How much Frank Zappa paid Steve Vai

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Steve Vai wrote on his website: "This was my first real solo album. I saved up all the money I earned working for Frank ($14,000) and put a down payment on a house on Fellows Avenue in Sylmar, California."

[@donaldanderson6604]

Vai said that Zappa gave him one bit of advice which saved him millions. Keep hold of your publishing rights. You didn't sign up for Zappa to get rich. You went to what Bill Bruford called the University of Frank Zappa. Worth a zillion college degrees.

[@Eric_In_SF]

Doesn’t sound like it saved him any money. Sounds like it earned him money.

[@mrguitarwho5500]

Steves sage advice on finance is so true.when I graduated high school my 1 st check was saved the same amount. side jobs were 100 % saved. after 5 yrs I bought a house with property that was 5 times the average price. 2 and 1/2 times the purchase was achieved in 2 yrs.started my own contracting co. and over 46 yrs, have made millions and lost millions. it all came out ok in the end. live a clean life below your means and it all works out. BTW still working at 70 and loving it.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Awesome, that's really great!!

[@twinsmm1]

being known as part of an FZ lineup is worth its weight in gold.

[@tomstiel7576]

bingo,,,,worth more than the money

[@keithwald5349]

I only knew guys who worked for Zappa and for Sting, and they both said things consistent with this video. Sidemen got about $1k to 2k per week, while some of the veterans likely got more. These gigs are done for experience and exposure, not to get rich. The financial pyramid in the music biz is very tall and very, very narrow. (btw, a nit but Scott Thunes pronounces his last name like "toon-iss".)

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Thank you!

[@wolfgangdevries127]

No comparison. Sting is way more famous than Zappa. Besides, musicians are hopeless. Frank's own words. Frank would teach them and then they would leave the band to start their "own career". That said, Sting probably faced the same evil, as if these other Police dudes could write tracks. Sure. Were they thinking?

[@Azabaxe80]

@@wolfgangdevries127 Sting's first side band after The Police was a first rate, who's who, collection of musicians, all of whom would command a hefty salary. Omar Hakim and Kenny Kirkland were already renowned jazz figures then, Darryl Jones ended up being the guy who played bass for the Stones, and Branford Marsalis is well, Branford. There's a documentary about the recording and the subsequent tour in support of, _Dream of the Blue Turtles_ , and Miles Copeland (Stewart's brother and Sting's manager) was on camera talking about all those accomplished musicians playing in the band and he said that "not one person in the audience is paying money to hear them, they're there for Sting". I'd personally pay money to see Branford, Kirkland and Hakim play together anywhere. I've been to a good number of Marsalis shows, while I have never paid to see Sting. The one time I did see him live, the opening act was Annie Lennox. After her set, there really was no point in staying.

[@MJ98774]

Ozzy only paid his guitar players 500/wk, KISS paid Vinnie Vincent 450, and Ive heard Phil Collins only paid Leland Skar 500/wk. Frank was a lot more generous but his musicians were top notch (not trashing the other guys). Most musicians can't cut Frank's music so he paid above average.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Vinnie Vincent's take-home pay was 550 dollars a week

[@MJ98774]

@@karsguitarchannel6088 Vinnie said 450 during one of his rants about not getting publishing money for writing "Lick it up"and some other tunes he penned. Could've been exagerrated since his ex bandmates who became Slaughter also said he was difficult.

[@Jay-sy5yf]

​@MJ98774 he wrote lick it up? Love that tune. Recently discovered Kiss.

[@MJ98774]

@@Jay-sy5yf Yes, as well as "I love it loud"...so he was kind of salty about his pay 🤣

[@FuelAirSparkTime]

Kiss sucks butt though

[@ShawnStaplesFreeGuitarLessons]

I saw Frank Zappa in 1981 when Steve Vai was in the band and did not have any idea who Steve Vai was. I was actually upset because he played all new music and nothing from the album Apostrophe which is my favorite Frank Zappa album which he released in 1974.

