Zappa had issues with nicotine and caffeine. During a show in Chicago in 1980, I watched as he did away with a half pack of smokes and two entire pots of coffee. He never left to use the can either. Somehow in a 90 minute plus show, his body used the coffee somehow. I'll never forget the guitar tech guy, both tuning his guitars and making the coffee so there was no possibility of a shortage.
Zappa was quite interested in politics. He attempted to become the Czech Republic Ambassador for the USA which he decided against because it was corrupt. His thoughts on American politics were similar, too corrupt to achieve anything other than more corruption and being supported by corporations instead of the citizens had a "military aroma" Zappa was disappointed by the American public's inability to separate fact from fiction and how elections were treated like sports, quite unimportant.
He also wanted his musicians to be as professional as possible and as responsible as they could be. Abuse of alcohol and hard drugs, obviously, gets in the way of that.
Frank had probably the smartest anti-drug view you could ever have. He thought they were a waste of time and didn't want to associate with musicians who used drugs frequently, especially on tour, but he wasn't a proponent of the idiotic tax money hole that is and always has been the "drug war". My reasons for opposing that particular "war", as would be the same reason for many people who oppose prohibition, is because it serves only as a function for misery in many peoples' lives, the same way that addiction does. People don't need to have their lives ruined by the legal system to stem the tide of having their lives ruined or damaged by drug abuse, especially because if you do your research you'll know full well that the "drug war" is a far too costly, greed-driven scam designed to trap, in particular, people of color in lower income neighborhoods. The people who are in charge of it either know what they're doing to people is pretty shitty, and don't care because we have a ton of politicians who just don't give a hot fuck about anybody outside of their own little circle of privilege/wealth, or don't really know anything about drugs or drug abuse and are ignorant of the realities of what it all is.
I've experimented with many psychedelics, and I have not "burned out". Granted, it's easy to become addicted to various types of drugs, but responsible, controlled use of certain psychedelics can be life changing.
Zappa was a brilliant man. i don't know if I agree with all that he had to say, although I agree with much of it, but that aint the point, Zappa seemed to me to be a man that respected other people, especially other people that think, whether the opinion is the same or not, it's the fact that people think, that is what counts.
He didn't step away from drugs. You can see clearly in this clip that he's smoking a cigarette. He also drank coffee and indulged occasionally in alcohol. He was against the reckless use of significantly mind alternating chemicals that were illegal. This was due to personal reasons (as expressed in this interview) and business reasons (he didn't want himself or band-mates being arrested for possession which would ban them from performing in various countries).
Frank was one of a kind. That last sentence was classic Frank. My opinion as an experienced drug user is that once you become a regular user your body gets used to those raised dopamine and seratonin levels and it really takes months of being clean to feel normal again. I was on dialysis and in pain for years and treated it with pain killers and marijuana. It helped me make it through that dark time in my life but once I got a transplant I struggled to feel normal once I got clean. God bless!!!
I think Zappa like being provocative , going against the flow. One can abuse anything , alcohol , tobacco, food or internet use (like me , now) He wanted to be in the counter- counter culture. I had a lot of wonder experiences with drugs but I know when to lay off. it can only take you so far.
frank smoked cigs on a heavy level , don't understand why an intelligent person would smoke or not quit? drugs like cigs can get abused which isn't a happy ending for anyone!
It's a serious physical addiction that can be very hard to give up. Plenty of very intelligent people smoke, very few intelligent people defend the habit though.
drugs like cigs do not overly change your thinking unlike pot, crack, speed, ecstasy... it's still bad for you but I believe what frank is pointing out is drugs like pot and such take over your life, they become a lifestyle that take away a little bit of you, I used to be a pot smoker but I stopped and I see how many people on pot still act like I did, they do not think they are addicted but half their thoughts are about getting their next high and how "cool" they are.
The 30 second mark spooked me for just a second lol.....that was realy cool. I had sort of turned to the side and caught that out of the corner of my eye. Great upload by the way.
