Chronology/Beginnings: 1940 to 1964

Frank Zappa was an American composer. Over the course of his 38 year career, he performed hundreds of live shows, recorded hundreds of songs, and made a lasting impact on music and society. These pages include a complete chronology of all of those things recorded from his birth in 1940 to 1964.

Birth of Francis Zappa
Francis Vincent "Frank" Zappa is born in the comune of Partinico, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Born on the street of Via Zammata at an astonishing 18 pounds, Francis was largely of Greco-Arab descent. Partinico, a small comune of only about 20,000 people, was very poor, leading for the Zappa family to emigrate to America. Francis was the first of four children born to Vincent and Rose S. Zappa (nee DiLorenzo). There are conflicting accounts of when the Zappas emigrated to America. Patrice "Candy" Zappa states that the family, including Francis and 'his brother' emigrated in 1907, but Francis' brother was not born until 1911. It must have been some time in between 1905 and 1909, since Francis' first sister was born in America.

Emigration of the Zappas
The Zappa family emigrates from Partinico into the long and winding York Road in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Here, three siblings are born: Margaret Zappa on 25 May 1909, Cicero "Joe" Zappa on 4 August 1911, and Josephine Zappa on 3 November 1911. In 1913, Vincent Zappa would open a barbershop in Baltimore, determined to make a profit. Francis would get his first job here, earning pennies to put foam on sailors' mouths. In 1919, Francis enrolled at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

Birth of Rose Marie Colimore
Rose Marie Colimore is born in Baltimore, Maryland, on 2019 Whittier Avenue. Emigrating from Italy in the 1900's, the Colimores made a name for themselves as Italian Catholic immigrants. Born to Charles and Teresa Colimore, Rose Marie was a first-generation American. She was the tenth child of eleven born to Charles and Teresa. Rose Marie's sister, Maria "Mary" Cimino, would be a large part of her children's life.

Death of Josephine and Margaret
Francis' two sisters, Josephine and Margaret, 12 and 14 respectively, are killed in a head-on collision with an automobile and a train. LeRoy P. Bean, the car driver, is also killed.

Francis Zappa in College
In 1926, Francis enrolls at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for $75. Francis would work as a barber while living in Chapel Hill and, two years later, meet the banjo player Jack Wardlaw. Wardlaw, born 16 February 1907, would later become the first employer of the famous jazz singer Peggy Lee. Wardlaw, a prodigy of the banjo, was starting a folk group called the Jack Wardlaw. The other member of this group are unknown, but Wardlaw played banjo and convinced Francis to pick up an acoustic guitar so the group could make more money. This band would march around campus, playing popular folk songs like "Red Wing", and serenade girls in their dormitories.

Around this time, in 1929, Wardlaw actually set up a separate jazz band called the Jack Wardlaw. Unlike the trio of the Banjo Boys, the big band featured 13 people. This group performed Dixieland jazz standards, with Francis on both guitar and banjo. Both of these groups lasted only a few years, with the Banjo Boys ending after college in 1930, and the Tar Heels existed in different variations until 1942. Francis, however, ceased his involvement with the band in 1930 as well. Apparently, Wardlaw and the Zappas remained in touch until Wardlaw's death in 2002.

First Marriage of Francis Zappa
After graduating from college, Francis stayed in a relationship with his college girlfriend Nelle Cheek. Nelle was born on 13 August 1905 in Chatham County, North Carolina. Nelle lived in Chapel Hill, and Francis wanted to be closer to his family back in Baltimore, making the relationship harder. They married in Chapel Hill on 14 March 1931. That summer, Francis got a job teaching at a school in the tiny Rose Hill, North Carolina. Here, Francis and Nelle encountered discrimination and prejudice, as the couple was Catholic and Italian.

