Music Legend Frank Zappa's Brother Bob Zappa To Release Second Book 'Frankie & Bobby: The Rest of Our Story'
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 27, 2017
Bob's first book, "Frankie & Bobby: Growing Up Zappa," is poignant and insightful perspective on the life of one of the twentieth century's most provocative and intriguing musicians. This "coming of age" memoir provided readers with never before told stories about events that helped shape Frank's political, social, intellectual and creative development. The book begins with the brother's time in Maryland from the late 1940's until the summer of 1967 in New York City before Frank and the Mothers went on their first of many European tours. This fascinating account describes how the two brothers lived through, and handled, a series of events ranging from amusing to life threatening. It is a must-read for anybody interested in Frank's amazing life that only his closest confidant and brother, Bobby, can tell.
Bob's new book "Frankie & Bobby: The Rest of Our Story" picks up where the first volume leaves off... Says Bob, "For those of you who read my first book, 'Frankie & Bobby: Growing Up Zappa', thank you. I hope you enjoyed it and found that the information about Frank added to your understanding his complex and brilliant mind and his early development. This book tells the next chapter in our story. It's about how my brother and I continued on our separate but intertwined paths after his successful long running show, 'Absolutely Free' (sic), at the Garrick Theater in New York in the summer of 1967.
"When I decided to write the sequel to 'Frankie and Bobby: Growing Up Zappa,' I wanted to provide readers with more personal stories that would fill in gaps on how our lives intersected over the last decades of Frank's life. I also wanted to describe more about life in America during the Vietnam era and up to the present day to help set the stage for events that fans have wondered about for a long time. This time I added more about my own life's journey. I wanted to depict how Frank and I maintained our relationship because to me he was a 'regular guy,' except for his extraordinary life in the public eye. He was my older brother and best friend regardless of his talents, celebrity or public image. I think fans will find this aspect interesting and should help add a more human dimension to his image.
"There are also the episodes about Frank's own family - especially his wife, Gail - that try to explain their curious relationship and how she interacted with me and her own children. Of interest are how our mother, sister, and brother, and especially me, were kept from Frank's and his children's lives. The reasons for that are still unclear to my niece Moon and nephew, Dweezil.
"But I do end on a positive note by describing my reunion with Moon and Dweezil following Gail's death, after more than four decades of estrangement. 'Frankie and Bobby: The Rest of Our Story' provides new material that will help Frank's fans add some much needed pieces to the puzzle that is Frank Zappa."
While there have been several books and documentaries about Frank Zappa, most have forgotten to mention that Frank often referred to himself as "a regular guy." And that is one of the "driving forces" behind Bob's new book.
Says Co de Kloet, well-known radio personality and music producer in Amsterdam, "By sharing personal, sometimes extremely personal stories about his relationship with Frank, Bob gives us a clear view of that 'regular-guyness' quality, leaving the importance and impact of his brother intact. By not just focusing on Frank and giving us information about other relations and some of his own experiences, he puts Frank in a new and sincere perspective. I had a great time reading it and I hope it will do well. Over the years I had a friendship with Herbie Cohen, Frank's manager and business partner. He was at my farmhouse a few times and once when he was reading something in a book about Zappa, he smiled and said, 'It is always fun to read what people THINK really happened (in Frank's life) but they haven't got a clue.' Bob Zappa has! And that is what makes this book a must have."
The book is also one of rejection, reconciliation and closure... As James Cohen: Zappanale Master of Ceremonies explains, "A memoir is more than recollection, it exposes a continuum of related events: Bob Zappa's 'Frankie & Bobby - The Rest of Our Story' is wisdom gained over time. Picking up where his first book left off, it focuses on Bob's adventures in the US and elsewhere - a Swedish university course in Deviant Behavior or a close brush with Soviet espionage. Bob's ultimate purpose of understanding how his alienation from his brother Frank's world developed, or was created, overshadows these episodes. Climaxing with a series of rejections relating to the passing of their mother Rose Marie and finally of Frank himself, Bob celebrates his subsequent reconciliation with Dweezil and Moon and a new life rooted deep in his past...A great read, and for the Zappa faithful, optimistic closure."
Distinguished Teaching Professor Joseph Klein, Dmus concludes, "Perhaps most poignant are the episodes relating to Frank's own family- in particular his wife, Gail...during the final years of Frank's life...and (sheds) light on a matter that has baffled and frustrated the Zappa fan community for decades...'Frankie and Bobby: The Rest of Our Story' is essential reading for any Zappologist curious for answers regarding some of the more enigmatic aspects of Frank's life."
Bob Zappa's "Frankie & Bobby: The Rest of Our Story" is a must-read for all fans of Frank Zappa!
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