MegaRaven100 Who are you making fun of? No one would claim someone who doesn't partake is a bad person. Also, pot is great. Drugs can be great fun, it's not aids infested needles and early death or nothing. And let's be honest, Zappa didn't do certain recreational drugs because he didn't enjoy them. That's it. He smoked cigarettes (which are horrid for you) constantly, and dosed caffeine throughout the day. He said he smoked pot and got a headache, he also said he did acid and had a bad time. That was his real opposition to drugs. I guarantee if he'd enjoyed pot, he would've been a lifelong pothead, just seeing how addicted he got to the drugs he did enjoy.
I agree - I sure wish Frank was my older brother instead of the one I had. I'd be a much greater musician AND not have a Swiss cheese brain. A lot of us in my generation (end of the baby boomers) are basically victims of the 70's and 80's; especially if you lived in California. I don't blame anyone else. It all seemed so glamorous and exciting at the time. But of all the things I've lost - I miss my mind the most! If you are a teen now (or even in your 20's or 30's) and have a fairly bright future - take it from a veteran and loser of the drug wars - preserve your precious brain tissues, you will need them. Become addicted to music instead. Music is the only unpunished rapture on earth.
Very well said. I like to think of mine as more of a bowl of mush. I actually neither regret, nor will i glorify my times with drugs. I'll only tell anyone that wants to do them, just be ready for the really bad nightmare times, because trust me, they WILL come. And don't go blaming anyone but yourself when they do.
He knew some of his fan's used drug's. He never thought drug's should be illegal. But he hoped everyone used in the privacy of their home, and leaved it there. He was arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was very clear to everyone around him he did not wish to go back to jail ever again.
Frank Zappa, wanted to engage at that time the young John Frusciante ( RHCP ) as a guitarist for his band.. but John couldn´t work with him because Zappa was against taking drugs in his Band... what a great person
As the youngest sister of a late 60s/early 70s hippie drug user, I can definitely relate. I didn't have to repeat her mistakes and waste of times with drugs. So many died young, so many became burnouts, so many died early deaths due to heart attacks or AIDS or Hep-C, all due to drug abuse. He was so right.
Very inspirational to see drugs n rock n roll dont have to go hand in hand. I think the drug popularization in the 60s was a large part due to the media influence.
I wish I had heard this interview back in the day when I was just a kid....and that it would've penetrated my skull.....following my elder siblings has turned out to be quite a disaster.
I had that impression too, but I was surprised to hear him say at the very last bit of the clip "I actually was too stone to know what I was talking about".
Zappa knew that all those "mistakes" were real ... you know the ones that happen when you are "unreal" and (-inside-) the hallucinatory field of delusions,..
since he died, "grass" has proven to have some medical benefits. Other than that, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. He'd be turning over in his grave now with all the pain killers and meth in the streets.
he said ''SHE was too stoned''--- zappa didnt do drugs--he used to search his band members luggage before going thru customs --didnt want any trouble in foreign countries
He also supported social security and gov't funded arts/research. It's disingenuous for anyone to try and label the man, he hated both the Democrats and Republicans.
I think he meant the people who take drugs for the fad if you will, rather than educating themselves first, and then finding the good drugs from the bad drugs, and just take them responsibly, because LSD and magic mushrooms provide great benefits for your consciousness. Also most people who listen to his music are on these drugs :)
I wonder what FZ would think about today's crazes of Flakka and other synthetics. He hadn't seen anything in his time. Oh and let's not forget krokodil...
as an individual that happily took mushrooms and micros in the 80s i can not agree with the no to drugs argument ,LSD did a lot for me mentally and spiritualy although it never helped my spelling anyway i think zapp is more concerned with smack and crack a bit of smoke never hurt anyone aslong as your over 16 .jj7
What Frank is not saying is that when he was younger he got busted for making a 'so called' pornographic file. He spent several weeks locked up. The experience so traumatized him that he swore never to use drugs fro fear of getting locked up again. Members of his bands did use drugs, but he tended to stay away from them after gigs when they we're getting high. So a lot of what he said here is just bull shit to pump up his reputation. May he RIP.