[@stevengoodman3498]

Doesn't Apostrophe have St Alphonso's pancake breakfast on it? Frank came up with some crazy stuff! Lol

[@ShawnStaplesFreeGuitarLessons]

@@stevengoodman3498 Yeah, great song!

[@Emlizardo]

"Expectation is a prison." Robert Fripp

[@wolfgangdevries127]

Yeah well, Frank did not write any decent tune after the 70s. He dragged his 14 year old daughter to his studio to score a "hit". Went on MTV with his son Dave. But it did not change much. Then he decided to enter the Ministry of Czechoslovakia. Last but not least, he calculated his chances of being POTUS 😊

[@mumbles215]

Read about the house he took over in laurel canyon. Took over for Charlie M and ran the same type of operation. Perverted ring leader who didn’t do drugs so he could control and manipulate others

[@flyonwall360]

Steve Vai definitely paid his dues. Steve turned out well. Frank Zappa was a bit too avant-garde for my taste. My first listen to Steve was when he was with Alcatrazz.

[@chevy4x466]

R u me? Steve was excellent with Alcatraz. 1200 a week is good money for a hired musician.

[@haroldbelfast]

Love that Alcatrazz album with Vai

[@thelantern9075]

That record is awesome.

[@kristencall1569]

I saw Zappa back in 1980. Steve Via wasn’t even heard of. But man I’ll tell you, the 2nd guitarist in Zappas band (Zappa being #1 of course), that guy blew me away. Totally and completely incredible. Years later I realized who that was. Steve Via. I was not surprised. Zappa on the other hand, he was as good as anyone ever was if not better. He never got the high credit he deserved. But somehow, IMO, i honestly don’t think Zappa even cared. But still, he should’ve been.

[@shawnwright5332]

Whipping post 👍

[@miguelrausch6715]

No amount of money could buy you the honor and priviledge that means for a musician to have been a member of the Zappa Band. It immediately puts you in a category of its own. They are some kind of legends.

[@nunestunes]

After hearing how much other solo artists who were bigger at the time paid Frank was actually good to his guys. However the stress of having to constantly learn and play very complex music might drive someone crazy

[@Emlizardo]

Steve was a wreck after his time with Zappa. It took him a while to get his life back together. But he came out at the other end of this experience a strong, wise person.

[@scottwhite2757]

Great rock history Kar . Thank you ..

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Big thanks Scott!! Have an awesome day! ✌🎸

[@Jay-sy5yf]

This is great! Would like to see more of these videos.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Big thanks! To be continued very soon

[@dalegarcia5026]

Why?!!!

[@PatrickCharlesjpc]

I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Vai on the movie set of the film "crazy," the film is a biopic of the life and music of guitarist Hank Garland.

[@peterh1353]

Always remembered Mick Ronson took on work as a short-order chef and car mechanic to keep the lights on. And that is a man considered in the top hundred guitarist of all time. To be fair he was offered top paycheck money by Bob Seeger, but he wanted to be with his wife and child. Don't think he got much playing with Dylan.

[@MoeSlislack]

my first job was in like 1988 and they had just gone up on minimum wage which was 2.25 at the time. so their wages sound terrible but they are doing what they want to do and making well over minimum wage. the dollar was way more valuable back then.

[@RichardGutierrezRG]

Scott Thunes (pronounced-toon is). Steve Vai made $10 a page for his transcriptions of not only guitar, but drums, and other instruments as well. The Frank Zappa Guitar Book was published with Steve's hard work. Frank also taught Steve about how to record and produce, Frank also loaned amps, and various studio processing gear so Steve could record his first tunes, as well as Flexible and Flexible Leftovers. Steve Vai did get the house in Silmar but also packed it with various roommates to pay for the mortgage along with his future wife Pia (a bassist, most famously with Vixen, and can be seen in the movie Hardbodies), who he had not only met at Berkley but moved with him to California.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Steve Vai actually explained that what he transcribed was as much approximate as possible to what he heard on the record. It wasn't 100% exact. Yes sometimes he did transcribe some improvisations but mostly it was basic melodies. Improvisations are too complicated in that type of music. And the drum parts as well, they are also too complicated. So what Steve did was as much approximate as possible.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