Birth of Ann Zappa
Ann Zappa is born in Chatham County, North Carolina to Francis and Nelle. Francis would not know his daughter long, and the family would soon split once Francis was laid off from his job in Rose Hill. Francis would move back to Baltimore and get a job teaching at a Catholic liberal arts school in Baltimore, known as Loyola University. Nelle, not wanting to leave North Carolina, would divorce Francis in early 1932. Nelle would live a happy life, dying on 20 November 1986. Ann died on 21 November 2020, at age 89.

Francis Zappa and Rose Marie Colimore Meet
Francis and Rose Marie Colimore meet in Baltimore. Around this time, Francis gets a job at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland, working as a meteorologist hired by the government.

Second Marriage of Francis Zappa
Rose Marie and Francis are married in Baltimore. The Colimores, hesitant to marry a divorced man due to Teresa's extreme Catholic beliefs, only allowed Francis to marry Rose Marie if Francis lived at home with the Colimores. So, for a while, Rose Marie and Francis dated in secret.

Footage of this wedding exists, and about 15 seconds were used in Zappa (2020). It was re-edited by their son at some time in the 1950's.

Birth of Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa is born in Mercy Hospital, located in Baltimore, Maryland. Contrary to popular belief, his 'full name' is not Francis, it is just 'Frank'. Frank and Rose Marie almost didn't make it. The doctor had reportedly delivered at least 9 children that day, and was 'too tired to deliver another', according to Mary Cimino. So, Rose Marie was given a painkiller to slow the labor process, a decision that nearly killed both mother and son. After a day-and-a-half of labor, Frank was born breech and limp with black skin. Francis broke down in tears after hearing the news, and Rose Marie needed a blood transfusion. Fortunately, Frank was eventually breathing and his skin was pink.

Death of Charles Colimore
After his birth, on 22 December, the family was allowed to go home and care for their baby. When Frank was just 10 months old, Charles, his grandfather, would die after a long illness. Teresa, his grandmother, would sell the Colimore residence at 2019 Whittier Avenue and the family would go their separate way.

4644 Park Heights Avenue
For 2 and a half years, the Zappas live at a small apartment at 4644 Park Heights Avenue in Baltimore. The United States entered World War II on 7 December 1941, and during this period Francis worked at a chemical manufacturing plant called Edgewood Arsenal in Edgewood, Maryland. Due to this, Frank was introduced to the study of germs, which appears throughout his music. He also played with gas masks and chemical beaker s his father would bring home from work. Young Frank was also exposed to a lot of mustard gas as well as dangerous chemicals, so he was sick most of his childhood. The house had hardwood floors with throw rugs.

Francis and Rose Marie's second child, Charles Robert "Bobby" Zappa, was born on 29 August 1943. In this residence, Teresa would tell Frank and Bobby horror stories and things she learned in Italy to scare Frank. 'Mano pelusa! Vene qua!' she would shout in Italian, as Teresa didn't know much English. Rose Marie would often make pasta with lentils, and due to improper refrigeration tactics, this would give Frank a lot of digestive issues for the rest of his life.

Opa-locka, Florida
When Frank was about 4, the Zappas moved to Opa-locka, Florida. This was a very brief stay, probably only lasting a few months. Before this, they stayed in a boarding house near Atlantic City, New Jersey. The New Jersey residence wasn't anything of note, but Frank did put it in his autobiography. The Zappas moved to Florida because Francis acquired a new job working on shell trajectories and ballistic missiles with the Navy. Because there was no chemical interference involved, Frank's health improved immensely. He no longer had to take pills every day (one of which was shoved up his nose!).

Unfortunately for Frank, the family quickly moved back to Baltimore and he got sick again. Frank says that it was because his mother 'was homesick', while his sister Candy says it was because of an abcessed tooth. Whatever the reason was, the Zappas were shortly back in Baltimore working on the same job that Francis had previously worked. This wasn't a long stay either – it was in a quaint little census-designated place called Pikesville, where the Zappas lived in a terrace house until 1946.