Frank Zappa and Frank Zappa, er, Mike Nesmith.

Tonight House of Blues will be graced by Zappa Plays Zappa, led by the late Papa Frank's oldest son Dweezil, who inherited some of his father's guitar skills. Zappa Plays Zappa is the preeminent traveling Zappa tribute show going, and Dweezil's love letter to his father's body of work, which has only grown more mythic since Frank passed away in 1993.

Rewind:

Rusted Shut's Don Walsh Loves Him Some Zappa

Frank Zappa is an example of what I would call a "quicksand" artist, meaning that their allure is so strange and enigmatic that by taking just one step into the discography, you could become obsessed, embedded and maybe even a lost cause.

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Right about now young, budding rock writers and nerds are sitting on gift cards and credit from the holidays, and may need to know what books to pick up at the local bookstore or Amazon to further their education.

It's not enough to just read every new music blog or (gasp!) pick up a few music magazines whenever the mood strikes. At least it wasn't for this writer. It was spending hours at used-book stores and finding fellow nerds' leftovers. Rolling Stone, Nick Kent and Lester Bangs compilations, stuff like that.

A healthy dose of Chuck Klosterman ushered me along the path, too.

I still owe my local library a chunk of change for "relieving" them of a cool Stones book in 2003. I also acquired a handful of reference books, popular music guides, and encyclopedias from bookstores and garage sales.

So, what should you aspiring rock writers have in your personal curriculums? Well, stop aspiring and start being, for one thing. Start a blog. Make us sweat.

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drinksmachine via Flickr

Liverpool, UK

Imagine one of those tween magazine quizzes, one that is supposed to show what your favorite music says about you by asking you cute questions about your musical taste. Except in return, this one would provide you with some stone-cold harrowing insight into your soul as to specifically why you may prefer The Beatles A Hard Day's Night over Yellow Submarine.

While I cannot provide you that kind of insight, it is a fact that The Beatles evolved between each of their albums in a fashion that resulted in their branching out enough to reach a wide array of tastes and personalities, arguably more than any other pop group in history. This is what enabled them to capture the world's imagination, and probably why you're even reading this.

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The Rolling Stones' 1967 album, Their Satanic Majesties Request, turns 45 today. The album's subject matter and oddity make it a strange holiday release, but hey it was the '60s.

Best-known for the saccharine "She's a Rainbow" and oft-covered "2000 Man," the album gets lost in the Stones' greater late-'60s shuffle. It was also the first Stones album to have gimmicky packaging, the lenticular job preceding the naughty Sticky Fingers zipper, and the die-cuts on Some Girls.A year later, the group would release Beggars Banquet, which would be the first in a run of five LPs that would solidify the Stones as the "Greatest Rock and Roll Band In the World."

Coming off the stately Between the Buttons months earlier, Request most definitely isn't a favorite of most fans, sticking out as a faddish trifle. Released just months after their rivals in the Beatles unleashed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, many critics laughed it off the Stones' attempt to cash in on the mystic/kooky fad.

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Public Image Ltd will be performing in the Greater Houston area on Friday, tomorrow, and as previously mentioned here, their choice of Scout Bar out in Clear Lake is a little unexpected.

Rewind:

Talking Politics, and Almost No Music, With Punk Legend John Lydon

For those who haven't heard of PiL, this is a project founded by John Lydon (otherwise known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) directly following The Sex Pistols' breakup in the late 1970s.

Now, here's to you younguns (because I'm old, right) that may not be aware of the scope and significance of Public Image Ltd's work since they aren't posted to performing somewhere inside the Loop alongside other legends (Converge, Rakim), or something like that. Hence this blog category: Eat Your Vegetables! Okay.

Public Image Ltd is described as one of the pioneering post-punk groups. So, the Sex Pistols set a precedent for Public Image Ltd., who set a precedent for many currently popular acts. That being said, here's another list for you all of some of the most popular bands influenced by PiL.

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memegenerator.net

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act has now been almost two weeks ago. If you keep up with national news, or maybe just don't avoid the Internet machine, well, you have probably observed that people are still noticeably buzzing about the ruling.

It does happen to be one of the polarizing issues of our current president's term, so, granted, the existence of these fiery debates -- including the comment wars via social-networking sites --do make sense. Better yet, uncensored discussion of any issue is part of what makes the Internet a pastime, right?

That being said, I'm not a constitutional scholar myself. I'm here to accordingly provide you with a short soundtrack to these contentious times, with all points of view taken under consideration. If you're lactose intolerant to cheese, with the new healthcare system in the works, you'll be OK soon enough after reading this. Debatably.

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In 1985, the Parental Music Resource Center was formed as basically a watchdog group over popular music. Essentially, their goal was censorship.

However, there was one big problem: The group was made up of the likes of Tipper Gore (wife of then-Senator and future Vice President Al Gore), Susan Baker (wife of then-Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III), Pam Howar (wife of realtor Raymond Howar) and Sally Nevius (wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius).

These "Washington Wives" had some big ties to the U.S. Senate, enough to convince the upper half of Congress to hold a hearing about music's effects on young people. With it they made a list of what they considered to be the 15 dirtiest songs in the nation at the time. However, that list was both flawed and, in hindsight, subjective.

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The Beach Boys have embarked on a 50th-anniversary reunion tour this year, kicking off the media blitz with a Grammy performance featuring everybody from Maroon 5 to Foster the People.

As one of the pioneering rock bands of their era, the Beach Boys made a return to the spotlight that was met with a warm welcome, even though the material on their new album That's Why God Made The Radio, doesn't quite connect with fans like their bedrock material has. This past week I spoke with guitarist Al Jardine on his band's legacy and future plans as well.

With a nightly set list numbering almost 46 songs from their storied 50-year career, the Boys are pulling out all the stops this summer on their reunion tour. Now that Brian Wilson is back in the fold. don't expect this to be the last of these tours.

Tonight the band plays the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Expect a full report Monday morning here on Rocks Off.

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Six years ago today, on June 6, 2006, the world lost Houston-born musician Billy Preston. The session man, kind soul and all-around secret weapon was in the mix for some of the best and brightest moments of rock's heyday. The man backed up Little Richard and Sam Cooke, and as a child prodigy he played with Nat King Cole and Mahalia Jackson.

The keyboardist and organist laid down tracks for some of the biggest albums in rock history, including the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. and Sticky Fingers, Eric Clapton, most of the Beatles' solo work and numerous others. In some capacity, he would become a mainstay in the studio for most of those artists up until his death.

It's said that at one point John Lennon wanted him to join the Beatles, but Paul McCartney shot down the idea of having too many cooks in the kitchen. That's him with the Fab Four in that famous rooftop performance. Even still, he was billed briefly as "The Fifth Beatle," and he and George Harrison would be friends for life.

Imagine the funkiness that could have come from Preston being in the Beatles through the '70s had the band still existed then...

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Last week the world mourned the loss of famed television producer, idol maker and eternal teenager Dick Clark, who suffered a massive heart attack and died at the age of 82.

Today, one of his contemporaries, Casey Kasem, turns 80 years old. The Lebanese vegan has logged more than 50 years of broadcasting history, beginning his career just as rock was emerging as the dominant youth sound.

The longtime host of syndicated radio countdown shows American Top 40 and America's Top 10 (plus a host of others) was also the voice of animated stoner hero Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. Kasem retired from radio in 2009, but he continued voice acting until late the next year.

Interestingly enough, he was also succeeded by Ryan Seacrest on the long-running Top 40 shows, just as the late Clark also passed the baton to Seacrest for New Year's Rockin' Eve. Is there anything that Seacrest can't, or won't, do?

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