Frank Vincent ZappaUntil discovering his birth certificate as an adult, Zappa believed he had been christened "Francis," and he is credited as Francis on some of his early albums. His real name was "Frank", however, never "Francis." Cf. (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa established himself as a prolific and highly distinctive composer, electric guitar player and band leader. He worked in almost every musical genre and wrote music for rock bands, jazz ensembles, synthesizers and symphony orchestra, as well as musique concrète works constructed from pre-recorded, synthesized or sampled sources. In addition to his music recordings, he created feature-length and short films, music videos, and album covers. Although he only occasionally achieved major commercial success, he maintained a highly productive career th