America was in both class and social turmoil at this time, and a psychedelic treatment was undercut not with Frank’s often-quoted cynicism but a fair degree of analysis. What better place to start than at the beginning: the opening track on the Zappa/Mothers 1966 debut, Freak Out! In “Hungry Freaks, Daddy,” Zappa addresses the countercultural view of the Great Society. Below we offer a selection – and it can only be that – of the best Frank Zappa songs. Zappa had ideas to burn and would undoubtedly still be recording today, had it not been for his early death in 1993.Ībove all, he was a great musician and a venerated songwriter. His own influence, meanwhile, ranges far beyond commercial success. He could make metal, pop, rock, and blues, along with free-form jazz (à la Albert Ayler) and even classical. Closer to home, Zappa earned a place within the upper echelons of Rolling Stone’s list of Greatest Guitarists Of All Time. Celebrated by the Velvet Revolutionaries in Prague, he also became a friend of Czech writer and philosopher Václav Havel. He was also an advocate for free speech and personal choice, and was quite prepared to accept any barbs that came his way.

Zappa is one of the few artists operating in a rock or post-rock medium who deserves the epithet “genius.” He poked fun at both the establishment and the counterculture with varying degrees of venom.

Frank Zappa by Daniel Schröder