Zappa was never a 'rocker' or a 'hippie'. If you study classical music you would know that his biggest influences were Edgar Varese, Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives and Slonimsky amongst others. There are many 'inside references' to their music in his. At times, if it sounded 'rock' it was only a sonic/cultural exploration in the purest sense. As for 'drugs' he was too busy composing. In his book, he will tell you he had ZERO tolerance for it in his band. If you used drugs, he fired you.
He drank though, for fuck safe. All you alcoholics calling drugs bad need to look inwards before you brand the rest. I'm not a supporter or detractor. I think an individual can decide for themselves and there is no universal right or wrong.
most drugs have proven medical benefits, including acid and speed which were mentioned in the video (speed to a lesser extent but the benefits are still apparent). theres so many drugs with potential benefits but they dont get the mainstream support because theyre condemned by society now. pharmaceutical corporations are the problem these days - oxycodone, alprazolam, diazepam, methylphenidate - not so much illegal drugs such as acid, weed, etc.
so we all know that Frank stayed clean for most of his life, but he sometimes makes the claim that he never even tried drugs. What do you guys think, BS, or not?
The Macbook I'm watching this on would beg to differ. I know he was only half serious though... & he always knew just what to say and when to say it...have to wait till the end for his real "stance"; lol.
I would like to see how Frank would describe my generation.
Zappa had issues with nicotine and caffeine. During a show in Chicago in 1980, I watched as he did away with a half pack of smokes and two entire pots of coffee. He never left to use the can either. Somehow in a 90 minute plus show, his body used the coffee somehow. I'll never forget the guitar tech guy, both tuning his guitars and making the coffee so there was no possibility of a shortage.
"Nothing will screw your mind up more than religion or drugs"
-- Frank Zappa
Zappa was a man a generation ahead of his time and he continues to be so....
+ diesel science ace words,so its not just me then ;]
zappa the original straight edge
Frank Zappa and Salvador Dali. "I don't do drugs, I AM drugs."
It's sad that he eventually died from cancer. Only a few rockstars stay away from drugs. Zappa was one of them. A man worth living over 100 years.
i absolutely love Frank Zappa interviews.
Zappa was quite interested in politics. He attempted to become the Czech Republic Ambassador for the USA which he decided against because it was corrupt. His thoughts on American politics were similar, too corrupt to achieve anything other than more corruption and being supported by corporations instead of the citizens had a "military aroma"
Zappa was disappointed by the American public's inability to separate fact from fiction and how elections were treated like sports, quite unimportant.
"I think she was too stoned to know what I was talking about". Hahahahah!!
He also wanted his musicians to be as professional as possible and as responsible as they could be. Abuse of alcohol and hard drugs, obviously, gets in the way of that.
Frank had probably the smartest anti-drug view you could ever have. He thought they were a waste of time and didn't want to associate with musicians who used drugs frequently, especially on tour, but he wasn't a proponent of the idiotic tax money hole that is and always has been the "drug war". My reasons for opposing that particular "war", as would be the same reason for many people who oppose prohibition, is because it serves only as a function for misery in many peoples' lives, the same way that addiction does. People don't need to have their lives ruined by the legal system to stem the tide of having their lives ruined or damaged by drug abuse, especially because if you do your research you'll know full well that the "drug war" is a far too costly, greed-driven scam designed to trap, in particular, people of color in lower income neighborhoods. The people who are in charge of it either know what they're doing to people is pretty shitty, and don't care because we have a ton of politicians who just don't give a hot fuck about anybody outside of their own little circle of privilege/wealth, or don't really know anything about drugs or drug abuse and are ignorant of the realities of what it all is.
Zappa sucking on a cigarette his whole life...
I've experimented with many psychedelics, and I have not "burned out". Granted, it's easy to become addicted to various types of drugs, but responsible, controlled use of certain psychedelics can be life changing.
Zappa was a brilliant man. i don't know if I agree with all that he had to say, although I agree with much of it, but that aint the point, Zappa seemed to me to be a man that respected other people, especially other people that think, whether the opinion is the same or not, it's the fact that people think, that is what counts.