@mcfahk Hey take it easy, alright. Yes, I can read music and I did lots of transcriptions myself. Among other things, I transcribed some Yngwie Malmsteen's music (you won't find tabs for them on the web) and wrote it down. Some of it is on my channel. You might want check it out. And to protect your music, you don't have to write down all the improvisations and everything, just the basic melody. Steve did that work to legally protect Frank's catalog. And what he did wasn't always perfectly rhythmically accurate. He got it as close he could. Check out Rick Beato's interview with Steve Vai, he explains.

[@tomdecuca3627]

That is better than i thought he would have paid. That was actually pretty good money for back then.

[@DominelliGuitars]

Steve Vai has always seemed grateful for his time with Zappa, for all he learned and experienced. Zappa was a mentor to him. At the age of 18 you should not be concerned about the money you make, but the experiences you are having and the skills you are accruing. Steve was smart with his money. Sage economic advice there!

[@davifernandeslima01]

honestly, frank was great to steve. Gave good work and paid good salaries, lent him tons of equipament and a place to record and live.

[@DrTomoculus]

Um, he's not a cheapskate. Bruce Springsteen (especially) and Prince enjoyed album and chart success that Frank Zappa honestly never saw in his entire career. He had a fringe success in the 70s with certain cuts, but not until Valley Girl could you call a Zappa song " a hit." With less success on the charts, less visible to the major public, and um, Zappa's music is nothing like Springsteen or Prince. He's as unmainstream as mainstream gets. So his audience is limited, and a niche market. It can only sell to certain crowds. Complete hardcore Zappa fans, and whatever novelty audience he picked up with his songs that did get airplay. He is paying out a fair amount for what he estimates he's going to bring in, and that has to be based on the amount of venues he already has booked for a tour. If he's not handing out performance royalties, that means what he's paying out to tour he has to recoup some of it somehow. Royalties without share options takes care of that. And $1200 a week in 1984 IS NOT BAD. Most people's cocaine habits were that much a week in the 80s. You could live comfortably on $1200 a week in 1984. Really comfortably.

[@Bls-of1ld]

Ya especially since his contemporaries were paid only a cppl hundred

[@j_obaymaac2886]

saying that Frank Zappa is not mainstream is just straight ignorance. Apostrophe charted 10th in Billboard 200 in 1974, Sheik Yerbouti 21st in 1979, Joe's Garage Act 1 peaked 27th, many Mothers albums too charted well. Zappa's first hit in numerous countries was Bobby Brown released in 1979, Zappa was absolutely huge in Europe.

[@DrTomoculus]

@@j_obaymaac2886 He's got a song called Jewish Princess ffs. Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas hit the charts as well. Zappa DOES NOT MAKE MAINSTREAM MUSIC. He makes Zappa music. If that happens to chart, that's the public actually appreciating there's a Zappa in the world. Cuz Freak Out was mainstream huh.

[@DrTomoculus]

@@j_obaymaac2886 Thank you for those chart entries though. Lets see how Frank Zappa compares to Bruce Springsteen and Prince Springsteen has sold over 150 million records worldwide, listing him among the best-selling music artists in history. Prince has sold over 150 million records worldwide, including 48.9 million certified units in the United States, 4.7 million in France and over 5 million records in the United Kingdom, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. FRANK ZAPPA sold over 3.2 million albums, including 1,000,000 in the United States and 60,000 in the United Kingdom. Please please tell me again how ignorant I am for pointing out the obvious here. If you think Zappa had mainstream success with those entries you listed as chart blazing, please see who he was compared to in this video. He had no success even comparable to those two artists. He's infinitely better than both, but THE PUBLIC DIDN'T KNOW IT. And THAT'S WHY he's giving his musicians a flat rate, and no royalties. They're still getting paid better than most sidemen in established bands.

