In a time-honoured tradition of musician family feuds, Frank Zappa’s children have descended into a quarrel over the right to perform their father’s work.
Dweezil Zappa, a guitarist, is no longer performing his father’s music under the name Zappa Plays Zappa because of a dispute with his brother Ahmet over the use of the family name.
Dweezil, 46, who is five years older than Ahmet, has changed the name of his band to Dweezil Zappa Plays Frank Zappa to avoid legal action by the Zappa estate, which is controlled by Ahmet and Diva, the youngest of Frank’s four children with Gail Sloatman.
“It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “But this is being done under duress.”
The brothers, who once performed together, fell out after their mother’s death last year. The Zappa family trust instructed Dweezil last month that Zappa Plays Zappa was a trademark owned by the trust and that he would incur a fine of $150,000 (£100,000) if he played a song without permission.
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He said: “My last name is Zappa; my father was Frank Zappa. But I am not allowed to use the name on its own. I’m not allowed to use a picture of him. I’m not allowed to use my own connection with him without some sort of deal to be struck.”
Ahmet responded that he was trying to protect the Zappa name for the family as a whole. “I am not standing in the way of Dweezil playing the music. He would just have to be in accordance with the family trust. Maybe he’s grieving. For all of us it’s been superemotional.”
Dweezil said that his brother’s response contained “obvious deceit” and that Ahmet’s actions spoke louder than words. He said that he had previously paid exorbitant rates to his mother to use the name Zappa Plays Zappa, which performed in Britain twice last year including at the Royal Festival Hall in October.
The estate has previously pursued Frank Zappa tribute bands and demanded that they obtain special permission for “grand rights” rather than rely on standard licensing agreements. Dweezil said that he had never paid for a grand rights licence, which usually refers to theatrical performances.
Dweezil, who has performed as Zappa Plays Zappa for ten years, said that he was reluctant to change his band’s name but that he wished to be free from the demands of his father’s estate. “I just hope people will understand that the only thing I’m changing is the name,” he said.
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Zappa senior, who released more than 60 albums either solo or with his band the Mothers of Invention, died in 1993.
The dispute joins a long list of brotherly bickering in the music business. Ray and Dave Davies exchanged barbs for 20 years after the break up of The Kinks. Don and Phil Everly had a dramatic falling out on stage in 1973, resulting in Phil hurling down his guitar and leaving during a performance of Cathy’s Clown. Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis no longer speak to one another after a row backstage in 2009.