A Fireside Chat with ZZ Top...

Rip It Up, Issue 89, 1 December 1984, Page 24

A Fireside Chat with ZZ Top...

WEA ZZ TOP SUPPLEMENT

Known around the world as “that little band from Texas”, ZZ Top is] one of the most successful and longlived rock and roll bands in 1 music history. For over thirteen years, the group with a line-up unchanged since t their, formation in 1969 has recorded a string of top selling LPs, including Tres Hombres, Fandango and \Tejas, plus the smash singles, “La Grange” and “Tush”. while, their electrifying live show has attained 1 legendary status with international audiences. „j ZZ .Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank !Beard was formed from two seminal Texas groups: Houston’s 1 Moving Sidewalks, featuring Billy Gibbons, and the Dallas-based American Blues, which included Dusty Hill and Frank Beard As ZZ Top, the trio played the Houston area, garnering a fervent local following before releasing their first two

LP’s, ZZ Top's First Album and Rio Grande Mud. on London Records in the early Seventies. They were followed by such million-sellers as Tres Hombres (featuring the group's first] hit* “La Grange”) and Fandango (home of “Tush”). Tejas, released in 1976. [ spawned both the hit single, “Arrested For Driving While Blind”, and one of the most spectacular live rock, and roll shows everjg| mounted .Vlhe worldwide road show featured a stage set with longhorn 1 steers, buzzards, buffalos and [rattlesnakes .Fj It played, predictably, to capacity crowds in cities around the globe. After eight years, three platinum albums and a concert tour, that] left four t ’continents l shaking, ZZ Top suddenly dropped out of sight. In 1977, the group stopped touring and nothing was heard from the threesome until 1978 when it was I announced they had ‘ signed an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. Records, bringing their entire London catalogue with them to Burbank. Their two subsequent LP’s, Deguello and El Loco, quickly joined the band’s precious

metal catalogue and follow-up tours reestablished them as a major concert attraction. On the eve of the release of their current (Warner;Bros; album, Eliminator the group took time < to pause and reflecti around 'afU cheery fire in their Houston headquarters. The occasion was the band’s . 13th anniversary. First of all,- are those Dura-Flame logs you’re burning therePjHHpi BILLY GIBBONS: Yeah, we like the colours. Let’s put another one on the fire. A lot of us who’ve seen ZZ in concert over the years are , still amazed that you can get al whole stadium’s worth of sound out of just three pieces. How do you explain that? FRANK BEARD: We use Red 1 Krvptonite. DUSTY HILL: At last it can be told. When you first got started and were playing in smaller venues was the intensity the same as] it is today? BjBB ■nj BILLY: Maybe more so. We play hard ... as hard as we can and we play the same way in

smaller rooms. I guess you could call it concentrated. FRANK: More Red Krvptonite. mtpii qiiimm ~nrir nmr; miiliirTHl Was the recording of this album any different from your two previous efforts? DUSTY: We’ve kind of gotten back to a Tres Hombres kind of sound. we took our big break we were happy to be backTMß together,! so we started trying to make some different kinds of music. We’d r all been inTT different places around r the world, sol it \ came a? kind of a strange j mix. On El Loco, we even did a couple of softer things but, with [this one, we decided (we wanted |to playßßß some of our original style rock and roll. Going directly into the studio after our lastW tour, it was [ easy getting back into the feeling we had on Tre Hombres. which (was also the result of a lot of hard road work. - Where was this album recorded? FRANK: Mostly in Memphis, you know, down around Beale Street, where they sing the blues. BILLY: The onlv blues left on Beale Street are