[@j_obaymaac2886]

@@DrTomoculus saying that Frank Zappa was not mainstream is laughable.. Zappa goes way beyond music. Zappa was around to debate on CNN and other big tv channels for years when people actually watched TV. Everyone knows or has at least heard of Zappa so he is mainstream you like it or not

[@GrandmaSiva]

4:15 "he spent $5000 on a two track machine?!" Fact check.. flexible was recorded on a Fostex 1/4-inch 8-track machine. ChatGPT anyone?

[@ricksantana1016]

Agreed; I was gobsmacked when I heard that! 5K for a two track?!

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Yes I think you're right. Steve said that he bought a two track tape recorder machine for $5000 from Frank and he had borrowed the money from his parents. Apparently it was in the early days of his work with Zappa, not when he bought that house in Sylmar.

[@GrandmaSiva]

@@karsguitarchannel6088 gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.

[@fredvahldiek738]

I would assume the two track would have been for mixdown. Could have been a 1/2" Studer or equivalent.

[@dalegarcia5026]

Well, no one really knows for sure since none of you were there right? RIGHT!

[@protoolsfanatic7276]

i wouldve never guessed Zappa made that much back then.

[@MikeGervasi]

Well he's out on a stellar tour with Beat as a band member. He's fit in perfectly.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Awesome!

[@dalegarcia5026]

Speaking of not "mainstream", who is Beat?

[@Michel-r6m]

In 1990 I started working in the school vacation time as a temp and had about $1000 a month. That I found really well paid as an 18yo.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

1000 a week in 81 was pretty decent money, equivalent of 3500 a week today.

[@swiftusmaximus5651]

and it was Vai's 1st Pro Gig, he was a kid

[@billydeewilliams9104]

We watched the vid, thanks...

[@PeterKKraus]

After Bidein Harris it's the equivalent of $4000 a week now.

[@Bls-of1ld]

Compared to his contemporaries who were only paid a few hundred

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

@billydeewilliams9104 better luck next time Billy. I'm sure someone will take the bait eventually

[@yetanotherjohn]

The story of Vai's first "trial runs" with Zappa is hysterical!

[@ricksantana1016]

Well it appears that Prince and especially Springsteen what a very generous, Artist he really took care of and realized the value of his musicians and treated them very well, I’am sure by now after selling his catalog he is probably a billionaire?

[@MotorcityBart]

Kid Rock was paying his band 1,500 a member a week during his hey day, which wasn't a lot, but you didn't have to pay for anything while on tour food was catered and the clothes were always free, companies wanted you to wear the clothes even sneakers.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Amazing

[@robertfields1964]

I love the epilogue of this clip.

[@theodery2712]

I know Tommy Mars, who lives a mile from the beach in Venice CA. He said they got ( in the mid 80's) 2000 a week when on the road and 500 a week ' retainer " when not touring.

[@Emlizardo]

As we can see in 2024, "Steve's Successful Years" are "To Be Continued."

[@brianwells4507]

Frank Zappa paid Tina Turner scale for her work on Cosmic Debris and Zombie Woof as well!

[@tvviewer4500]

Steve vai had no problems with finances because he is Steve vai.

[@waltercoyle6393]

In 1978 Steve Vai was ballling with that salary.

[@sjtg]

$1,200/week is $190,000/year in 2024 dollars.

[@tymanngruter1808]

It was not about the money, it belongs to the way getting better in each way!

[@meattooth1303]

frank did not make the kind of money springsteen and prince to pay his band. once you had frank on your resume, guys like prince took notice.

[@Panufo]

Steve said that he saved his money from the Zappa gig and bought his house with the proceeds.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Steve Vai said on his website: "This was my first real solo album. I saved up all the money I earned working for Frank ($14,000) and put a down payment on a house on Fellows Avenue in Sylmar, California."

[@sblack48]

If you get that gig you’e are instantly a legend. It’s not about the money

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Scott Thunes playing bass, Soundcheck of Oh No(Mothers 10th Anniversary Tour Arrangement) Zappa Band Sony Hall, NY 2022 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpK7koCugMd4hZIsi=cdMauFizvVF_MZLk

[@jayspears7245]

vs. the sales of Zappa's albums, he actually paid well.

