It is a question that all music lovers must answer: The Rolling Stones against The Beatles. Choosing a favorite between what are arguably the two most influential British bands in history is an impossible task. Frank Zappa, though, had his response pushed safely in his pocket.
When you think of the two British rock and roll bands, Frank Zappa may not immediately come to mind. Mothers Of Invention frontman Frank Zappa led the freak wave of the mid-1960s when rockers and young people sought something beyond the major bands’ comparatively sexual appeal.
Zappa was a self-taught musician and composer, so it’s difficult to pin down what kind of work he produced beyond the wild. Mothers Of Invention came on the scene to shake up and, to be honest, scare the music industry. They mixed classic rock, doo-wop, jazz, blues, psychedelic, and beyond.
Since Zappa’s lyrics pushed fun at society, other musicians, and culture in general, he didn’t see it as all that serious. Often referred to as the “godfather of comedy rock,” he distinguished himself as a clash with to the serious rock stars of the day, such as Jim Morrison and Robert Plant.
Although Zappa adored Mick Jagger, he could likely be added to that list. “I liked The Rolling Stones,” he admitted in a 1993 interview with Playboy. He went on to say, “I did like his [Mick Jagger] attitude and the Stones’ attitude,” choosing the Stones over The Beatles.
A noteworthy detail in Mothers of Invention is attributed by Zappa to the Stones. Jagger depicted the band in one of the most well-known photos. All of them are wearing dresses on the cover of Melody Maker. “It looks like the Rolling Stones did a drag photo. So, we took a bunch of pictures with all the guys in the Mothers Of Invention wearing dresses,” Zappa remarked.
“We had probably the ugliest band on the planet at that time,” he continued, adding that “only they tried to make it look glamorous.” Would you like to see a sexless guy wearing a dress? Take a look at this little bitch.
Mick Jagger and Zappa did cross paths. When Jagger visited Zappa in 1968 at The Log Cabin, he reportedly assisted him in extracting a wooden splinter. Zappa lodged something in his big toe. Around this time, Zappa started a girl group called The GTOs. The group included writer and notorious groupie Pamela Des Barres, who dated Jagger.
“I generally liked the Rolling Stones better than the Beatles during that era. They were a little bit more to my taste because they were more involved in the blues,” Zappa stated in a straightforward SongTalk interview.
