ZZ Top
This is a direct excerpt from UNCLE JOE'S RECORD GUIDE - HARD ROCK, Copyright (c) 1995 by J. Benson Unlimited. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Formed as a boogie & blues power trio in late 1969, ZZ Top's gestation took place over several years. The band performed six out of seven days in bars and clubs around Texas before their 1974 hit, "La Grange," exposed them to a national audience. The first phase of their career concluded three years later after the Top had played to millions of fans, sold millions of albums, and taken their hard-rocking three-piece boogie & blues format as far as it could possibly go. The end of that phase could have been a perfect time for the group to take a break, enjoy their riches, lose their creative spark and make a failed comeback attempt. Indeed, ZZ Top did take a three-year break, but the musical evolution they made upon their return was nothing short of incredible. They stayed firmly based in the blues as their songwriting style, and individual performances improved; their unique arrangements tightened, and their execution grew more sophisticated. The trio's experimentation with electronics and digital sampling proved them second to no other hard rock band. The combination of new developments and techniques generated enormous album sales and sold-out concert tours. The second phase of ZZ Top's career became even more successful than their first.
Even with so much commercial success while in pursuit of their unique musical vision, a more fitting tribute to the trio's talent was the superb quality of their performances during 1994's Antenna world tour. After 25 years together, ZZ Top not only enjoyed each other's company more than ever, their musical abilities were at an all-time high!
ZZ Top Birth Dates
Frank Beard - June 11, 1949
Billy Gibbons - December 16, 1949
Dusty Hill - May 19, 1949
Frank Beard, Dusty Hill, Uncle Joe, Billy Gibbons and Brother Jordan
at ZZ Top's induction into the Rock Walk of Fame in Hollywood, 1994.
ZZ Top
Tres Hombres (17-17)
3rd LP, released 7/73. After playing 300 gigs per year for three years, the 23-year-olds Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard's writing, singing and playing styles had become much tighter and better focused. But ZZ Top was still identified as a Southwestern phenomenon, just as Styx and REO Speedwagon were considered Midwest bands, and J. Geils was associated with the East Coast. In early 1973, ZZ Top recorded some basic tracks in the tiny concrete block studio they had used for their first two albums, then moved to Ardent Studios in Memphis. Once there, they set up their equipment, turned on the tape recorders, and captured everything as it was played live. Their changes in recording technique and buffed-up writing style worked so well that the sound of this album took the band to a new level.
Propelled by the hit single "La Grange," Tres Hombres became ZZ Top's first Top 10 charting, million-selling album. Bill Ham produced the Texas-style boogie & blues album as Terry Manning engineered the sound. Guitarist Gibbons and bassist Hill split the lead vocals, and all three band members contributed to songwriting. Tres Hombres is considered to be one of the classic American rock & roll albums of the mid-Seventies.
** Special Note: Tres Hombres is Spanish for "Three Men."
- "Waiting For The Bus," co-written by guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill, always segued into "Jesus Just Left Chicago." That combination featured some fine jamming and became a ZZ Top concert standard for the rest of their career.
- "Jesus Just Left Chicago" was listed as a group composition.
- "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" was another group composition. Dusty and Billy shared the lead vocals.
- "Master Of Sparks" was credited to Billy Gibbons.
- "Hot, Blue And Righteous" was another Gibbons song on which he traded vocals with Dusty.
- "Move Me On Down The Line" was co-written by guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill.
- "Precious And Grace" was a group composition. (The band loved to claim that this song was based on a true story.)
- "La Grange" was the group composition that put ZZ Top on the map. Supposedly composed during a ride to the recording studio, it was also the only hit single of 1973 that was written about a brothel. With "Just Got Paid" (from Rio Grande Mud) as the B-side, "La Grange" charted at #41 in May 1974 - almost a full year after this album was released!
- Billy and Dusty co-wrote "Sheik."
- "Have You Heard" was another Gibbons/Hill composition on which they both sang lead.