[@waynegrabert6839]

There was a lot of inflation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. $250 in 1978 is like about $1,200 in 2024.

[@shearn666]

Frank was a musician AND a businessman. And if the info here is accurate, he walked that line pretty fairly.

[@midlifemotox]

From someone in the music business, here is a good piece of financial advise. Never get married.

[@garytitone853]

LOL, wonder where you hacked the Scott Thunes shot where he’s wearing an America T Shirt. For anyone that cares about any Horse With No Name it was Soundcheck of Oh No(Mothers 10th Anniversary Tour Arrangement) Zappa Band Sony Hall, NY 2022. Happy Halloween

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Hi Gary, thanks for the visit! Great video kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpK7koCugMd4hZIsi=H75cKln9ad-PVYDM, I enjoyed it. Happy Halloween! I will share this video in the comment pinned below my video.

[@coolmacatrain9434]

2:44 Ha ha! Prince was literally MILES ahead of Frank Zappa in popularity... he could afford to pay more as he was probably making 10/20 times more per concert than Frank, plus his albums sold in the millions ... Franks didn't.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Yes, I think Scott Thunes was too young and he shouldn't have listened to that 'know-it-all' guy at the bar. Frank paid very well.

[@dannyoberthier3053]

how much was zappa pulling in

[@AlpineMusicSchool]

great!

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Big thanks!

[@dong9514]

Alot better than Ozzy paid his guitar players. I think Zappa is fair, it's not like he's a arena band like prince, there is difference showing up for a paycheck and running the whole gig. If they are super talented, start your own band, see how that goes.

[@psychicdriver4229]

Wth BEAT, he's getting his best paydays

[@GarrettChristensen-r8d]

I played in Zappas band for 3 years. Zappa paid me $20,00.00 a month + full royalties

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Steve Vai said on his website that he saved up $14,000 for his work with Frank Zappa. Steve says he always put aside 10% of everything that came in. So if he was paid $1000/week and he put aside $100 every week than after 3 years of work with Frank Zappa, he had about $14,000.

[@csnide6702]

actually decent money.

[@midlifemotox]

I was a guitar tech for (unnamed artist). In 2010 I was making $3500 a week. When some of the players found out I was making more than them, the shit hit the fan.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Awesome!

[@midlifemotox]

@@karsguitarchannel6088 The un named artist was John Fogerty. Biggest asshole in the business.

[@midlifemotox]

@@karsguitarchannel6088 John Fogerty,,, The 2nd biggest prick in the music industry. ,,,,

[@slomo7070]

$1,200.00 a week in today's money, not bad!

[@l.rongardner2150]

For his work, Frank gave Vai a shovelful of yellow snow and his old brown shoes.

[@twinsmm1]

Actually, Scott Thunes is, I think, pronounced: Scott Two-nez.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Thank you

[@gustavoc6812]

Imagine if Sharon had married Frank instead of Ozzy.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

lol

[@clayton5584]

I have a hard time seeing a woman neuter frank. Now on the other hand ozzy is from England. They bow to queens

[@csnide6702]

Frank had more class. Sharon is a witch..........

[@Vincent-fo7xp]

They are not equivalents..

[@stuartanderson6785]

Sharon would have left after a week or two. Frank had orgies with his groupies all the time. Cheated right in front of his wife for years. Frank kept the pharmaceutical companies in the black with how much penicillin and other antibiotics he went through.

[@michaelcavazuti3270]

How much did Frank Pay Vinnie Caliauta?

[@albertjabberin739]

I assume Frank was flipping the bill for all the recording and touring expenses, he composed most of the music, it was his band/company. No royalties on live recordings is a little bit stingy imo though.

[@elitecombatfitnesscentral6170]

Wow

[@jameskrieger2855]

Prince was absolutely not paying his musicians $10k a week back then. During Purple Rain band members were making about $50k a year…

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Yes, I think Scott should not have listened to the 'know it all' guy at the bar.

