I think it stems from a basic insecurity, originally, but also a sense of superiority,

[But] he could never take an audience seriously. If he took their advice, what they liked, that would mean he would have to take others' views seriously as well, and he wouldn't do that, he always wanted to have complete control. No one could ever be in a position to influence him, as far as he was concerned. He really didn't want that.

[Zappa was also a master producer.] He had taken an interest in school in harmony and the most basic things you need to know, ... He did have a self-taught technical knowledge in that respect. ... He came up the best way possible, in the studios, trying to imitate records on the charts, to get a certain sound like spoofing a surf records or something.

He began life writing classical music, ... He didn't actually write his first rock 'n roll song until he was 21, whereas he'd been writing classical music since he was 16.

Frank was a sort of anthropologist in that sense. He really celebrated these lives, and these people, who were getting by as best they could in what to the rest of the world would be regarded as unusual circumstances, ... He was naturally very cynical about them, and about American culture in general, but he had an empathy for these people, because he grew up in that kind of environment.

Friendships last when each friend thinks he has a slight superiority over the other.