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I don't think about the composers of pieces I enjoy listening to,' reflected Frank Zappa shortly before his death in 1993, 'I'm only listening to the results.' That might be true for Zappa but it's his extraordinary life as much as his creative output that continues to fascinate countless devotees across the globe. Nothing concerning him is too inconsequential to captivate present-day 'Frankophiles', seeking to explain and clarify his artistic conduct and, generally, get closer to what made him tick - though, even when Frank was around to tell them himself, he left less answers than further questions.
Mother Superior will cover the early years - 1964 to 1973. It will both re-assess the old yarns and bring to the surface new and rediscovered information via an array of interviewees from every trackway of Zappa's fifty-three years on this planet. It will draw on a huge archive, some of it quite obscure, from public domain and personal collections. It will animate not only Zappa but also those who interacted with him, and the social, cultural, economic and environmental contexts in which this much misunderstood cultural icon lived and worked.
About the author
Alan Clayson is author of the best-selling Backbeat, which was subsequently made into a major film, and the authorised biographies of Steve Winwood and The Yardbirds. He has also written for The Guardian, Record Collector, Sunday Times, The Independent, Daily Telegraph, The Times Educational Supplement and, as a teenager, the notorious Oz magazine.