[@lantz66]

My older brother was a lighting designer for Spyro Gyra in the late 80s early 90s and he was paid $1000 a week plus perdiem.

[@underseacreature2088]

Imagine if Sharon had married Frank instead of Ozzy. The child’s name would have been Moonbat Zappa

[@hansvandermeulen5515]

Sharon wouldn't be turned into an enabler so that Frank could take groupies home from tour to keep them in his basement.

[@jukesjointOG]

Session musicians don’t, as a rule, get royalties. Not in the US. Songwriting contributions aside. Publishing is a different situation.

[@davidbrucemusicvideo]

Great video, but I watched that entire video, and it didn’t say anything about how much Steve was getting paid… 🤔💜🙏🏼

[@guitarherocallahan3510]

The salary Frank paid was the same for all members of the band. So if he paid $1000/week to Scott Thunes in 1981, then he paid $1000/week to Steve Vai and the rest of the band.

[@davidbrucemusicvideo]

@ OK, thank you. That makes sense. When I watched that part of the video, I thought I was going to explain that Stev was making more because it’s a bit more intense to play stuff that Steve does on guitar. But I guess you’re right; they were all making the same amount.

[@rockdanger]

​@davidbrucemusicvideo doesn't matter what instrument you play, your basically getting paid for riding in the bus.

[@davidbrucemusicvideo]

@ true

[@Sabotage8675]

Why didn't Frank Zappa pay his musicians as much as Springsteen and Prince? Because his record sales were very modest. And that's being kind

[@hansvandermeulen5515]

Zappa didn't have big recordlabel backing so he paid all expenses on any tour out of his own pocket and if could break even it was a pretty succesful tour. The four month rehearsal time forcthe '88 tour cost him a quarter of a million dollars.

[@Rodney17302]

Comparing the salaries of musicians working for Prince and Bruce Springsteen with Zappa is like a Stadium Country musicians trying to compare their salary with an indie rock band. Zappa was a legend, but we wasn't raking in cash hand over fist.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Yes I agree. Scott was too young and he shouldn't have listened to the 'know it all' guy at the bar. Maybe the guy didn't even know how much the musicians were paid by those big name artists.

[@scottthomas3672]

I wonder how much Belew made before that?

[@nickdeaynov1247]

1000 is dollar in 1981 can buy you 2 Oz of gold today less the a 1/2 oz of gold or toddy money is not 3,500 US dollars but 5400 US dollars today

[@marksc1929]

So put away 10% earnings … then something tears up that takes 80% of that .. that’s how finances work… most never make a million

[@michaelt.wardlespider2496]

I read the Miles Barry biography, Zappa, and Frank didn't seem like someone I would have enjoyed being around. A great mind, and an incredibly talented composer, but kind of a dick. At least in my opinion.

[@spaghetti.lee-69]

Scott Thunes - Pronounced [ Too-Nis ]

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Thank you

[@RaindoggTV]

How can you compare Frank Zappa’s pay to Bruce? Bruce was top 40, Zappa was underground.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Yes I agree. Scott was too young and he shouldn't have listened to the 'know it all' guy at the bar. Maybe the guy envied Scott and this is why he said that. Maybe he didn't even know how much Bruce and Prince paid their musicians. Maybe he just took the number out of thin air.

[@ronedee]

…and how much was it worth to have Uncle Meat on your resume?

[@poindextertunes]

working with frank zappa at 18 years old is like 19 year old vitor belfort demolishing grown men and winning the heavyweight belt. Or like Mike Tyson giving brain damage to men 10 years his senior

[@skyDN1974]

$2000 per week in 1988 is like $700,000 per week today 🤯 Zappa paid his musicians very well!!!

[@p0llenp0ny]

I hope you're being sarcastic.

[@skyDN1974]

@ if I was Frank Zappa I would may my musicians $20,000 per week which would be like 70 million per week today!!

[@p0llenp0ny]

@@skyDN1974 Um no.

[@p0llenp0ny]

@@skyDN1974 $2000 in 1988 works out to just over $5000 today.

