Dweezil Zappa and mostly Danish ancestry. Dweezil's registered birth name was Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa. The hospital at which he was born refused to register him under the name Dweezil, so Frank listed the names of several musician friends. "Dweezil" was a nickname coined by Frank for an oddly curled pinky toe of Gail's. At the age of five years, Dweezil learned that his legal name was different, and he insisted on having his nickname become his legal name. Gail and Frank hired an attorney and soon the name Dweezil was official. In the 1980s, Zappa worked as an MTV VJ
...And His Mother Called Him Bill ...And His Mother Called Him Bill ...And His Mother Called Him Bill is a studio album by Duke Ellington recorded in the wake of the 1967 death of his long-time collaborator, Billy Strayhorn. It won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1969. Ellington recorded the album as a tribute to Billy Strayhorn, who died of cancer in May 1967. Strayhorn was a composer, arranger, and one of Ellington's closest friends. The album was recorded in August and November 1967. The material is Strayhorn's compositions, including some that had not previously been recorded. Ellington chose the songs