Gibbons is deservedly in the pantheon of American guitarists, at least in part due to his mastery of my favorite of his techniques, the pick squeal (or pig squeal, as I’ve alternately heard it called), which is achieved by attacking a string with a combination of guitar pick and thumbnail to create an artificial pinch harmonic – or at least so says Guitar World magazine. Gibbons (the “F” stands both for his actual middle name, Frederick, and for what you thought it did). But, they’re still around, still playing their rootsy, bawdy tunes, and they’ve still got the very badass and historically hirsute twosome² of bassist Dusty Hill and guitarist Billy F. I also saw them in concert around that time where they employed some questionable pre-programmed drums and backing guitar tracks that might’ve made Milli Vanilli blush. So yeah, so what if they went a little Hollywood and churned out a few over-processed records in the MTV decade that followed (including, with apparent lack of irony, 1990’s Recycler). But even if they became a bit of a caricature around the mid-‘80’s with the flowing beards and the high gloss videos (who can forget the spinning fuzzy guitars and the shiny keys to the vintage red hot-rod), in their early days they were definitely no joke.įrom their first album, understatedly titled ZZ Top’s First Album (I guess they were confident there’d be a second) to their seventh, the aforementioned El Loco, the self-proclaimed “Little Ol’ Band From Texas” practically bludgeoned FM-radio listeners over a crazed 10-year run of barrelhouse blues/rock dominance. I recently heard ‘Tube Snake Boogie,’ the rollicking lead track on 1981’s El Loco, and it got me wondering, ah, what’s that about?¹ Umm, what’s nearly all of ZZ Top’s music about? (‘Tush,’ ‘Gimme All Your Lovin’,’ ‘Pearl Necklace,’ ‘Legs,’ ‘(Slip Inside My) Sleeping Bag,’ ‘Velcro Fly’…I think we get the idea).
Is the funniest thing about ZZ Top the fact that 2 of its 3 members are famed for their massive signature beards, and the 3 rd member who completely lacks one is named – it’s true – Frank Beard? Well if not then it must be their song content.
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