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Title: Being Frank: My Time With Frank Zappa by Nigey Lennon, Phil Stern, Suzy Beal ISBN: 1-879395-41-X Publisher: California Classics Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.62 (8 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Who Nigey Lennon??
Comment: Who is Nigey Lennon? There are no reference anywhere else to her.
If she knew Zappa ever, it is insignificant.
Rating: 2
Summary: Does truth belong in journalism?
Comment: Nigey Lennon's book is problematic for the Zappa fan. First off, it seems to contradict with the image of Zappa that he himself created and that the Zappa Family Trust continues to perpetuate: that of a brilliant composer and thinker, who while being somewhat of an iconoclast and eccentric, was also well-grounded and devoted to his family. Lennon, on the other hand, talks about Frank on the road, and presents an altogether seedier side of him. The problem is, who do we believe?
I tend to be somewhere in the middle, leaning towards the Zappa picture, not just because I happen to be a Zappa fan, but because there is a lot more evidence for it. No doubt he was not a perfect father or family man-- when you're on the road half the time and in the studio the other half, it can be hard to make time for your kids. Not to mention that when women are throwing themselves at you, like they no doubt were, fidelity is a difficult trick to manage. But I find Lennon's claims to be more than a little outrageous.
As another reviewer already pointed out, while it's perfectly plausible that she worked with Frank, there is no evidence apart from her word that she ever played on stage with him. And her claims about their relationship seem to be her romanticized recollections, tinged with bitterness from later in life. I have no problem believing that Frank and Nigey had some sort of sexual relationship at one point in time, but Lennon presents it as some sort of "true love" and tries to make herself into Zappa's muse. I'm sorry, but I have only one abbreviation for that: B.S. Her claim that "Andy" from the "One Size Fits All" album is really Frank's bitter lashing out at her for their break-up? HIGHLY doubtful. Her claim that the material from Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka was written for her as some sort of synaesthetic musical/sexual gratification? Yeah, right. And I've got a bridge to sell you.
As other reviewers have pointed out, most of this book is really about Lennon, and not about Zappa. More auto than biography, this is the work of a jaded ex-groupie, who found herself briefly on the fringe of the life of a mysterious and talented composer, and has tried to imbue her very minor and periphery role with far more importance than it ever warranted.
On a purely stylistic note, Lennon's writing style is a little weak, and unoriginal. Rather than writing in HER voice, she uses a watered down imitation of Zappa's style from his Autobiography, the Real Frank Zappa book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Reviews from the publisher
Comment: Being Frank: My time With Frank Zappa
Expanded From The Original Classic
Since his untimely death from prostate cancer in 1993, the legend of iconoclastic musician Frank Zappa has continued to grow. The decade following his passing has seen the publication of a number of books, both sacred and profane, which examine his life and work, but the best, and only, up-close-and-personal account of the man and his music remains the original: Nigey Lennon's Being Frank: My Time with Frank Zappa. Musician/author Lennon maintained a personal and professional relationship with Zappa during the period which is generally agreed to have been the composer's most creative, and she invests her recollections with considerable musical and emotional insight.
"....Being Frank can be viewed as a cautionary tale, a cinema verite' rock-and-roll moral fable, an historically accurate emotional portrait of one of America's most enigmatic modern musicians during an important transitional period in his life when he was free of the emotional/financial baggage of the original Mothers of Invention and could do as he creatively wished...what makes Zappa such a quirky individual and his music so irresistible...is precisely what Nigey has patiently and passionately documented...between the two of our books is a valuable portrait of one of the more intriguing and enigmatic cultural figures of the Twentieth Century, god help us all.
--From the Introduction by David Walley, author of No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
This edition is a reaffirmation of Being Frank's validity as a "must read" book and hell, even a "must re-read" book! Just like Frank's music, the deeper you get into this book, the more you will get out of it.
--From the Foreword by Greg Russo, author of Cosmik Debris: The Collected History and Improvisations of Frank Zappa
"irreplaceable...is the word to describe Being Frank...[Lennon's] memoir is both spiky and musically literate...Lennon's previous books were on Mark Twain and Alfred Jarry, which indicates the kind of cultural perspective required to get a grip on Zappa: something brighter than rock-journo pedantry."
-- Ben Watson, author of Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play
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