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({{pronEng|ˌziːziːˈtɒp}}) is an American [[hard rock]] band formed in 1969 in [[Houston, Texas]]. The group members are [[Shawn evans]] (guitars, lead vocals, harmonica), [[Dusty Hill]] (bass, vocals), and [[Frank Beard (musician)|Frank Beard]] (drums, percussion).
{pronEng|ˌziːziːˈtɒp}}) is an American [[hard rock]] band formed in 1969 in [[Houston, Texas]]. The group members are [[Shawn evans]] (guitars, lead vocals, harmonica), [[Dusty Hill]] (bass, vocals), and [[Frank Beard (musician)|Frank Beard]] (drums, percussion).


The band holds the distinction of being among the few rock bands still composed of its original recording members for nearly 40 years<ref name="ZZTBeard"/> and until September 2006, the same manager/producer, [[Bill Ham]].
The band holds the distinction of being among the few rock bands still composed of its original recording members for nearly 40 years<ref name="ZZTBeard"/> and until September 2006, the same manager/producer, [[Bill Ham]].

Revision as of 01:25, 22 May 2008

ZZ Top

{pronEng|ˌziːziːˈtɒp}}) is an American hard rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. The group members are Shawn evans (guitars, lead vocals, harmonica), Dusty Hill (bass, vocals), and Frank Beard (drums, percussion).

The band holds the distinction of being among the few rock bands still composed of its original recording members for nearly 40 years[1] and until September 2006, the same manager/producer, Bill Ham.

ZZ Top reached peak commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, scoring many hit songs during that era, but they remain together today and are still touring and releasing albums. ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004. Summarizing their music, Cub Koda wrote, "As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the hard rock idiom ... while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support."[2] Their song lyrics often feature sexual innuendo and humor.

Nearly as well-known as their music is the group's image: Gibbons and Hill are almost always pictured wearing sunglasses (a nod to their 1979 song "Cheap Sunglasses"), similar if not matching clothing, and their trademark chest-length beards (Ironically, in spite of his own surname, Beard almost always sports just a mustache). In 1984, the Gillette Company reportedly offered Gibbons and Hill US$1 million apiece to shave their beards for a television commercial but they declined, stating "We're too ugly without 'em".[1]

History

Early years

The players who would comprise ZZ Top had been in different Texas-based groups, most notably the Moving Sidewalks with Gibbons, and American Blues with Hill and Beard. By 1969, the rival groups had disbanded, and the three musicians joined forces. At first, Billy invited Frank for his project, a blues rock foursome. Needing a new bassist, Beard suggested his former bandmate, Joe 'Dusty' Hill, and the nascent band stayed a trio.

The origin of the band's name was not officially known for many years, but rumours abounded: a hybrid of two popular brands of rolling paper, Zig-Zag and 'Top'; a tribute to blues legend Z. Z. Hill; and Billy Gibbons perhaps witnessing the two words running together on a dilapidated billboard. The real origin--as told by Billy Gibbons and recorded in his book Rock + Roll Gearhead--is derived from the name of blues guitar master B. B. King. The band originally wanted to call themselves Z.Z. King, but thought it seemed too similar to their hero. They thus figured that "King" was also at the "top", and so settled on ZZ Top.

ZZ Top played their first show in February, 1970, and toured Texas almost continually for the next several years. Upon signing a contract with London Records, the first two albums, ZZ Top's First Album and Rio Grande Mud, were made at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas.

By 1973, ZZ Top band began recording with engineer Terry Manning at Ardent Studios in Memphis[3]. The resultant third album, Tres Hombres (1973), was the first for which the band gained a million-seller and wide acclaim. Hombres featured ZZ's classic hit "La Grange", a reference the famous bordello, also the subject of the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Other album cuts like "Waitin' for the Bus" and its immediate follower "Jesus Just Left Chicago" became fan favorites and rock-radio staples.

By September of 1974, ZZ Top was drawing tens of thousands to shows such as the Labor Day stadium concert in Austin, dubbed “ZZ Top’s First Annual Texas-Size Rompin’ Stompin’ Barndance and Bar-B-Q.” Also on the bill were Santana, Joe Cocker, and Bad Company.[4]

A photo of the 1974 crowds was used on the record sleeve of Fandango!, released in 1975. The album--half studio material and half live document--spawned the infamous hit "Tush" as well as "Heard It on the X", a paean to Mexican border-blaster stations whose call sign began with X. The band continued touring heavily in 1976, releasing Tejas and the single "Arrested for Driving While Blind".