Frank was a true nonconformist.hell of a musician,too.
He didn't step away from drugs. You can see clearly in this clip that he's smoking a cigarette. He also drank coffee and indulged occasionally in alcohol. He was against the reckless use of significantly mind alternating chemicals that were illegal. This was due to personal reasons (as expressed in this interview) and business reasons (he didn't want himself or band-mates being arrested for possession which would ban them from performing in various countries).
Frank was one of a kind. That last sentence was classic Frank. My opinion as an experienced drug user is that once you become a regular user your body gets used to those raised dopamine and seratonin levels and it really takes months of being clean to feel normal again. I was on dialysis and in pain for years and treated it with pain killers and marijuana. It helped me make it through that dark time in my life but once I got a transplant I struggled to feel normal once I got clean. God bless!!!
If you listen again carefully, what he actually says is: "I think she was too stoned to know what I was talking about"
That ending was revolutionary
I kinda disagreed what he said in some parts, but I have to admit he was right in some other parts.
I think Zappa like being provocative , going against the flow. One can abuse anything , alcohol , tobacco, food or internet use (like me , now) He wanted to be in the counter- counter culture. I had a lot of wonder experiences with drugs but I know when to lay off. it can only take you so far.
frank smoked cigs on a heavy level , don't understand why an intelligent person would smoke or not quit? drugs like cigs can get abused which isn't a happy ending for anyone!
It's a serious physical addiction that can be very hard to give up. Plenty of very intelligent people smoke, very few intelligent people defend the habit though.
drugs like cigs do not overly change your thinking unlike pot, crack, speed, ecstasy... it's still bad for
you but I believe what frank is pointing out is drugs like pot and such take over your life, they become a lifestyle that take away a little bit of you, I used to be a pot smoker but I stopped and I see how many people on pot still act like I did, they do not think they are addicted but half their thoughts are about getting their next high and how "cool" they are.
The 30 second mark spooked me for just a second lol.....that was realy cool. I had sort of turned to the side and caught that out of the corner of my eye. Great upload by the way.
He really was before his time. If I just heard Frank talking and no one else from this interview, I would never have guessed it was from 71
zappa knew what was happening. even back in early 1966 he saw what was going to become of young people in the late 60s early 70s...
I really enjoyed this interview... Zappa had a good speaking voice as well as singing voice. Could have been a radio host.
Of course "The Burnouts", he's talking about, is me!!! I'm not paranoid!!!! I Know, he's talking about me!!!!
I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs, but I love Frank. Who the hell says you have to get wasted to have fun or be productive?
MegaRaven100 My friend, you win the Internet. Best comment ever.
MegaRaven100 Who are you making fun of? No one would claim someone who doesn't partake is a bad person. Also, pot is great. Drugs can be great fun, it's not aids infested needles and early death or nothing.
And let's be honest, Zappa didn't do certain recreational drugs because he didn't enjoy them. That's it. He smoked cigarettes (which are horrid for you) constantly, and dosed caffeine throughout the day. He said he smoked pot and got a headache, he also said he did acid and had a bad time. That was his real opposition to drugs. I guarantee if he'd enjoyed pot, he would've been a lifelong pothead, just seeing how addicted he got to the drugs he did enjoy.
Frankincensed I don't know, but I constantly see comments putting down these imaginary people.
MegaRaven100 You're...
You are?
Honest genius. Bluntly spoken.
I agree - I sure wish Frank was my older brother instead of the one I had. I'd be a much greater musician AND not have a Swiss cheese brain. A lot of us in my generation (end of the baby boomers) are basically victims of the 70's and 80's; especially if you lived in California. I don't blame anyone else. It all seemed so glamorous and exciting at the time. But of all the things I've lost - I miss my mind the most!
If you are a teen now (or even in your 20's or 30's) and have a fairly bright future - take it from a veteran and loser of the drug wars - preserve your precious brain tissues, you will need them. Become addicted to music instead. Music is the only unpunished rapture on earth.
