by Charly Mann

Few people know that the origins of Frank Zappa's musical genius come from Chapel Hill. It was Zappa's father, Frank Vincent Zappa Sr., who instilled an aptitude for music and love for the guitar in his son, and that all originated in Chapel Hill in the late 1920s. Frank Zappa Sr. was a student at UNC from 1926 to 1930. He had little money and first made ends meet by working as a barber in town. In 1928 Zappa met fellow UNC student Jack Wardlaw who was a banjo prodigy. Wardlaw was starting a group he called the Carolina Banjo Boys, and convinced Zappa he could further supplement his income as a guitar player in his band. In the these days the banjo was more popular than the guitar, and bands with good banjo players were in demand for dances and other social functions. 

Francis Vincent Zappa, father of Frank Zappa, UNC Chapel Hill student photo from 1928

Frank Zappa Sr. bought a guitar in Raleigh and for the next three years played in two very popular bands that were headed and organized by Wardlaw. Wardlaw's most famous band was called Jack Wardlaw And His Carolina Tar Heels and had thirteen musicians. Zappa learned to become a good guitar and banjo player from Wardlaw and became adept at many styles of music. In the Banjo Boys he played hillbilly and ragtime guitar, while in the Carolina Tar Heels he performed jazz music and Dixieland on both guitar and banjo.

Jack Wardlaw and His Carolina Tar Heels from 1929. Jack Wardlaw is in the white jacket. Francis Zappa played guitar with this group.

It is the musical versatility that Frank Zappa Jr. learned from his father that makes Zappa's music so intriguing and hard to categorize. In a career of just 25 years he released 70 albums in styles ranging from rock, classical, jazz, rhythm and blues, electronic, oratorios, symphonic ballets, to avante garde, all rooted in the diversity and originality that Zappa's father learned from UNC's Jack Wardlaw.

Senior photo of Frank Zappa's father, Francis Vincent Zappa, from University of North Carolina yearbook

After leaving UNC and his guitar and banjo playing career in 1930, Frank Zappa Sr. had a long career as a computer scientist and engineer. He remained  friends with Jack Wardlaw for the rest of his life. He retired from Lockheed in the early 1970s. His son Frank Zappa Jr. was born on December 21, 1940 and died in 1993 at age 52 of prostate cancer. Frank Zappa's two most popular albums were Over-Nite Sensation and Apostrophe. His only Top Forty single was the satirical Valley Girl which featured his daughter Moon Unit Zappa.

Frank Zappa with his mother and UNC alumnus and guitar playing father, Frank Zappa Sr.

Note: many people think that Frank Zappa's father was the actor Hugh Brannum who played Mr. Green Jeans on the children's television program, Captain Kangaroo. This is because on Zappa's very popular 1969 album Hot Rats there is a song called Son of Mr. Green Genes.

Jack (John) Wardlaw's Yackety Yack senior photo from 1930. He inspired Frank Zappa's father to become a guitar player and play in two of his bands.

Jack Wardlaw remained a performing musician the rest of his life playing banjo in various bands well into his nineties. He also ran a very successful insurance company in Raleigh. His Carolina Tar Heels became internationally popular in the late 1930s, and performed throughout the United States and Europe. On one tour a young singer named Peggy Lee made her big band debut with the band. Soon after that she became one of the most popular female vocalists in America when she joined the Benny Goodman Orchestra. In the 1960s and 70s Wardlaw led a banjo band called the Executives that often performed throughout the Carolinas and made frequent television appearances. Jack Wardlaw died in 2003.

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