ABSTRACT
Musique concrète is mentioned in a biographical 'factoid' about Zappa that crops up all over the internet. This routine association between Zappa and musique concrète derives, in fact, from relatively few of his works, but those few did happen to appear in a crucial period during which his critical reputation and cultural credentials were being established. Thus they carry a greater significance than they would have if they had appeared a decade later. The first Mothers of Invention album, Zappa planned and recorded sound 'objects' designed to be spliced in later, and the album can be viewed as a recording studio construct despite containing a high proportion of relatively straightforward songs that the band could play live. Self-taught and pragmatic, Zappa had little time for academic or ideological arguments like the one between the Paris and Cologne studios.
