Napoleon Murphy Brock (born June 7, 1945)[2] is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums Apostrophe ('), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, and Bongo Fury. He contributed notable vocal performances to the Zappa songs "Village of the Sun," "Cheepnis," and "Florentine Pogen."
Brock's musical career began in the San Francisco South Bay Area in the late 1960s with a seven and eight piece band he had organized named "Communication Plus". He was the lead singer, songwriter, and arranger of the band's strongly R&B-influenced rock performances. He also played the saxophone and flute. He played in a variety of local clubs including The Brass Rail, The Mecca, and Gary R. Schmidt's, The Odyssey Room. He was discovered playing for a dance band in Hawaii in the early 1970s by Zappa's road manager. The participation of George Duke and Jean-Luc Ponty convinced Brock to join the band as lead singer.[3]
Brock's numerous performances with Zappa include the role of the "Evil Prince" on the Thing-Fish album. He has also performed with George Duke, Captain Beefheart and more recently with Neonfire and [1]. He remains a regular performer at Zappanale.
In 2006, he toured with Frank Zappa's son Dweezil on the latter's Zappa Plays Zappa shows.[4] He also regularly tours with fellow Zappa alumnus Ike Willis and others with Andre Cholmondeley's Project/Object. Other Zappa related projects in which he has been involved include the Tampa, Florida based band Bogus Pomp, and the 16 piece Ed Palermo Big Band from New York City.
He is most frequently seen fronting The Grand Mothers Of Invention with Roy Estrada, Tom Fowler and Don Preston (the only Frank Zappa alumni from The Mothers of Invention regularly performing the music of Frank Zappa), performing over 91 times since 2002.
His own most recent release is the 2003 album Balls.
Brock is mentioned in the 2007 memoir My Lobotomy by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming, which describes Dully's experiences before and after undergoing an icepick transorbital lobotomy in 1960, at 12 years of age. Brock, while studying psychology and music at San Jose State University, was employed in the mid-1960s as a counselor at Rancho Linda, a "residential center for special education" where Dully lived after having the procedure and being released from juvenile hall and a mental asylum. Dully had fond memories of Brock, and described him as "cool" and having "played all kinds of instruments."
^"Project/Object Lessons Zappa Veterans Keep Rock Iconoclast's Music Alive". Albany Times Union (Albany, NY) – via HighBeam Research(subscription required). October 24, 2002. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2013. Zappa wanted Brock to be lead vocalist. Brock wasn't interested – until he found out jazz musicians George Duke and Jean-Luc Ponty were also in the band
^"Napoleon Murphy Brock recalls Zappa on 27-May-2007". Archive.org. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
External links
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with Bill Milkowski, Michael G. Nastos, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Ed Palermo, Ralphe Armstrong.
August 20, 2023
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This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Napoleon Murphy Brock news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Napoleon Murphy Brock born June 7 1945 2 is an American singer saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s including the albums Apostrophe Roxy amp Elsewhere One Size Fits All and Bongo Fury He contributed notable vocal performances to the Zappa songs Village of the Sun Cheepnis and Florentine Pogen Napoleon Murphy BrockBrock at Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City Missouri in 2012Background informationBirth nameNapoleon Murphy BrockBorn 1945 06 07 June 7 1945 age 78 GenresExperimental music rock R amp B jazz popOccupation s Musician songwriter record producerInstrument s Vocals saxophone flute clarinet guitar synthesizer bass Fender Rhodes Contents 1 Career 2 Grammy Award 3 Film 4 Discography 4 1 Solo albums 4 2 Appearances on Zappa albums 4 3 Appearances on George Duke albums 5 References 6 External linksCareer 2006 Zappa Plays Zappa concertBrock s musical career began in the San Francisco South Bay Area in the late 1960s with a seven and eight piece band he had organized named Communication Plus He was the lead singer songwriter and arranger of the band s strongly R amp B influenced rock performances He also played the saxophone and flute He played in a variety of local clubs including The Brass Rail The Mecca and Gary R Schmidt s The Odyssey Room He was discovered playing for a dance band in Hawaii in the early 1970s by Zappa s road manager The participation of George Duke and