Dweezil Zappa – Frank Zappa's son – enjoyed a decades-long friendship with Eddie Van Halen. At the age of 12, he was even gifted Van Halen's 1982 Kramer guitar, which he used to play Runnin’ with the Devil with his band at a school talent show.
However, in a recent interview, he revealed how Van Halen was in awe of Frank Zappa's complex compositions and the younger Zappa's ability to execute them on guitar.
“Having worked with Edward Van Halen on the very first recording that I ever did when I was 12 years old, and then remaining friends with him over the years, until there was this really interesting, fun experience where he came to one of my shows back in 2010, and we were playing the song, St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast [from 1974's Apostrophe (')],” recounts Zappa in an interview with 100 FM The Pike.
“But after the show, he came up [and] he said, ‘What's that pancake song? What are you playing there?’ and I had to play this really difficult part [and] show it to him on the guitar.
“And he was, ‘I don't even understand how you're playing. I can never play that.’ So in that moment, it was a total role reversal. Because me, as a 12-year-old, I was saying, ‘Play Eruption, play Mean Street,’ thinking I could never play that. So I had this complete oddball experience in that moment, it was like the Jedi mind trick or something. It was very strange.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Zappa talks about the most important lesson he learned from his dad. “It was really because he loved the creative journey. And he did what he did, because he loved it. If other people liked it, that was a bonus,” he says.
“So understanding that you could follow a passion and get something out of it, even if it's not related to a monetary reward, it really sets your mind at ease, because you're able to understand what is the important element of it. And if you enjoy that process of constantly being a student of something and learning new things, then you can keep yourself entertained and occupied.”
Dweezil kicks off the The Rox(Postroph)y Tour today in Pheonix, Arizona. The tour celebrates Frank Zappa's legacy, with a special focus on the Roxy & Elsewhere and Apostrophe albums, both released in 1974.