It might not be too late to recapture it. Lots of coffee, lots of Hitchens.
Very well said. I like to think of mine as more of a bowl of mush. I actually neither regret, nor will i glorify my times with drugs. I'll only tell anyone that wants to do them, just be ready for the really bad nightmare times, because trust me, they WILL come. And don't go blaming anyone but yourself when they do.
BubbaZen10 Bubba Zen always deep
Tomomoko Pictures Not sure if that is sarcasm or not. It works either way though!
Sorry for that, no sarcasm intended. I was just trying to sound, well, 'deep' myself, but don't ask me why:P Anyway I agree with you:>
He knew some of his fan's used drug's. He never thought drug's should be illegal. But he hoped everyone used in the privacy of their home, and leaved it there. He was arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was very clear to everyone around him he did not wish to go back to jail ever again.
Still the most outlandish.
The last line in this video is classic!
Frank Zappa, wanted to engage at that time the young John Frusciante ( RHCP ) as a guitarist for his band.. but John couldn´t work with him because Zappa was against taking drugs in his Band... what a great person
i read an interview with lowell george where he said frank fired him for writing a "song about drugs" (willin'). anybody else ever heard that?
As the youngest sister of a late 60s/early 70s hippie drug user, I can definitely relate. I didn't have to repeat her mistakes and waste of times with drugs. So many died young, so many became burnouts, so many died early deaths due to heart attacks or AIDS or Hep-C, all due to drug abuse. He was so right.
Very inspirational to see drugs n rock n roll dont have to go hand in hand. I think the drug popularization in the 60s was a large part due to the media influence.
I wish I had heard this interview back in the day when I was just a kid....and that it would've penetrated my skull.....following my elder siblings has turned out to be quite a disaster.
This is correct, and further proves why you shouldn't lump together all drugs.
I had that impression too, but I was surprised to hear him say at the very last bit of the clip "I actually was too stone to know what I was talking about".
I think it's pretty clear from Zappa's comments that it's not a misleading title. It's Frank Zappa addressing the topic of drugs.
I think it means "Zappa's take on drugs."
You tell'em Frank! I wish you were still here to guide us!
Zappa knew that all those "mistakes" were real ... you know the ones that happen when you are "unreal" and (-inside-) the hallucinatory field of delusions,..
Coffee, cigarettes and tea, while still being drugs, don't fuck you up the way smack does. Clearly.
Frank Zappa a rock star? That's an insult as he was so much more. A musician, composer, philosopher... rock star? Hardly
Frank did not use street drugs he called cigarettes and caffeine a food group
I remember when Frank And Todd Rundgren were on the Gong Show :D. haha
I like Frank. He seems pissed. Maybe just disgusted. And he gives sound advice.
You're probably right about that.
since he died, "grass" has proven to have some medical benefits. Other than that, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. He'd be turning over in his grave now with all the pain killers and meth in the streets.
She's got those pharmaceutical eyes!
The last line killed me!
"I was too stoned to know what I was talking about."
HAHHAHAHAHA
Nicotine is my favorite vegetable!
I love the ending. so beautiful, so perfect.
Something about truth ... i don't know.
remember kids, stay in drugs and don't do school
no, no, no it's...drink your school, stay in drugs, and don't do milk!
ha ha ha ha ha ha
GRANDE ZAPPA....UN GENIO.....IMMORTALE.......
he said ''SHE was too stoned''--- zappa didnt do drugs--he used to search his band members luggage before going thru customs --didnt want any trouble in foreign countries
Rolled my eyes at "THE Jefferson Airplane."
He also supported social security and gov't funded arts/research. It's disingenuous for anyone to try and label the man, he hated both the Democrats and Republicans.
Always good interviews
i miss frank
2
I miss Frank and Don van Vliet too.
that last statement!! Epic!
He says "She was actually too stoned to know what i was talking about"
The build up to the last sentence!! LOL!
