Their roots blues skew was intact but added to the mix were tech-age trappings that soon found a visual outlet with the nascent MTV. Their next release, Eliminator, was something of a paradigm shift for ZZ TOP. Their iconography – beards, cars, girls and that magic keychain – seems to transcend all bounds of geography and language.įollowing a lengthy hiatus during which the individual members of the band traveled the world, they switched labels (from British Decca’s London label to Warner Bros.) and returned with two amazingly provocative albums, Deguello and El Loco. As a touring unit, they’ve been without peer over the years, having performed before millions of fans through North America on numerous epochal tours as well as overseas where they’ve enthralled audiences from Slovenia to Argentina, from Australia to Sweden, from Russia to Japan and most points in between. The band’s momentum and success built during its first decade, culminating in the legendary “World Wide Texas Tour,” a production that included a longhorn steer, a buffalo, buzzards, rattlesnakes and a Texas-shaped stage. The song is unabashed elemental boogie, celebrating the institution that came to be known as “the best little whorehouse in Texas.” Their next hit was “Tush,” a song about, well, let’s just say the pursuit of “the good life” that was featured on their Fandango! album, released in 1975.
Their third, 1973’s Tres Hombres, catapulted them to national attention with the hit “La Grange,” still one of the band’s signature pieces today. The new group went on to record the appropriately titled ZZ Top’s First Album and Rio Grande Mud that reflected their strong blues roots. It was in Houston in the waning days of 1969 that ZZ TOP coalesced from the core of two rival bands, Billy’s Moving Sidewalks and Frank and Dusty’s American Blues. “Yeah,” says Billy, guitarist extraordinaire, “we’re the same three guys, bashing out the same three chords.” With the release of each of their albums the band has explored new ground in terms of both their sonic approach and the material they’ve recorded. Of course, there are only three of them – Billy F Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard - but it’s still a remarkable achievement that they’re still very much together after almost 45 years of rock, blues, and boogie on the road and in the studio. So he’s been kind of tiptoeing through keeping himself ship-shape, best he could.ZZ TOP a/k/a “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas,” lay undisputed claim to being the longest running major rock band with original personnel intact and, in 2004, the Texas trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And he had some problems with some ulcers. In the days following Hill's death, guitarist Billy Gibbons told Variety, “Well, it’s no secret that over the past few years he had a pretty rough go with a broken shoulder, followed with a broken hip. An exact cause of death has not been confirmed. We appreciate all our fans and hope you will work with us to prevent this outrageous and illegal conduct.” We are saddened by our loss, and will protect Dusty and ourselves to the fullest extent of the law.
The statement concludes, “Please know that ZZ Top will pursue all available remedies to put a stop to the sale of unauthorized merchandise relating to Dusty Hill or ZZ Top. We further hope that you will inform others of this inappropriate and illegal behavior.” It is our hope that all of you who cherish Dusty’s memory and love this band will honor Dusty by refraining to purchase any of these bootlegged goods. Please know that no monies generated by these bogus goods are paid to the band or to Dusty’s family. The statement continues, “It is sad and unfortunate that many people are trying to ‘cash in’ on Dusty’s untimely death.
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