[@skyDN1974]

@ no offense but I think you should do your math again!! 5,000 in 1980s money is over 200 million dollars per week!!

[@joshpointoh]

One of the many reasons i can't stand Zappa

[@tvviewer4500]

You could buy a car for $1000 bucks in 1981

[@shanehen]

Scott "TOON-IS." Not THOONS.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Thank you

[@thomcarr7021]

Give me a break. Getting $3,500 a week doing something you want to do does not deserve sympathy. There are talented people who would do that for half.

[@verbotenco]

They were new guys with zero experience, what do you expect? Like fresh grad out of college will put up with 25 grand a year.

[@johnhetherington8830]

What ever it was too much

[@electricwizard3000]

Just finished reading original Mothers drummer/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Jimmy Carl Black's autobio, 'For Mother's Sake', and Zappa was a notorious skinflint with his musicians from the day he assumed leadership. I love the music of Zappa, his stellar intellect, and sociopolitical commentary - but he was not a very cool guy.

[@mswkt656]

He couldn't afford to pay his musicians cuz no one wanted to go see a bunch of crap. fist fudge wtf?

[@גדידדון-כ9ת]

Yess maby he was a good musician but a big hypocrys and vain

[@Fender73472]

What happened with Scott thunes on the 1988 tour ? The band turned against him and Frank canceled the rest of the tour.

[@karsguitarchannel6088]

Yes, Frank asked the guys if they couldn't try to get along until the end of the tour. They said, "No way." So, Frank canceled the rest of the tour and returned home to Los Angeles, never to tour again. Apparently Frank was already sick by this point and he did not have the energy to deal with that.

[@ChrisByrne-dr4gu]

The last Zappa tour

[@Fender73472]

@@karsguitarchannel6088 the band did not want to play with Scott thunes he must of pissed off some of the band so Frank went home and lost money on the tour..

[@hansvandermeulen5515]

The band were willing to do the upcoming westcoastctour as well as the summer festivals IF Frank would get a new bass player. Breaking a new guy would mean another tour months of rehearsal, 8 hrs/day, 7 days/week for a quarter of a million bucks. So he cancelled tthe rest of the tour.

[@Fender73472]

@ Scott thunes was a cancer …

[@fredfloyd68]

Steve was is great...Zappa the zipper...sang off key..We never bought that crud.

[@johndcoffee632]

Just say yer dumb, far more succinct

[@tpbrcombo]

Wut

[@dalitjones9135]

Frank was a freak diva with a horrible sense of humor for a person considered to be so intelligent. His humor was so childish it's hard to comprehend. Generations know nothing about him and never will. That's on him. Never mind how horrible he treated his wives. Only a few of us appreciated his best guitar solo work. The rest is...whatever. Then there's the cigarette addiction he thought was fine, until it killed him. Dying for cigarettes. How bizarre.

[@311superfly]

Yeah no drugs fuck up your brain if you are a musician. Lol.

[@MEGAMIGA]

He actually died of prostate cancer, not lung cancer

[@Anthony-u8y6r]

1 wife Gail wouldn't hear a bad word said against him where do you get your information you don't get prostate cancer from smoking

[@dalitjones9135]

@@MEGAMIGA Who said otherwise?

[@dalitjones9135]

@@Anthony-u8y6r Please read anything about them as a couple and cancer before making a fool out of yourself. You know exactly nothing.

[@bryanstaddon5998]

Pretty sure Frank never made a lot of money, relatively speaking, I think Steve made out okay!

[@rockdanger]

He was paid by the government as part of the laurel canyon psyop.

[@YFitnessMan]

Socialist.

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

He was a capitalist who paid well... You don't understand socialism very well, it's equal distribution, Frank made a TON of money. I'm guessing your comment was tongue in cheek...

[@dunningkruger3774]

Great Zappa quote- "Communism will never work in the USA because we like to own stuff" (sic)

[@strangeuniverse1199]

It's hard to earn a living being a musician with no side job to support yourself. There is a long, long history of rock and rollers being underpaid, so what else is new anyway.