By 1977, after hefty touring and recording schedules, ZZ Top drifted into an extended and unplanned hiatus. Manager-producer and overall image-meister Bill Ham used the time to negotiate a recording deal which allowed the band to retain rights their catalogue on London Records, which would then be distributed by their new label, Warner Bros. Records.

ZZ Top reunited in 1979 for live shows and a new album, Deguello, under their new Warners contract. Unbeknownst to each other, Hill and Gibbons had both grown out their now-famous beards. (Ironically, the only beardless band member remained the mustachioed Frank Beard.) The album displayed a strikingly minimalist approach to the ZZ Top sound. Along with Gibbons' clean guitar and the sparse Hill-Beard rhythm section, Deguello sported saxophone harmonies courtesy of Gibbons, Hill, and Beard--touted as the "The Lone Wolf Horns"--and yielded famous hits such as "Cheap Sunglasses" along with a cover version of Issac Hayes' "I Thank You."

Eliminator and the 1980s

ZZ Top started out the 1980s with an eclectic mix of songs on El Loco, released in 1981. The album featured the band's first use of synthesizer and incorporated unusual electronic effects. Singles stayed in the previous ZZ good-time vein, however, such as "Tube Snake Boogie" and "Party On the Patio".

By late 1983, with the telling release of Eliminator, ZZ Top had undertaken a complete artistic reinvention both in sound and image. Eliminator featured a darkly innovative and distinctive synthesizer-laced sound which wove into and augmented the band's guitar-bass-drums formula, a rarity in the blues rock genre. To obtain the signature Eliminator sound, Gibbons also devised the "amp cabin", a collection of guitar amplifiers surrounding a microphone. (Rumor also had it that Gibbons and Hill used melted-down Cadillac fenders for guitar strings.)

With the advent of MTV, ZZ also readily embraced the phenomenon of the music video and boosted itself to new popularity with video releases of "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs" and "Sharp Dressed Man", each featuring the band's new icon: a cherry-red 1933 Ford Coupe hot rod nicknamed The Eliminator. The comical videos featured a trio of mysterious, sexy women who roam around and rescue people from seemingly dire situations, along with an iconic Billy, Dusty, and Frank, who seem to appear out of nowhere and grinningly proffer keys to the Eliminator.

The ZZ sound now featured a modern, electronic, and danceable formula which won the band new fans and multi-million-dollar success in sales, radio and video play, and live tours. A media phenomenon, Eliminator remains ZZ Top's most successful album to date.

The band's next album, 1985's Afterburner, expanded Eliminator's use of synthesizers coupled with blues-rock rhythms. The ZZ Top sound now incorporated the use of sequencers, notably on the hit singles and videos "Sleeping Bag", "Rough Boy", and "Velcro Fly". The Afterburner album cover (and "Sleeping Bag" video) now portrayed the Eliminator as a hot-rodded version of the Space Shuttle and the band as a space-station lounge act in "Rough Boy".

In 1987, Warner released the three-disc set ZZ Top: Six Pack, a collection of ZZ Top's albums from 1970 to 1981. The package, however, was remixed--perhaps controversially--by the label (along with ZZ Top) in order to make it sound like the band's later works. All drum tracks were edited to include expanded digital reverb effects. Also, in an attempt perhaps to fit six albums on three discs, some tracks (such as "Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell" from Rio Grande Mud) were edited or 'faded out' sooner than their original versions. At the same time, individual remixed CD releases were released. Degüello, however, was spared the revisionist treatment because of a legal issue involving Elmore James's song, "Dust My Broom", which featured as a cover version on the album.

The 1990s

Recycler, released in 1990, was ZZ Top's last studio album under contract with Warner Records. Recycler was also the last of a distinct sonic trilogy in the ZZ Top catalogue.[5] The collection actually marked a return towards the earlier, simpler guitar-driven blues sound with less synthesizer and pop bounce of the previous two albums. This move did not entirely suit the fanbase that Eliminator and Afterburner had built up, and while Recycler did achieve platinum status, it never matched the sales of Eliminator and Afterburner. The cartoonish and sexy-ZZ-girl videos continued, however, in singles like "My Head's in Mississippi", "Give It Up", and "Burger Man".

ZZ Top also contributed a song, "Doubleback", and appeared as a comical acoustic band in the wild-west dance scene in the 1990 movie Back to the Future III. The band also appeared in the 1990 TV movie Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, portraying the Three Men In A Tub.

In 1992, Warner released ZZ Top's Greatest Hits along with a new Rolling Stones-style cut "Gun Love" and an Elvis-inflected video, "Viva Las Vegas".

