ZZ Top finally got their low-down, cheerfully sleazy blooze-n-boogie right on this, their third album. It couldn’t have happened to a better record. Tres Hombres is the record that brought ZZ Top their first Top Ten record, making them stars in the process. That’s where the second difference comes in - they have a much better set of songs this time around, highlighted by the swaggering shuffle “Just Got Paid,” the pile-driving boogie “Bar-B-Q,” the slide guitar workout “Apologies to Pearly,” and two Dusty Hill-sung numbers, “Francine” and “Chevrolet.” There are still a couple of tracks that don’t quite gel and their fuzz-blues still can sound a little one-dimensional at times, but Rio Grande Mud is the first flowering of ZZ Top as a great, down-n-dirty blooze rock band.įLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:30 minutes | 1,16 GB There are slight production flares that date this as a 1972 record, but for the most part, this is a straight-ahead, dirty blues-rock difference. The first difference is the heavier, more powerful sound, turning the boogie guitars into a locomotive force. With their second album, Rio Grande Mud, ZZ Top uses the sound they sketched out on their debut as a blueprint, yet they tweak it in slight but important ways. Too much of this record glides by on its sound, without offering any true substance, but the tracks that really work - “(Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree,” “Backdoor Love Affair,” “Brown Sugar,” and “Goin’ Down to Mexico,” among them - show that from their very first record on, ZZ Top was that lil’ ol’ blues band from Texas.Ġ1 – (Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your TreeįLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 39:04 minutes | 1,47 GB They have a good, ballsy sound that hits at gut level, and if the record’s not entirely satisfying, it’s because they’re still learning how to craft records - which means that they’re still learning pacing as much as they’re learning how to assemble a set of indelible material. Simply put, it’s a dirty little blues-rock record, filled with fuzzy guitars, barrelhouse rhythms, dirty jokes, and Texan slang. ZZ Top’s First Album may not be perfectly polished, but it does establish their sound, attitude, and quirks. Official Digital Download – Source: | Front cover As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers Gibbons is one of America’s finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom - both influenced by the originators of the form and British blues-rock guitarists like Peter Green - while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support… Becoming even more popular in the long run, they moved with the times while simultaneously bucking every trend that crossed their path. Now sporting long beards, golf hats, and boiler suits, they met the emerging video age head-on, reducing their “message” to simple iconography. By their next album, Eliminator, and its worldwide smash follow-up, Afterburner, they had successfully harnessed the potential of synthesizers to their patented grungy blues groove, giving their material a more contemporary edge while retaining their patented Texas style. Their third album (Tres Hombres) gained them national attention with the hit “La Grange,” a signature riff tune to this day, based on John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen.” Their success continued unabated throughout the ’70s, culminating with the year-and-a-half-long Worldwide Texas Tour.Įxhausted from the overwhelming workload, they took a three-year break, then switched labels and returned to form with Deguello and El Loco, both harbingers of what was to come. Their first two albums reflected the strong blues roots and Texas humor of the band. They were formed in 1970 in and around Houston from rival bands the Moving Sidewalks (Gibbons) and American Blues (Hill and Beard). This sturdy American blues-rock trio from Texas consists of Billy Gibbons (guitar), Dusty Hill (bass), and Frank Beard (drums). This ten-album, must-have set includes ZZ Top’s acclaimed albums: ZZ Top’s First Album, Rio Grande Mud, Tres Hombres, Fandango!, Tejas, Deguello, El Loco, Eliminator, Afterburner and Recycler. Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | Digital Booklet | Rhino/Warner Bros.
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