Jean Luc Ponty convinced Brock to join the band as lead singer 3 Brock s numerous performances with Zappa include the role of the Evil Prince on the Thing Fish album He has also performed with George Duke Captain Beefheart and more recently with Neonfire and 1 He remains a regular performer at Zappanale Brock appeared in the 2005 film Rock School a documentary about The Paul Green School of Rock Music an extracurricular music program that he and Project Object have closely supported for several years In 2006 he toured with Frank Zappa s son Dweezil on the latter s Zappa Plays Zappa shows 4 He also regularly tours with fellow Zappa alumnus Ike Willis and others with Andre Cholmondeley s Project Object Other Zappa related projects in which he has been involved include the Tampa Florida based band Bogus Pomp and the 16 piece Ed Palermo Big Band from New York City He is most frequently seen fronting The Grand Mothers Of Invention with Roy Estrada Tom Fowler and Don Preston the only Frank Zappa alumni from The Mothers of Invention regularly performing the music of Frank Zappa performing over 91 times since 2002 His own most recent release is the 2003 album Balls Brock is mentioned in the 2007 memoir My Lobotomy by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming which describes Dully s experiences before and after undergoing an icepick transorbital lobotomy in 1960 at 12 years of age Brock while studying psychology and music at San Jose State University was employed in the mid 1960s as a counselor at Rancho Linda a residential center for special education where Dully lived after having the procedure and being released from juvenile hall and a mental asylum Dully had fond memories of Brock and described him as cool and having played all kinds of instruments Grammy AwardAt the 51st Grammy Awards on February 8 2009 Napoleon won a Grammy for his performance of the song Peaches en Regalia with the band Zappa Plays Zappa which also featured Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa The song originally appeared on Frank Zappa s 1969 Hot Rats LP FilmBrock has appeared in several Zappa documentaries and movies They include Baby Snakes background The Dub Room Special A Token of His Extreme The Amazing Mr Bickford on a television screen in the background The True Story of Frank Zappa s 200 Motels background Roxy the Movie DVD 2015 DiscographySolo albums Year Album Credit2002 Balls Flute piano keyboards alto sax tenor sax vocals whistle human producer harmony vocals Fender Rhodes synthesizer bass screamsAppearances on Zappa albums Year Album Credit1974 Apostrophe Saxophone vocals1974 Roxy amp Elsewhere Tenor sax flute lead vocals co writer of Dummy Up1975 One Size Fits All Flute and tenor sax lead vocals on Florentine Pogen and Andy background vocals on other tunes flute on Inca Roads1975 Bongo Fury Saxophone vocals1976 Zoot Allures Saxophone vocals1979 Sleep Dirt Saxophone1979 Sheik Yerbouti Saxophone vocals background vocals1984 Them or Us Guitar saxophone vocals harmony vocals1984 Thing Fish Saxophone vocals cast1988 You Can t Do That on Stage Anymore Vol 1 Saxophone vocals1988 You Can t Do That on Stage Anymore Vol 2 Saxophone vocals1989 You Can t Do That on Stage Anymore Vol 3 Saxophone vocals1991 You Can t Do That on Stage Anymore Vol 4 Saxophone vocals1991 You Can t Do That on Stage Anymore Vol 6 Saxophone vocals1996 Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa A Memorial Tribute1997 Have I Offended Someone 2002 FZ OZ Tenor saxophone vocalsAppearances on George Duke albums Year Album Credit1976 Liberated Fantasies Vocals1978 Don t Let Go Vocals1979 Follow the Rainbow Vocals1979 Master of the Game VocalsReferences Planetzappa interview Archived July 14 2014 at the Wayback Machine Napoleon Murphy Brock Autographs Memorabilia amp Collectibles Historyforsale com Retrieved February 4 2021 Project Object Lessons Zappa Veterans Keep Rock Iconoclast s Music Alive Albany Times Union Albany NY via HighBeam Research subscription required October 24 2002 Archived from the original on January 25 2013 Retrieved January 2 2013 Zappa wanted Brock to be lead vocalist Brock wasn t interested until he found out jazz musicians George Duke and Jean Luc Ponty were also in the band Napoleon Murphy Brock recalls Zappa on 27 May 2007 Archive org Retrieved September 23 2012 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Napoleon Murphy Brock Official Napoleon Murphy Brock website Napoleon Murphy Brock at IMDb Napoleon Murphy Brock at AllMusic Panel Discussion Brown Shoes Don t Make It The Music of Frank Zappa with Bill Milkowski Michael G Nastos Napoleon Murphy Brock Ed Palermo Ralphe Armstrong Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Napoleon Murphy Brock amp oldid 1162410694, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
