Running with the Dweezil - New VH podcast!

**Brett** · 01.23.21, 11:00 PM

Did Frank Zappa really have that much money?

**japeape** · 01.23.21, 11:10 PM

Originally Posted by Brett

Did Frank Zappa really have that much money?

I guess not, but i always assumed he was mega wealthy, because he had the big home
studio and house in California.

Plus, he released a ton of albums, and this was back in the days everyone bought records.
He just seemed to have a diehard fanbase like the Dead.

I'm not sure where the money went, or who screwed it up (most likely, his wife,
Gail).

But i remember they were selling pieces from the studio, then the house itself.

**MF5150** · 01.23.21, 11:19 PM

Frank did pretty well. Not sure where/how his estate was divided up, but I know the children were estranged from each other for quite some time after Frank died because of that, I believe.

**Destructo2** · 01.24.21, 12:58 AM

Originally Posted by Brett

Did Frank Zappa really have that much money?

Thank you. Was wondering the same but didn’t want to sound like a clueless idiot!

**DFVH5150** · 01.24.21, 01:53 AM

Originally Posted by japeape

I paid this guy 50.00 for a ton of early Extreme demos, and i remember it even had an
early version of "Suzie (wants her all day sucker)."

It had Sinful, too.
Nuno's first band.

This guy knew them and was like:
If you ever release this to anyone, i will get in so much trouble!

He put it on those high quality maxell tapes, i still remember.

It had all these songs that never made it onto albums, Nice place to visit.
A really badass demo of "It's a monster."

I remember when the debut came out, i was confused why "Monster" was left off.

I think I have all those too. Several different sets of demos that I got in the mid-to-late '90s with early versions of a lot of their songs all the way up to Punchline.

**Brett** · 01.24.21, 01:54 AM

I never understood how a guy that didn’t have that much commercial appeal could have that much money? I know he did other things on the side and recorded 100 albums, but I mean I don’t think he was like some mega popular musician. He was always kind of underground. I’m sure he had money but I can’t believe he had like mega millions.

**Ashe** · 01.24.21, 02:21 AM

I kind of feel the same way about Joe Bonamassa. That guy seems to have released a ton of albums--elaborate vinyl boxsets too--but I'm not seeing massive commercial success. To be clear, I'm not slamming him or his playing. I'm just wondering who's buying that stuff. Its cool for his fans though.

**ziggysmalls** · 01.24.21, 07:05 AM

Well with Joe he has done a 180. To sound like a hipster I used to follow him when he was playing in bars. Then all of the sudden things started to work for him. I don't think he makes money on the albums but with touring Prior to COVID he toured a lot and has been in demand. His style of music resonates in various regions of the world so he does well with attendance. Plus his tickets are like what you pay for rock shows. So I assume most of his money comes from touring. Now he does sink a lot of money into guitars but then again these are assets worth money. Like pieces of art

Zappa though confounds me. I know he had a following but it wasn't like the Dead. He released a ton of albums but don't think he was doing that well with them. I do think that since he was sober, he never had an outlet that sucked up the money he did make. Thus was able to acquire some wealth. Think of how much money went up Eddie's nose? So while he made less than others, he spent less. He may have invested money as well. So I am thinking there is a rationale that he may have had a decent estate because he wasn't the typical musician.

**dislocatedday** · 01.24.21, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by Brett

I never understood how a guy that didn’t have that much commercial appeal could have that much money? I know he did other things on the side and recorded 100 albums, but I mean I don’t think he was like some mega popular musician. He was always kind of underground. I’m sure he had money but I can’t believe he had like mega millions.

FZ was more highly regarded and popular in Europe than here in the USA. I would guess he made more money touring there over the years.

Before he died he told his wife Gail to sell his album catalog, and in 1994 she sold it to Rykodisc for a reported $44 million. That much money, particularly in 1994, should have set the family up for generations to come. From what I have read over the years though, Gail squandered that money and lost quite a bit in frivolous lawsuits she pursued.

**dislocatedday** · 01.24.21, 09:00 AM

To bring this FZ talk back in relation to VH, Frank had a massive recording vault in his home with an insane amount of tapes of both audio and video. The recent 'Zappa' move that was released shows footage from what seems to be in the '80s of FZ going through the vault and pointing various things out to a film crew. Alex Winters (from Bill and Ted fame) was hired several years ago by Gail and Ahmet Zappa to archive and digitize the Vault's recordings, which has been ongoing for awhile as far as I know. There have been some very good archival live and studio Zappa releases to come out over the last few years. I'd love to see an effort like this done for the 5150 vault in my lifetime, and that vault is probably much, much smaller than what FZ had.

Also, Dweezil indicated in one of the first podcast episodes with Steve Vai that when EVH first came to the Zappa house in 1982 that he thinks EVH's main purpose for coming to talk with Frank that day was to ask him questions about his home studio and to get references for companies to help build out a new studio (physical construction, studio gear, etc.) as Eddie was in the planning stages of building what became 5150.

**japeape** · 01.24.21, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by dislocatedday

FZ was more highly regarded and popular in Europe than here in the USA. I would guess he made more money touring there over the years.

Before he died he told his wife Gail to sell his album catalog, and in 1994 she sold it to Rykodisc for a reported $44 million. That much money, particularly in 1994, should have set the family up for generations to come. From what I have read over the years though, Gail squandered that money and lost quite a bit in frivolous lawsuits she pursued.

44 million!

I knew the Zappa estate had some serious wealth.

Gail Zappa should not have been left in charge.
She sounded pretty hot headed & vindictive.

How do you blow that much money, that quickly?

**James in New York** · 02.11.21, 08:26 PM

**ziggysmalls** · 02.12.21, 05:51 AM

That was a good guest. Of all the interviews I have read of Eddie in countless guitar mags, the Billy Corgan one he references here is simply the best. Yeah he is Billy Corgan but the guy is intelligent, well spoken and a fan. Like Eddie his dad was a musician too. Those first few SP albums were so good and he did most of the heavy lifting himself. Anyway interesting comment about the attack. Its true that Eddie seems to be pissed off when he picks.