In 1993, ZZ Top inducted a major influence, Cream, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The band then signed to a five-album deal with RCA Records, releasing the million-selling Antenna in 1994. Subsequent RCA albums, Rhythmeen (1996) and 1999's XXX (the second album to feature live tracks) sold well, but did not reach earlier standards. ZZ Top, however, continued to play to enthusiastic live audiences.

In 1997, ZZ Top recorded a song for amateur wrestler Nicholas "Wild Thing" Bauer at the request of WWE star "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

2000 and beyond

In July 2000, while on tour in Europe, bassist Dusty Hill was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, which forced the cancellation of several dates in that tour. Hill has since recovered.

In 2004, ZZ top released a final RCA album, Mescalero, an album thick with harsh Gibbons guitar and featuring a hidden track--a cover version of " As Time Goes By".

RCA impresario Clive Davis wanted to do a collaboration record (in the mode of Carlos Santana's successful Supernatural) for ZZ Top's 2003 release Mescalero. In an interview in Goldmine magazine, artists Pink, Dave Matthews, and Wilco were among the artists slated for the project. The band members declined this offer, however, and Davis and RCA subsequently shuffled the band to second-tier status.[citation needed]

A comprehensive four-CD collection of recordings from the London and Warner Bros. years, Chrome, Smoke & BBQ, was released in 2003.

In 2004, ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones gave the induction speech. ZZ Top gave a brief performance playing "La Grange" and "Tush."

Expanded and remastered versions of the original studio albums from the 70s and 80s are currently in production. Marketed as "Remastered and Expanded," these releases include additional live tracks which were not present on the original recordings. Two CDs have been released to date (Tres Hombres and Fandango!) in 2006, with a third (Eliminator) originally scheduled for release on March 24, 2008. The Eliminator re-release will also feature a collector's edition version containing a DVD which contains several videos and additional live tracks.[6]

As of 2006, it was reported that ZZ Top were recording their 15th studio album. There was no release, however, and on September 17, 2006 the band ended their tenure with RCA Records and further left their manager Bill Ham, president of Lone Wolf management. No reasons were publicized for these changes. In December 2006, Sanctuary Management added ZZ Top to its roster. In 2008, the band announced they have signed with producer Rick Rubin and plan on recording a new album. [7]

An article on Billboard[8] in May of 2007 quotes Dusty as saying that the band is eager to sign a new contract and resume recording in the near future, but no hints at timescales have been made. Dusty did suggest that a live tour DVD is in the works. Whatever the outcome of contract negotiations, the band will have to complete their current tour before any new studio recordings take place.

In a later interview on VH1's Top 20 Countdown, the band said "A new album will be coming out as soon as our tours are done and when we get a record deal."[citation needed]

The band was honored by Billy Bob Thornton at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors on May 24, 2007. Nickelback performed a rendtion of Sharp Dressed Man as an introduction. The same show also included Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis and Heart.

On November 1, 2007 the band taped a live performance at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas, which will become a live DVD release (projected release date of June 9, 2008).[9][10]

ZZ Top's most recent high-profile appearance was a performance at the 2007 Orange Bowl game in Miami. They also performed in 2008 at the Auto Club 500 NASCAR event at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, and on May 21, 2008, appeared on the finale of American Idol performing "Sharp Dressed Man" with finalist David Cook.

The Eliminator Collector's Edition CD/DVD celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band's iconic RIAA Diamond Certified album is scheduled to be released June 9, 2008. The release included seven bonus tracks (five of which are previously unreleased live cuts from 1983) and a bonus DVD (including the four concept videos originally associated with the album and four live performances from a 1983 British television program).

ZZ Top's guitars, cars, and motorcycles

The ZZ guitars

Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill are famous for their custom guitars, many of which were co-designed by Gibbons and master luthier John Bolin of Bolin Guitars. Gibbons likes his custom instruments with a neck conforming to the specs of a 1958 Gibson Les Paul. Hill requests that his basses have a similar neck profile to the 1950s Fender Telecaster Bass he used extensively in the early days of the band, and often uses to this day.

The Eliminator

Billy F. Gibbons is a fan and avid collector of custom cars and motorcycles.[11][12] His custom vehicles were a mainstay for the earlier ZZ Top videos and were also used for promotion.

