Jim Morrison

Perhaps it might be a bit harsh to suggest that Frank Zappa had a problem with Jim Morrison, as his disdain towards the artist was less a problem with him and his music, and more with how he was marketed. He hated the fact that his performance style and his image were inflated beyond the point of being authentic.

“I am pretty well-acquainted with the rise of Jim Morrison,” said Zappa, “And the thing that was obnoxious about Jim Morrison was when Crawdaddy decided to proclaim him the Lizard King of rock and roll and went on this bizarre rampage. And the type of merchandising that was originally associated with Doors music I thought was really distasteful and stretching the boundaries of what it actually was beyond the realm of credibility.”

You don’t need to defend Jim Morrison too much from Zappa, because his problem was less his Morrison himself and more with the way he was pushed onto the public. He specifically called out American consumers in his disdain, saying that they constantly bloat the images of different creatives.

“Americans thrive on hype and bloated images and bloated everything, and anything that’s realistic they turn away from,” he said, “They want the candy gloss version of whatever it is. And Jim Morrison is only one example of that.”

The Beatles

The Beatles are often celebrated as one of the most influential bands of all time. Rock stars around the world are frequently crediting the band with inspiring them, but Frank Zappa wasn’t a fan. The over-commercialised element of The Beatles was something that he had a real problem with, and he made his thoughts known within his music, where he frequently poked fun at the band. 

On his 1968 album, We’re Only In It For The Money, The Beatles were made fun of a great deal, both within the music and on the cover. Inside the gatefold sleeve of the record was Zappa doing his own parody photo of the band’s iconic Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

“Everybody else thought they were God!” Said Zappa when criticising The Beatles, “I think that was not correct. They were just a good commercial group.”

While Zappa’s comments may have some validity, as The Beatles were marketed very well, I think it would be hard to suggest that good marketing has a six-decade lifespan. The Beatles might have been looked after by their label and advertised very well, but that can only take you so far. The truth is, The Beatles’ music is outstanding, and it has stood the test of time because of how adventurous, fun, melodic and well-written it is.

The Velvet Underground

Perhaps one of the most famous feuds in rock music is that which took place between Frank Zappa and The Velvet Underground. It’s tricky pinning down where this started, but many claim the origins stemmed from when Zappa called out the band during a show and critiqued anybody holding onto the Andy Warhol image.

“I don’t remember Zappa actually putting them down on stage, but he might have. He really disliked the band,” said Jimmy Carl Black from Mothers of Invention, “For what reasons I really don’t know, except that they were junkies and Frank just couldn’t tolerate any kind of drugs.”

I don’t even need to defend The Velvet Underground here, as Black does it for me. While Zappa might have had his own reasons for hating the band, the fact remains that The Velvet Underground made some excellent music.

“I know that I didn’t feel that way and neither did the rest of the Mothers,” said Black, “I thought that they were very good, especially Nico (whom I secretly fell in love with or was it lust?).”

Jethro Tull

You might think that Zappa would be a big fan of Jethro Tull, given the band were widely celebrated in the world of prog rock; however, Zappa despised Jethro Tull. It’s unclear why this might be the case, but the band’s Ian Anderson believes it might have come from a place of jealousy, rather than any kind of artistic critique.

“Sadly, I never got to meet Frank Zappa; we nearly did,” said Anderson, “And I actually read that he didn’t like Jethro Tull at all back then in the 70s. He rather resented the fact that us British bands Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and so on. We were going over there (United States) and making tons of money. Seemingly while he was struggling to run his band.”

Regardless of what Zappa’s rationale was, Jethro Tull represented the same thing that he did within music, which meant expanding the parameters of rock and introducing various exciting elements into what many would describe as a fairly one-note genre. Jethro Tull were able to breathe a new life into rock music, and that has to be respected.

Led Zeppelin

As well as being a fan of Zappa, Ian Anderson was also a big fan of Led Zeppelin. He credited Zeppelin with showing bands like Jethro Tull how they could expand their sound. “I think what they showed to all their peer group as musicians, was that there was, first of all, a very powerful and dramatic way to perform simple, direct rock music and also to introduce elements of more eclectic music,” said Anderson. “Because Zeppelin, near the beginning, there were a lot of elements of folk music, and Asian music, and African music that crept into their stuff.”

At least Frank Zappa is consistent, as he didn’t like Jethro Tull, and equally didn’t like the band who inspired them, Led Zeppelin. Anyone who has an understanding of Zappa’s taste won’t be surprised by this, as any kind of big rock band got his back up, and Led Zeppelin were one of the biggest rock bands of them all.

One of the biggest insults he gave Led Zeppelin was when he took their most popular song and made a mockery of it. When touring in 1988, he decided to play a satirical, reggae version of the song, in a bid to shatter the myth which surrounded Zeppelin and also make fun of them.

“He remarked that he really didn’t like the chord progression for the guitar solo,” said Mike Keneally when recounting the moment Zappa decided to cover the song, “But he decided he wanted to play the song live because he knew audiences would be flabbergasted by it.”