Tres Hombres

Untitled

Tres Hombres (Spanish for "three men", meaning the three members of the band) is the third album by American blues rock band ZZ Top and was released in 1973. The album marked the first of many times the band worked with engineer Terry Manning which proved a successful combination as the release was the band's first commercial breakthrough. The album hit the top ten while the single "La Grange" hit number 41 on the singles chart.

During the height of ZZ Top's success in the mid 1980s a digitally remixed version of the recording was released on CD and the original 1973 mix version was discontinued. The remix version created controversy among fans because it significantly changed the sound of the instruments, especially drums. The remix version was used on all early CD copies and was the only version available for over 20 years. A remastered and expanded edition of the album was released on February 28, 2006, which contains three bonus live tracks. The 2006 edition is the first CD version to use Manning's original 1973 mix.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone	(favorable)
Piero Scaruffi	(7/10)

Allmusic gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating: "Tres Hombres is the record that bought ZZ Top their first top ten record, making them stars in the process. It couldn't have happened to a better record." In 2003, the album was ranked number 498 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2012, the album ranked at number 490 on a revised list. The album peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200.

Singles

The only single released from the album was "La Grange" (b/w "Just Got Paid" from ZZ Top's second album Rio Grande Mud) which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, but on album rock stations "Waitin' For The Bus" and "Jesus Just Left Chicago" were very popular and played as much as "La Grange", and since "Waitin' For The Bus" segues into "Jesus Just Left Chicago" they are usually played together.

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Waitin' for the Bus"	Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill	2:59
2.	"Jesus Just Left Chicago"	Gibbons, Hill, Frank Beard	3:30
3.	"Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers"	Gibbons, Hill, Beard	3:23
4.	"Master of Sparks"	Gibbons	3:33
5.	"Hot, Blue and Righteous"	Gibbons	3:14

Side B

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Move Me on Down the Line"	Gibbons, Hill	2:32
2.	"Precious and Grace"	Gibbons, Hill, Beard	3:09
3.	"La Grange"	Gibbons, Hill, Beard	3:52
4.	"Shiek"	Gibbons, Hill	4:05
5.	"Have You Heard?"	Gibbons, Hill	3:15

2006 remaster bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Waitin' for the Bus" (Live)	Gibbons, Hill	2:42
12.	"Jesus Just Left Chicago" (Live)	Gibbons, Hill, Beard	4:03
13.	"La Grange" (Live)	Gibbons, Hill, Beard	4:44

Personnel

• Billy Gibbons – guitar, vocals, slide guitar
• Dusty Hill – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Frank Beard – drums, percussion

Production

• Bill Ham – production
• Robin Brian - engineering (Brian Studios)
• Terry Manning - engineering (Ardent Studios)
• Bill Narum - album cover design
• Galen Scott - photography

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1974	Billboard Pop Albums	8

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1974	"La Grange"	Billboard Pop Singles	41

Trivia

Tres Hombres (Three Men) is the third studio album by ZZ Top, a three-man band. Then, the overall album is thirty three minutes and thirty three seconds long. And was re-released and remastered thirty three years later in 2006.