The red 1933 Ford 3-window coupé Hot Rod 'The Eliminator' was customized by Don Thelen at Paramount. The car was featured in a video trilogy from the album "Eliminator", consisting of "Sharp Dressed Man", "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Legs". The car was also featured in various custom car magazines around the globe.
'The Eliminator' gets eliminated by two wheel loaders in the video "Sleeping Bag" from the "Afterburner" album, while it saves a young couple from being captured by the bad boys. The car gets reborn as a mix between the Hot Rod and the Space Shuttle, as shown on the cover of the "Afterburner" album. When the Eliminator Shuttle rockets into space, controlled by the ZZ Top crew, a text appears "to be continued...". But in the next video "Stages", the shuttle only has a very brief showing at the end with the text "Stay tuned...". In the following video "Rough Boy" the shuttle plays a larger role as the sole customer in a car wash space station. This video closes the "Afterburner" trilogy with the ominous text "Stay clean...". The Eliminator has one last (so far) and almost imperceptible appearance at the beginning of the video "Burger Man" from the "Recycler" album.

A 1/24 scale plastic model of the Eliminator was produced by Monogram under license.

Leapin' Limo

Based on a 1948 Pontiac Silver Streak, the car was stretched 40 inches, painted in black with ZZ Top graphics and used in the video for "Velcro Fly" from the "Afterburner" album.

CadZZilla

Based on a 1948 Cadillac Sedanette, the CadZZilla is a low-slung, sleek and dark custom car built by Boyd Coddington and designed by Larry Erickson. The name is a contraction of Cadillac, ZZ Top and Godzilla. It wasn't featured as prominently in ZZ Top's videos as 'The Eliminator', but it appeared in "My Head's in Mississippi" and in "Burger Man" - pulling out of the parking lot of a diner at the very beginning of the video. When CadZZilla has left the frame, it reveals a brief view of 'The Eliminator' parked besides the diner. An artist's rendition of CadZZilla was used on the cover of the "Recycler" album. In the video for "Doubleback", which uses Back to the Future Part III footage, CadZZilla appears at the final show down and similarly to the early Eliminator videos, three sexy women get out of the car and solve the problem. When the car drives off, a view of its rear license plate is shown: "I 8 Tokyo" - I ate Tokyo, a reference to Godzilla.

The car was well-received in the custom scene. Gray Baskerville, Senior Editor of the Hot Rod Magazine even named it as one of his favourite custom cars ever, and called it the epitome of the "Dare to Be Different" era.[13] The intense customization cost around 900.000 US$ at the time. CadZZilla was shown outside the USA, for example 2005 at the 14th Annual Yokohama HOT ROD・Custom Show.[14] CadZZilla's timeless looks motivated and inspired Richard Ferlazzo to design the Holden Efijy showcar.[15]

Scale models in 1/24 and 1/64 were produced under license.

Other cars and motorcycles

  • HogZZilla To accompany his CadZZilla, Gibbons decided to have two Harley Davidson motorbikes converted to matching custom bikes. The name is a contraction of the Harley Davidson nickname HOG, ZZ Top and Godzilla.
  • Kopperhed Based on a Fifties' Ford sedan, radical re-modelling of the roof creates the look of a 3-window coupé.
  • Mambo Coupé Based on a 1936 Ford Coupé.
  • Slampala Based on a 1962 Chevrolet Impala. The modern air ride suspension allows the car to be set to extremely low ground clearance. The scene term for this is "slammed", hence the name Slampala, a contraction of Slammed Impala.
  • 8 Ball B Based on a 1992 BMW 325i with a louvred hood/bonnet and distinct Pool-Billiard theme.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album Chart Positions RIAA Label
US 200 UK Albums
1971 ZZ Top's First Album London Records
1972 Rio Grande Mud
1973 Tres Hombres Platinum
1975 Fandango! 60 Gold
1977 Tejas Gold
1979 Degüello 183 Gold Warner Bros. Records
1981 El Loco 88 Gold
1983 Eliminator 9 3 10× Multi-Platinum
1985 Afterburner 4 2 5× Multi-Platinum
1990 Recycler 6 8 Platinum
1994 Antenna 14 3 Platinum RCA Records
1996 Rhythmeen 29 32
1999 XXX 100
2003 Mescalero 57

Compilations

Year Album Chart Positions RIAA
US 200 UK Albums
1977 The Best of ZZ Top 182 2× Multi-Platinum
1987 The ZZ Top Six Pack
1992 Greatest Hits 9 5 3× Multi-Platinum
1994 One Foot in the Blues
2003 Chrome, Smoke & BBQ
2004 Rancho Texicano 77

