Napoleon Murphy Brock

Napoleon Murphy Brock
Brock on tour with Zappa Plays Zappa, 2006 Photo: Jazmin Million
Background information
Birth name	Napoleon Murphy Brock
Genres	Experimental music, Rock, R&B, Jazz, pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Guitar, Synthesizer bass, Fender Rhodes
Associated acts	Frank Zappa, Zappa Plays Zappa, George Duke, Captain Beefheart, The Grandmothers
Website	Official Napoleon Murphy Brock website

Napoleon Murphy Brock is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums One Size Fits All, Roxy and Elsewhere, and Bongo Fury. His own most memorable vocal accomplishments are illustrated on the songs "Village of the Sun" and "Florentine Pogen."

Career

Napoleon Murphy Brock started his assent to music accolades and recognition in the San Francisco South Bay Area in the late 60's with a 7 and 8 piece band he had organized named "Communication Plus". He was the star lead singer, song writer, and arranger of the bands stongly R&B influenzed Rock performances as well as the sax and flute man. He played in a variety of local Clubs incling The Brass Rail and Gary Schmidt's, The Odyssey Room. He was "discovered" in the early 70's and was taken on by Frank Zappa. Napoleon's early days numerous performances with Zappa include the role of the "Evil Prince" on Zappa's 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. He also regularly tours with fellow Zappa alumnus Ike Willis and others with Andre Cholmondeley's Project/Object. Other Zappa related projects he's been involved with 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 Grande Mothers Re-Invented with Roy Estrada and Don Preston (the only Frank Zappa alumni from the Mothers of Invention regularly performing the music of Frank Zappa). They have over 91 performances since 2002.

His own most recent release is the 2003 album Balls.

Mr. Brock is mentioned in the 2007 memoir, "My Lobotomy" by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming, which describes Mr. Dully's experiences before and after undergoing an icepick transorbital lobotomy in 1960, at 12 years of age. Mr. 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 Mr. Dully lived after the having the procedure and being released from juvenile hall and a mental asylum. Mr. Dully had fond memories of Mr. Brock, and described him having "played all kinds of instruments" and as "cool."

Grammy Award

At 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. The song originally appeared on Zappa's 1969 Hot Rats LP.

Film

Brock has appeared in several Zappa documentaries and movies. They include:

• Baby Snakes (background)
• The Dub Room Special
• The Amazing Mr. Bickford (on a television screen in the background)
• The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (background)
• 200 Motels

Discography

Solo albums

Year	Album	Credit
2002	Balls	Flute, Piano, Keyboards, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor), Vocals, Whistle (Human), Producer, Harmony Vocals, Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer Bass, Screams

Appearances on Zappa albums

Year	Album	Credit
1974	Apostrophe (')	Saxophone, Vocals
1974	Roxy & Elsewhere	Tenor Sax, Flute, Lead Vocals, Co-writer of Dummy Up
1975	One Size Fits All	Flute and Tenor Sax, Lead Vocals on Florentine Pogen and Andy, background vocals on other tunes
1975	Bongo Fury	Saxophone, Vocals
1976	Zoot Allures	Saxophone, Vocals
1979	Sleep Dirt	Saxophone
1979	Sheik Yerbouti	Saxophone, Vocals, Background Vocals
1984	Them or Us	Guitar, Saxophone, Vocals, Harmony Vocals
1984	Thing-Fish	Saxophone, Vocals, Cast
1988	You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1	Saxophone, Vocals
1988	You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2	Saxophone, Vocals
1989	You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3	Saxophone, Vocals
1991	You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4	Saxophone, Vocals
1991	You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6	Saxophone, Vocals
1995	Strictly Commercial
1996	Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute
1997	Have I Offended Someone?
1998	Cheap Thrills
1999	Son of Cheep Thrills

Appearances on George Duke albums

Year	Album	Credit
1978	Don't Let Go	Vocals
1979	Follow the Rainbow	Vocals
1979	Master of the Game	Vocals

External links

• Official Napoleon Murphy Brock website
• Napoleon Murphy Brock at the Internet Movie Database
• 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.