fillmore East, June 1971.

- the latter album would have had a special status as his last official release, much like Hendrix' Band of Gypsies LP.

- 200 Motels would have been more revered than it is today, and some people might even have found the beginnings of a great contemporary composer in that work.

- "imagine what Zappa could have achieved if he'd lived longer" would have been an oft-heard phrase many years after his passing.

- a lot of archive material from the early years would have been released haphazardly during the Seventies and Eighties, before the trustees decided to get a grip on the situation with a series of more focussed and interesting quality releases from the mid-90's and onwards.

- les citoyens de Puisard Radioactif, un petit village québécois, auraient etabli "la première église de Zappologie" quelques ans après sa mort.

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If I'm not alone... I wonder if I've been asleep?

Pretty much agree with everything here.
He would be revered as one of the rock n' roll greats. Up there with Jimi.
Lets be thankful he never died then and just wish he didn't die as early as '93.

There would have been lots of dumb quotes circulating like:
reporter to hendrix "whats it like being the best guitarist in the world?"
hendrix: "I dunno, ask frank zappa".
TT

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and I know, I think

You mean jellyfish?

I disagree. Jimi didn't say much in 71.

And I don't think you can make as case of greatest guitarist through 200 Motels.

1.Ahmet and Diva would have vanished like in that photo from Back to the Fuchum.

2. Roy Estrada: Imprisoned for life earlier because of too much free time to get into trouble.

3. Napoleon Murphy Brock: Lounge Lizard who never made it to shore. Died in 1982

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And what of Dweezil, oh Great One?

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I'm petulant, and I'm having a frenzy...

Ah - a misunderstanding...
I'm referring to the mythological quote made by hendrix (circa woodstock / Isle of wight) when asked "whats it like being the greatest guitarist in the world", and saying "I dunno, ask Rory Gallagher".
It never happened of course, but reportedely happened when they were both still alive.
But since their deaths, people just make shit like this up and it becomes 'the truth'...
TT

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and I know, I think

Actually - what I should have said to make it consistent would have been

There would have been lots of dumb quotes circulating like:
reporter to zappa "whats it like being the best guitarist in the world?"
hendrix: "I dunno, ask rory gallagher".
TT

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and I know, I think

You may call me Karnac:

I understand he was born before 1971. FZ's death woudn't have prevented him from being born, so that point has been mootified. Furthermore I'd say that without a guiding hand of his old man,some other father figure would step in to help him along. His love of baseball would get him through high school maybe forcing musical interests to play second fiddle. He'd possibly change his name to Chad or Jeremy because teenagers are fickle and often suffer teasing.

How much influence does a parent who dies when a child is two have on that same person as an adult? Who can say? I'd like to see an independent study.He most likely woudn't have too many strong memories of his father and they'd just be from a two year old's point of view. Some footage and 14 albums to experience can't replace memories.

Because the Hendrix Miami strat would not be unearthed by Dweezil from underneath the steps it would continue to be hidden and gathering dust until 1989 when the new homeowners discovered it. Not knowing its value it ended up in a landfill. *roll credits

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