Singles

    • 1970 "Salt Lick"
  • from ZZ Top's First Album
    • 1970 "(Somebody Else Been) Shakin' Your Tree" #50 Pop
  • from Rio Grande Mud
    • 1972 "Francine" #69 Pop
  • from Tres Hombres
    • 1973 "Waitin' For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago"
    • 1973 "La Grange" #41 Pop
  • from Fandango!
  • from Tejas
    • 1976 "It's Only Love" #44 Pop
    • 1977 "Arrested for Driving While Blind" #91 Pop
  • from Degüello
  • from El Loco
  • from Eliminator
  • from Afterburner
    • 1985 "Sleeping Bag" #8 Pop, #1 Rock, #41 Dance/Club, #27 UK
    • 1986 "Woke Up with Wood" #18 Rock
    • 1986 "Velcro Fly" #35 Pop, #15 Rock, #43 Dance/Club, #54 UK
    • 1986 "Stages" #21 Pop, #1 Rock, #43 UK
    • 1986 "Rough Boy" #22 Pop, #5 Rock, #23 UK
    • 1986 "Delirious" #15 Rock
  • from Recycler
    • 1990 "My Head's in Mississippi" #1 Rock, #37 UK
    • 1990 "Doubleback" #1 Rock, #29 UK
    • 1990 "Concrete and Steel" #1 Rock
    • 1991 "Give It Up" #79 Pop, #2 Rock
    • 1991 "Decision or Collision" #14 Rock
  • from ZZ Top's Greatest Hits
  • from Antenna
    • 1994 "Pincushion" #1 Rock, #15 UK
    • 1994 "Girl in a T-Shirt" #27 Rock
    • 1994 "Fuzzbox Voodoo" #30 Rock
    • 1994 "Breakaway" #7 Rock, #60 UK
  • from Rhythmeen
    • 1996 "What's Up with That" #5 Rock, #58 UK
    • 1996 "She's Just Killing Me" #12 Rock
    • 1997 "Rhythmeen" #35 Rock
    • 1997 "Bang Bang" #22 Rock
  • from XXX
    • 1999 "Fearless Boogie" #13 Rock
    • 2000 "36-22-36" #31 Rock
  • also, the songs listed under "Music Videos" below

Music videos

Videos

Books

  • "ZZ Top: Bad and Worldwide" (1985)
  • "ZZ Top" by Mitchell Craven (July 1, 1985)
  • "ZZ Top" by Philip Kamin (March 3, 1986)
  • "ZZ Top" by Robert Draper (July 1, 1989)
  • "Elimination: The ZZ Top Story" (December 1, 1991)
  • "Sharp-Dressed Men: ZZ Top Behind the Scenes from Blues to Boogie to Beards" (May 1, 1994)
  • "ZZ Top: Elimination" (June 1, 1998)
  • "ZZ Top Greatest Hits" (July 1, 1999)
  • "The New Best of Zz Top for Guitar (Easy Tab Deluxe)" (July 1, 1999)
  • "ZZ Top / XXX (Authentic Guitar-Tab)" (March 1, 2000)
  • "ZZ Top - Guitar Anthology" (February 1, 2003)
  • "Essential ZZ Top" (April 2003)
  • "The Very Best of ZZ Top" (April 1, 2003)
  • "The Best of ZZ Top: A Step-By-Step Breakdown of the Guitar Styles and Techniques of Billy Gibbons" (September 1, 2003)
  • "Billy F. Gibbons: Rock+Roll Gearhead" (October 15, 2005).

NOTE: Publishing dates were acquired from Amazon.com.

Awards

  • The Living Legends Award - Given out by The Board of Directors of the International Entertainment Buyer's Association (IEBA) live between Oct. 15-17, 2006.[16]
  • VH1 Rock Honors award in 2007[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b ""ZZ Top Bio"". TV.com. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  2. ^ AllMusic.com
  3. ^ Robin Hood Studios
  4. ^ ZZ Top
  5. ^ ZZ Top
  6. ^ ZZ Top | news_item
  7. ^ Rick Rubin Inks ZZ Top
  8. ^ ZZ Top Eager To Return To The Studio
  9. ^ ARTS BRIEFS | GuideLive.com | Arts/Entertainment News and Events | Dallas-Fort Worth | The Dallas Morning News | Arts & Entertainment
  10. ^ Gary Graff (2008-03-20). "ZZ Top gets busy on first album since 2003". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  11. ^ Top Gear Gallery.
  12. ^ Top Gear December, 2005.
  13. ^ HotRod.com
  14. ^ Moon Eyes
  15. ^ Rockford Fosgate
  16. ^ IEBA homepage
  17. ^ Honorees - Genesis, Heart, Ozzy Osbourne & ZZ Top | VH1 2007 Rock Honors
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