from the people who remember how it used to be. Let’s talk about some of the songs on Eliminator. How about “Bad Girl”. Any relation to the Donna Summer song? : BILLY: Yeah, they’re both in the same key ... . they really are. Okay. I guess “If I Could Only Flag Her Down” is dedicated to the Yellow Cab people. DUSTY: Not really. We were talking about waitresses. BILLY: I thought it was barmaids. FRANK: Take your pick. Thanks. Well, how about “Dirty Dog”? BILLY: Anyone could have written that song. Anyone in America. But they didn’t. You guys did. DUSTY: Well, I mean, it’s the only way we could work in the term ‘flea collar’, by singing about dogs. Glow in the dark flea collars? DUSTY: Could be. Of course, we not necessarily talking about four-legged dogs, for that matter. . What about the song “TV Dinners”? BILLY: I love TV dinners. Especially the “Hungry' Man” kind. , DUSTY: Me too. Of course, we’re about the only people we know who will admit to liking them. What’s that line? ... ‘a twenty-year-old turkey in a thirty-year-old tin. I can’t wait ’til tomorrow when I thaw one out again’? BILLY: It’s one of our heavier tunes, a real message. We live in a microwave world. What’s your feeling about eating them before they’re totally thawed? FRANK: You mean when they’re still cold in the middle? Great. About ten years ago they started putting desserts in and they’d get heated with the main course. BILLY: Whoever heard of hot chocolate mousse? Here’s a song called “Thug”. DUSTY: It’s about a young thug, you know a hoodlum. Is that a Russian word? ‘Hoodlum’? Only they call them ‘ ’oodlums’. FRANK: You’re thinking of hooligans. DUSTY: Let’s write a song about it. You guys have been into women’s legs for ' years now, going back to “Fool For Your Stocking”. Now you’re getting to the heart of the matter on this cut called “Legs”. DUSTY: Actually we’re building up to our next album when we write a song about feet. You know, we’re moving down. From ‘Tush’ to ‘Legs’ ... BILLY: One day we’ll do a song called the “Dr Scholls Shuffle”. How about the song “I Got The Six”? FRANK: That song should be discussed in the privacy of your own home.

BILLY: Consenting adults, only please. Of course, the number in the title may vary from listener to listener ... How about “Baby I Need You Tonight”? DUSTY: It was originally called “I Have A Headache”, but we changed it to make Billy feel better. There’s a song here called “Sharp Dressed •; Man”. Is that a description of ZZ Top? BILLY: Well, this year I'm sporting the traditional yet ever-so-popular turquoise gator shirt with the classic, timeless faded Levis, finished off with a fine set of alligator loafers. FRANK: I’m feeling sharp in a sports jacket and striped shirt, some simple, yet elegant, corduroy slacks and Italian loafers that I bought on sale. Actually I think they’re a half-size too small. DUSTY: I always look cool in basic balck not to mention my cheap Beatle boots that are also a half-size too small in case I have to sing. You sing better with tight shoes? DUSTY Not better, just higher. It worked for Smokey Robinson, didn't it? There’s a tune here called “Got Me Under Pressure”. Anything to do with the cooling system of your car?. BILLY: Actually, it’s a nod to our French fans because we wrote it just to rhyme ‘limousine’ with ‘French cuisine'. We also talked about Pavlov’s dog but he’s not French. FRANK: He’s Russian. A Russian thug, er, hooligan. “Gimme All Your Loving” is the first single. DUSTY: As much loving as we’re getting, it should be a single. Tell us, is there really an overall message on this album? FRANK: Get it where you can and have a good time going for it. Do you guys go in for putting encoded messages backwards on your records? BILLY: Doesn’t everybody? DUSTY: It’s hard enough for people to understand our lyrics frontwards. How do you account for the tremendous concert response you’ve generated in the last few years? The level of enthusiasm is as high as it’s ever been, if not higher. BILLY: Must be the Red Kryptonite again. How about a word on the album cover artwork for Eliminator ? FRANK: It features our ‘32 Ford Coupe ... our pride and joy. DUSTY: Actually, it’s only our pride. Our joy is the ‘65 Chevy Impala’ “El Dorado Bar” convertible. You’ve seen it in Lou' Rider magazine, haven’t you? BILLY: Hot rods and rock and roll go together ... DUSTY: People say they really enjoy listening to us while driving. It’s great because we have a driving type sound. BILLY: We recommend the use of a fuzzbuster while listening to ZZ Top and driving. Otherwise, we’re not responsible for speeding tickets.

One last question. If ZZ Top had never existed, what would you guys be doing today? DUSTY: We’d probably be down-and-out derelicts in some obscure corner of Houston. FRANK: It’s hard to answer. We’ve all been playing since we were so young. Music is the only thing we really do. BILLY: I think I’d be travelling ... moving around ... looking for FRANK and DUSTY: More Red Kryptonite!! THE END