With a new album out soon it's about time the org had a thread dedicated to these guys. So firstly was is everyones favourite ZZ album and Top 10 songs?! Mine are

Album: El Loco

Top 10 songs(no order)

Brown Sugar
Ten Dollar Man
Legs(single version)
I Need You Tonight
I Wanna Drive You Home
Pearl Necklace
Girl In A T-Shirt
Rough Boy
My Heads In Mississippi
Precious and Grace

When I used to frequent the bars, I'd order a drink and then play My Head's in Mississippi, if they had it on the jukebox, to get me into the party mood.

It was my little ritual.

ZZ Top seem to be a much-under-rated band in these parts. Never been sure why, as I think Billy Gibbons has to be one of the best blues-rock guitarists alive.

I'm not very knowledgeable about the early albums, but relatively recent albums such as 'Antenna', 'Rhythmeen' and 'Mescalero' have some baad stuff on them here and there. I love the production on these, not to mention the humour in the lyrics, which sometimes reminds me of Frank Zappa (tho ZZ are arch-Republicans I believe, while Frank was an arch anti-Republican).

People only seem to know them for their 'commercial' stuff in the eighties, which is a shame as they've been pretty great since (Except for the XXX album, which was mostly sh.....)

Always dug the 70s edition of the band.
Even did the Waitin' for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago sequence (along with La Grange) from...



...Tres Hombres in a cover band.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

CO-SIGN

Just gotta love them Texas blues and these guys wrote a chapter in the book. These JAMS are in my regular rotation.

"Just Got Back From Baby's"
"Thunderbird"
"Arrested For Driving While Blind"
"Backdoor Love Affair"
"Bar-B-Q"
"Just Got Paid"
"Blue Jean Blues"

a couple'mo

Tube Snake Boogie
Cheap Sunglasses
Sharp Dressed Man
Tush
Gimme All Your Lovin
La Grange
Legs
I'm Bad I'm Nation Wide

..i love these dudes.

Miles said:

The good 'ol Reverend gets plenty of props from other guitar players. He's legendary for his that crunchy tone of his. Plus he has a HUGE guitar collection. Billy gets much love. Do U know that at one time, he was dating an ABC soap star - don't remember her name, but she played a character named Ava. She was a brunette hottie. Gon' Billy, with 'yo bad self

Oh yeah - Jimi Hendrix was a big fan - he called Billy Gibbons one of his favorite guitar players.

I Hear Ya!


Well I was rollin' down the road in some cold blue steel,
I had a blues man in back, and a beautician at the wheel.
We going downtown in the middle of the night
We laughing and I'm jokin' and we feelin' alright.
Oh I'm bad, I'm nationwide.
Yes I'm bad, I'm nationwide.

Easin' down the highway in a new Cadillac,
I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back.
They sportin' short dresses, wearin' spike-heel shoes,
They smokin' Lucky Strikes, and wearing nylons too.
'Cause we bad, we nationwide.
Yeah we bad, we nationwide.

Well I was movin' down the road in my V-8 Ford,
I had a shine on my boots, I had my sideburns lowered.
With my New York brim and my gold tooth displayed,
Nobody give me trouble cause they know I got it made.
I'm bad, I'm nationwide.
Well I'm bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, I'm nationwide.

Big ZZ Top fan.
I highly recommed Rev. Billy F. Gibbons Rock & Roll Gearhead Book.
Would somebody please make them re-release the 1st 7 albums with the original mixes (not the Six-pack mixes.)

Favorite album by ZZ top:

Tres Hombres (close call with Deguello)

I don't like El Loco that much...

so fans of zz, tell me, did the video era hurt their career or help them?

sosgemini said:

I think it just exposed them to a new audience.
Older fans knew they had a comedic element. The videos made it more apparent.
The humor (the girls and the vehicles) is what helped to sell the videos.
It certainly wasn't their looks.

There are always those that get pissed when their pet/cult band gets popular and will accuse them of selling out.
But that Billy Gibbons guitar sound still sounded as nasty as ever and elements of the blues were still at the core of the music.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I had never heard of ZZ Top until those cool-ass videos. The songs - and the guitar playing - was tight, but the chicks and that car really stood out in my mind. Those videos definitely exposed an inner-city cat like me to some good 'ol Texas boogie-woogie.

Billy Gibbons did a nice interview on Howard Stern this morning.

Howard cajoled him into playing some tunes (Tush, Tube Steak Boogie, La Grange) on what sounded like a banjo type instrument.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

The videos helped quite a bit, what hurt them was their overproduced sound too much studio trickery. Starting with Eliminator they overdid all their albums up to the newest one Mescalero which is a good attempt at getting back to where they never shoulda left.