I just came back from a ZZ Top concert in Amsterdam, and decided to present a relative album this week (for those of you living in the US, in Europe 8-7 means the 8th of July, not the 7th of August). This was the the second time I had tickets for a ZZ Top concert but the first time I saw them play live: a few years back, during an intoxicated evening with friends, we started booking trips for concerts around Europe, and somehow double-booked ZZ Top with David Gilmour. In the end, me and my girlfriend chose to see Gilmour in Vienna and sell our ZZ Top tickets online. Then COVID came, which meant that the next chance to catch them live was years later. Unfortunately, original bassist Dusty Hill has in the meantime passed away, bequeathing his place in the band to his guitar technician, Elwood Blues (sorry, Elwood Francis). This marked the first personnel change in the band after half a century, which must surely be some kind of record. Apparently, during his first gigs with the band, Elwood wore a fake beard, which I personally find rather distasteful. I'm still not sure he's grown a real one, his (facial and otherwise) hair look quite unnatural. During the concert, he played the part, mimicking his predecesor's bass tone and signature moves, although he didn't sing (Dusty often sang, both backup and lead). Frank Beard (the one without a beard, as Gibbons pointed out) provided accurate and unobtrusive drumming. Bill Gibbons' stage presence, guitar, and (even-gruffier-than-usual) vocals, was as always the main draw, and he delivered. The concert lasted for less than 1,5 hour, but the audience (it was a full house) left satisfied: the band put on a great performance, and we got to hear most of their hits - although I missed a few of my favorites, namely "Tush" and "Blue Jean Blues". All in all, a great night out!
This compilation was the first ZZ Top album I ever owned; one of the oldest LP's in my collection, bought sometime in the 80's. Commercially, that was the band's golden decade; they sold truckloads of records while their videos were on heavy rotation on MTV. During this period they also cemented their cartoonish public image with the sunglasses, long beards, hot rod cars, etc. At the time, I was familiar with the band's videos, which I liked but found rather poppy, but oblivious of their past. Then, sometime in '87 or '88, a classmate made a couple of mixtapes for me. One of them contained "blues" songs. In Greece, at the time, "blues" meant any song one could slow dance to; this tape however, contained, along with popular rock ballads, some actual blues tunes, including "Blue Jean Blues". It was this side of ZZ Top, along with a couple of 70's guitar rockers I later heard, that made me seek out a record by them. The Best Of... was, at the time, their only compilation in the market. I tend to think that it's still the best; just good ole' boogie and Southern rock without the plastic synth sound of their 80's hits. At 10 tracks and only 34 minutes, this is short for a compilation; they could have easily squeezed 3 or 4 more tracks on this single LP, but that would destroy the perfect balance the compilers acheived by placing 4 boogie rockers and one blues ballad on each side, structuring it like a great LP rather than a collection of songs. So what if it only covers 5 years of a band that's been around for 50? Sure, inevitably it misses a lot of landmarks. But it's not about what's missing, it's about what's in there, and every song here deserves a spot in the Best Of. I'll get to them in chronological order, as I always do with compilations: From ZZ Top’s First Album (1971) we get Cream-like blues rocker "Backdoor Love Affair". From Rio Grande Mud (1972), rock'n'roller "Francine" and funky Hendrix-like "Just Got Paid". From their third, and arguably best, Tres Hombres (1973), no less than 4 tracks: the bluesey "Jesus Just Left Chicago", Southern rockers "Waitin' For The Bus" and "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers", and their signature track "La Grange", a supercharged John Lee Hooker-like boogie about a famous Texan whorehouse. Their 4th LP Fandango! (1975) was a rather strange affair consisting of a forgettable live side, and a studio side featuring 3 of their best songs: mournful blues "Blue Jean Blues" and groovy hard rockers "Tush" and "Heard It On The X". "Tush" is sung by Dusty, while "Beer Drinkers"' best feature is the spirited exchange of lead vocals by Bill and Dusty - probably the reason two of the band's most popular tracks were missing from last week's concert's setlist. As I said, this makes for a perfect introduction to the band's early years. Later, they'd issue a greatest hits compilation focusing on their MTV period; the different esthetic of the two covers (from the Texas cowboys of The Best Of to the pop star glamour of Greatest Hits) is illustrative of the changes the band went through during the 80's. In any case, the two comps present minimum overlap - owing them both makes sense. Unless one goes for the original LP's, which makes better sense still.
***** for Tush, Waitin' For The Bus, Jesus Just Left Chicago, La Grange, Blue Jean Blues, Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers
**** for Francine, Just Got Paid, Backdoor Love Affair, Heard It On The X
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