Words and Music of Frank Zappa

Kelly Fisher Lowe is the Director of the Learning Resource Networks at The University of Wyoming. He was previously Associate Professor of English and Director of the American Studies program at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. He is the author of 100 Years of Caring: The Centennial History of Alliance Community Hospital, as well as numerous articles and papers on rhetorical theory, writing program administration, and American cultural studies.

In examining the songs of American composer Frank Zappa, Lowe offers introductory essays that examine Zappa's unique place in American music; his compositions in relation to other forms of popular music, most notably progressive rock; and his special brand of caustic social criticism in the tradition of satirists like Jonathan Swift and Lenny Bruce. The author then examines Zappa's songs by looking at his albums in four groups/chapters: The Mothers of Invention; Hot Rats, the Last Two Mothers Albums, Flo & Eddie, and The 'Jazz-Rock' Albums; The Duke-Brock/Progressive Rock Bands, Lather (Lather), and the Terry Bozzio Albums; and Politics: 1979-88. One of the strengths of Lowe's treatment is his contextualization of pop-culture references in the lyrics, explications that result in a clearer reading of Zappa's texts. Also useful are the discography of Zappa recordings and a critical bibliographic essay on the major contributions on the life and works of Frank Zappa. Students of popular or American music will appreciate this title. Recommended. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates; general readers.

• Series ForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroductionFrank Zappa and the Art of SatireYou Call That Music? Listening to Frank ZappaThe Mothers of InventionHot Rats, the Last Two Mothers Albums, Flo & Eddie, and the "Jazz-Rock" AlbumsThe Duke-Brock/Progressive Rock Bands, Läther, and the Terry Bozzio AlbumsPolitics: 1979-1988ConclusionsCritical BibliographyBibliography and Works CitedDiscographyIndex