Not to judge, I love Frank and all, but he's sitting there condemning drugs...while smoking a cigarette?
man I laughed so hard at that intro.
I think he meant the people who take drugs for the fad if you will, rather than educating themselves first, and then finding the good drugs from the bad drugs, and just take them responsibly, because LSD and magic mushrooms provide great benefits for your consciousness. Also most people who listen to his music are on these drugs :)
If I was Frank Zappa, I guess I'd also choose the "rockstar-path" over being a radio host.
Funny stuff that last line....
I have to do a BONG rip to listen to Frank's music.
"taking dope"
I think it was amazing that he crossed paths with one of those psycho weather underground extremeists and tried to turn her around. Amazing.
I wonder what FZ would think about today's crazes of Flakka and other synthetics. He hadn't seen anything in his time. Oh and let's not forget krokodil...
as an individual that happily took mushrooms and micros in the 80s i can not agree with the no to drugs argument ,LSD did a lot for me mentally and spiritualy although it never helped my spelling anyway i think zapp is more concerned with smack and crack a bit of smoke never hurt anyone aslong as your over 16 .jj7
God i loved that.
I think she was to stoned to know what I was talking about - nice round up 80)
I wish I took his advice
I'm sure a lot of people do.
Woozler554
Known as learning the hard way. We were lucky.
Some didn't learn, they died instead.
mjazzguitar You're right, you WERE lucky. It boggles my mind when I hear morons these days advocating the supposed "virtues" of pot and other drugs.
Woozler554 acid is good for you children
What Frank is not saying is that when he was younger he got busted for making a 'so called' pornographic file. He spent several weeks locked up. The experience so traumatized him that he swore never to use drugs fro fear of getting locked up again. Members of his bands did use drugs, but he tended to stay away from them after gigs when they we're getting high. So a lot of what he said here is just bull shit to pump up his reputation. May he RIP.
Zappa was never a 'rocker' or a 'hippie'. If you study classical music you would know that his biggest influences were Edgar Varese, Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives and Slonimsky amongst others. There are many 'inside references' to their music in his. At times, if it sounded 'rock' it was only a sonic/cultural exploration in the purest sense.
As for 'drugs' he was too busy composing. In his book, he will tell you he had ZERO tolerance for it in his band. If you used drugs, he fired you.
He drank though, for fuck safe. All you alcoholics calling drugs bad need to look inwards before you brand the rest. I'm not a supporter or detractor. I think an individual can decide for themselves and there is no universal right or wrong.
"I think she was too stoned to know what I was talking about" is what he says at the end. What's profound about that?
hahaha... the bit about the stoned groupie at the end ...
She was too stoned to(know) understand what I was talking about!
SMACK!
THANK YOU
most drugs have proven medical benefits, including acid and speed which were mentioned in the video (speed to a lesser extent but the benefits are still apparent). theres so many drugs with potential benefits but they dont get the mainstream support because theyre condemned by society now. pharmaceutical corporations are the problem these days - oxycodone, alprazolam, diazepam, methylphenidate - not so much illegal drugs such as acid, weed, etc.
GREAT! Zappa was the Greatest!
hes really good at being right. we need more frank zappas to ask the right questions to. his answers make me want to do them.
It just happens to be the title of the programme, I haven't intentionally titled this to mislead people..
HELL YEAH!!!!! arf!!
I. Think. She. Was too stoned. To know what I was talking about.
so we all know that Frank stayed clean for most of his life, but he sometimes makes the claim that he never even tried drugs. What do you guys think, BS, or not?
Where did you get this, dude, It's bloody awesome. I want more!!!
The Macbook I'm watching this on would beg to differ. I know he was only half serious though... & he always knew just what to say and when to say it...have to wait till the end for his real "stance"; lol.
I should have listened to him back then but noooo I knew better. Everything said then came true and now history will repeat itself.
No, Frank was way before his time. We are now of a lesser mind because of his early demise.
LoL!! Love the ending!! haha!!
Best interview I have ever heard.
Kind of ironic his first band was called The Blackouts
And he was a cigarette smoker, right...?