Frank Zappa’s favourite album by The Rolling Stones
Frank Zappa is one of the most influential musicians in the history of modern music. A genuine musical prophet who possessed the foresight to heed the kaleidoscopic direction music would go after his time, his back catalogue is as eclectic as they come, drawing on the avant-garde and jazz, as well as utilising rock and pop movements to create a sound unlike anything else out there.
Breaking through as the mastermind of The Mothers of Invention, afterwards, he continued to find creative enlightenment as a solo artist, with his work such as ‘Cosmic Debris’ remaining as refreshing as it was when first released, a testament to his genius.
Whilst others in his day were lauded as innovators for taking one step outside of the box whilst still drawing on historical and already formed modes such as blues, Zappa totally ditched the box and created genuinely challenging music, forcing us to grapple with his intellect and the concepts he was putting forth, something that aligns him more with avant-garde composers than icons of popular music – but herein lies his brilliance. Zappa straddled the line between the niche and the mainstream, appealing to people of all walks of life and creating something priceless.
Alongside his many stellar creative efforts, is that Zappa’s life was brimming with unbelievable instances, such as the time he evacuated fans from his show at Montreux Casino when it was burning down or when he served as a cultural ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1990 after the fall of Communism. Unlike many of his status, Zappa always put his words into action, and whilst some things he did are rightly criticised, his dedication to his values is nothing but commendable.
An absolute individualist, who had many colourful opinions, Zappa’s thoughts on music are some of the most fascinating out there. From him preferring The Monkees to The Beatles, or his hatred of The Velvet Underground, iconoclasm came naturally to him, and he invariably kept listeners on their toes. Despite his predilection for the surprise factor, occasionally, Zappa provided accounts of music that were agreeable, and one of the best came during a 1975 interview with the UK publication Let it Rock.
During the interview, he disclosed his ten favourite albums of all time, and one of them was a legendary title by British rock ‘n’ roll rabble The Rolling Stones, 1967’s Between the Buttons. Featuring classic cuts such as ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’, it’s not hard to understand why Zappa loved the record so much, as it had a psychedelic edge, with some of the tracks ranking among the band’s most out-there.
“The American release – I don’t like the English version so much because it contains a totally different set of tunes,” Zappa explained of the album, “I understand that they don’t like the album very much, but I thought that it was an important piece of social comment at the time. I remember seeing Brian Jones very drunk in the Speakeasy one night and telling him I like it and thought it superior to Sergeant Pepper, whereupon he belched discreetly and turned around.”
