Although Zappa had undeniable talent, he couldn’t have been as accomplished without all of his muses. I believe that he knew this and realized that he constantly needed to be surrounded amongst creative energies. One of my favourite quotes from Kerouac’s On the Road nicely sums up Zappa’s intrigue towards “freaks”:
“I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn burn burn…”
Zappa was intelligent enough to realize how much potential unique people had, not just for his music, but for society. In a way, he fully maximized himself by using the resources around him – the freaks. Signing oddities like Wild Man Fisher or the GTO’s was a way of telling America to pay attention to these people because they revealed a lot that society was trying to keep hidden.
But Zappa wasn't the only one walking away with all the trophies. Every person he decided to collaborate with, he gave something back to them. His relationships were always reciprocal in the sense that there was always a give and take. Artists such as Terry Bozzio, Patrick O'Hearn, and Eddie Jobson are just a few people who became better musicians because of Zappa. Miles even says that "Zappa's great skills was to bring out the hidden talents in a player..." (pg. 373)
But Zappa wasn't the only one walking away with all the trophies. Every person he decided to collaborate with, he gave something back to them. His relationships were always reciprocal in the sense that there was always a give and take. Artists such as Terry Bozzio, Patrick O'Hearn, and Eddie Jobson are just a few people who became better musicians because of Zappa. Miles even says that "Zappa's great skills was to bring out the hidden talents in a player..." (pg. 373)
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