Gail Zappa

Gail Zappa ( born January 1, 1945 as Adelaide Gail Sloatman ) is an American entrepreneur. The shops of her husband Frank Zappa led from 1984 until his death in 1993. Nowadays it manages its extensive estate.

Life

Gail Zappa is derived from a strict Catholic family. The ancestors of her father was of Danish descent, their ancestors mother's side came from Madeira. She has three siblings: two brothers and a sister. Her father worked as a nuclear physicist for the U.S. Navy. This meant that she met as a toddler Jim Morrison. The later singer of The Doors was also the child of a high-ranking naval personnel and was cared for in the same Marine kindergarten as Gail. (P. 148ff, 178f )

1959 the family moved to London. Gail attended a girls' school. At 17, she left the parental home and worked for a time as a secretary in the " Office of Naval Research and Development". About her friend Anya Butler, with whom she lived, she got in touch with the resurgent London music scene. When her family moved back to New York in 1965, Gail began to study there in the " Fashion Institute of Technology ". They also established contacts with the local music scene, was a roadie of Emmaretta Marx, the former lead singer of Al Koopers Band Blues Project. With Anya Butler, who had also come to New York, she eventually moved to Los Angeles. (P. 148ff )

After a short time the two young women made acquaintance with the Beach Boys and the Byrds - Gail was in league with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Anya married Chris Hillman of the Byrds. Gail worked at this time as an assistant to Elmer Valentine, the founder and co-owner of Music Clubs The Trip, The Roxy and Whisky A Go-Go. The close contacts with the music scene in Los Angeles led, among other things, to Gail, who was briefly romantically involved with Kim Fowley, with this one single recorded: . The piece " America's Sweethearts " from Bunny and Bear ( Gail was Bear ) was not a success ( pp. 148ff )

At a meeting at the airport of Los Angeles Gail learned in July 1966 Frank Zappa. For both love the encounter was at first glance. A few weeks later moved into Gail Frank's house on Kirkwood Drive. Both were married in September 1967 in New York Town Hall - just before Zappa opened with his group The Mothers of Invention to their first European tour. Even while the band was traveling in Scandinavia, daughter Moon Unit was born. This was followed by the sons Dweezil (1969 ), Ahmet (1974) and the daughter Diva (1979). (P. 34f ) (p. 152, 184 ) (p. 89)

Professional career

In the first 17 years, the roles were distributed within the marriage according to the traditional pattern: Frank cared about his music (and thus to the livelihood ), Gail took care of home and children. That changed abruptly in 1984: Zappa at that time the management had fallen into serious financial difficulties, which Zappa moved to terminate its contracts. Since then, the management of all the activities of Frank Zappa was in Gail's hands.. "I'm really jumped into the icy water ," she said of this time (p. 381 ) How serious they took the new task, described her husband in his autobiography: " Gail maybe cook one and two times a month - otherwise it depends on the phone and conduct business. "(p. 286)

Today Gail Zappa is President of the Zappa Family Trust, which manages the umbrella organization in trust all Zappa companies as well as the extensive estate of Frank Zappa. Recognizable to outsiders most clearly is their activity on the covers of which appeared after the death of her husband Zappa albums. In the liner notes to her name appears regularly in one or more of the following functions: author of the liner notes, art director and designer of the cover concept, executive producer and music producer.

"My job is to protect the intent of the composer ", described in 2002, in which it sees its primary task after the death of her husband. For several years she tried to stop activities of third parties, that are not to bring their view with this principle, in accordance with legal means. The end of 2007 it was announced that the lawyers Zappa Family Trust action against several nationally operating Zappa cover bands and against the organizers of the German Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan. For headlines in the German press made ​​in June 2008, a hearing before the District Court of Dusseldorf in terms Zappa Family Trust to Zappanale. On January 21, 2009, the court dismissed the action.

Participation in projects

About her work as a manager addition, Gail Zappa was involved during his lifetime Frank Zappa in different ways at some of its projects. So she can be seen in the film Uncle Meat (1987) and in the video production video From Hell (1987) and The True Story Of 200 Motels ( 1989). In the early Zappa Lumpy Gravy album (1968 ) is to hear her voice in a short vocal passage. For the record covers of the albums Zappa In New York (1978) and Sheik Yerbouti (1979 ) were used photographs they had taken. She also managed vocal contributions to the album Havin 'A Bad Day (1986 ) of her son Dweezil and for Gene Simmons Album *** hole ( 2004).

In 1995, Gail and Frank Zappa were awarded III for designing the record sleeve of the album Civilization Phaze with a Grammy.