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tEGIIDS
7
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n.
tr:l x,
, .1.-.1
 guitaristandmastermind

ffiW Billy Gibbonsis a compul-

sive shopper.Late one recent
Hollywood night he could
be foundprowlingthe aislesof the Virgrn
Megastoreon SunsetBoulevard,moving
stealthilylike someAfrican tribal hunts-
man,albeitonewith a longgreybeard,
strangetufted hat,natty blacksuit,ample
silverwrist jewelry anda white shirt ac-
centuatingthe night-owlpallor of that smallportion of his faceleft visi-
ble by his legendarychin warmer andbizarreheadgear. The GreatWhite
Hunter!He swoopsdownthe aisles,deftlypicksthroughstacksof CDs
andextractsthe discsthat capturehis fancy:a collectionofcuts by Fif-
ties steelguitar legendSpeedyWest,someLos Lobosalbumsto prepare
for a jam with the famed L.A. band at the Latin Grammys,and a world-
beat compilationfor the missus,the comelyactressGilligan,who is ap-
proximatelyhalf nilly's age."Shegoescrazyfor this stuff" he confides.
For n1ehe selectsa CD by countrystar the pastfour decades. "He'sgot a lot ofvaried Gibbons.That'sone ofthe rules.
Brad Paisley,a new friend ofBilly's, wl,om interests.lfyou're involvedin someventure The HoustonBilly is the one everybody
he ratespretty highly asaguitarist.Next,Mr. he'silrto,you reallyget into it." knows:the deep-talkin'Texanwith a passion
Gibbonsrootsthroughthe bargainbin,com- Everybody knows that ZZ Top are or'e ol for barbecue,roadhouses, mud-flapgalsand
mentingauthoritatilely on tackybut obscure the greatestthingseverto springfrom the stockcarracetracks.But Billy's Holl)'\ 'ood
discotracksthat maybehe oughtnot admit Texasmud,but fewer peopleget the Hol- flair is everybit ascrucial to ZZ Top'sidentity
to knowing sowell. Then it's on to the DVD b.woodconnection.Billy's dad,Fred,was a and longevityasthe group'sdeepTexasblues
racks.Billy's cravingsomefilm noir tonight, soundtrackmusicianand composerfor MGM roots.His penchantfor showmanshipand
that ominous,black-and-white,g-movie duringthe Thirties.His uncleCedricis one of sharpeyefor visuals(ageneticlegacyfrom
genre,filled u'ith razor-sharpkillers,danger- the mostcelebratedcinematicart directorsof UncleCedric,perhaps)hasenabledhim to
ousgun molls and other desperatecharacters Hollyr oods ColdenAge.ln facr.Billyinher- reinventthebandfor eachsucceedingera.
f f o mt h ef r i n g eosf n i d 2 o r h c e n r u r y A m e r i -
ited the family mansein the Holl)'woodHills. Any one humanbeing'sconceptionofZZ
can society.Billy digsand digs,growingvisibly The adobe-styledwelling is brimmingwith Top dependsheavilyon the decadeinwhich
frustrrted.He can't find one he hasn'talready furtherartiFacts of Billys manialor shopping. rharpaflicularhumanbeingmadethe pas-
seen,but he doespresentme with a copyof Museum-qualitypiecesfrom his world-c1ass sagethrough adolescence into adulthood.For
DillinSer,quite possiblytheonly film noirl're collectionofAfrican art adornthe rooms.A thosewho cameup inthe seventies,zZ Top
numberof vintageautomobiles,all ofthem arethe ultimate beer-drinkin',hell-raisin',
Billy's knowledgeoffilm is asencyclopedic black,areparkedout front. And, ofcourse, good-timin',ass-kickin'party band.This is the
ashis commandofmusical idiomsboth high there areguitarsand ampseverl'lvhere-rare ZZ Top of "T\tsh:' "La Grange,""Whiskey'n
and low Just namea cinematicgenrervintage ones,ne$ ones,theueird andthe wonder- Mama" and "Enjoy and Get It On."For Eight-
Holly,,vood,Italian neorealism,Sixtieskitsch, ful: a Billy Bo cretsch Jupiterbasedon an ax iesfans,rheyre oneofthe mostubiquirous.
Asianslasherflicks...Bill]' can namedirectorc, givento Billyby rock and roll legendBo Did- albeirunlikely.icon.ofthe MTV era.rhree
cinematographers, minor actorsand actresses, dley,abrand-newblackJB Teleadomedwith sharp-dressed menwith a soundasgleaming
He possesses ahighly retentiveandwildly as- sparklingjewels,a few pawnshopspecials, and streamlinedasthe customhot rods and
sociativemind that seemsto requireconstant threeWatkinsDominatorampsofdifferent curvaceouscutiesseenin the video clips for
songormovierirle\vill nig-
"rimulrlion.One vintagesand a MarshallBluesbreaker in red- "GimmieAll Your Lovin',""Legs" and "Sharp
ger an avalancheofrelated titles in his fevered orangeTolex.
brain.He scurriesoffto track them down. There'sevenmorestuff at Billy's house In the Ninetiesand beyond,ZZ Top rc-
The uniquelyconfrgured,hyperactivemind in Eouston,the cityin which he wasbom. turned to their rootsand emergedascurious
ofBilly F' Gibbonsis the enginethatdrives Hou.ionis alsothe sireof ZZ Tops fecord- curatorsofthe blueslegacy.Beardedbarrel-
ZZ Top,that Little Ol' BluesBandfrom Texas, ingstudio,FoamBox,and eightwarehouses housegurus,serni-m1thicalcharacters,they
now in its 38th year ofoperationand likely to containingthe bulk ofBilly's African art col- cameto remind us that rock and roll ain't
keepon running infrnitely,thanksto the caf- lection,hundredsofguitars,amps,effectsand nothin' but the bastardoffspringofthe blues
feinrted Energizerbunnythatresidesin the Lord kno$.swhat else.Billy divideshis time and hillbiJlymusic.This is the group that =
curiouslyadornednogginolBilly F.cibbons. betweenthe L.A. and Houstonresidences broughrus"My Herds in Mississippi.-Fuzz- ;
"Billy's an interestinggry," saysDustyHill, aswell asvariousother locales.No one fully bo),Voodoo.-PokeChopSandwichrnd
ZZ Top'sbassistand Cibbons'bandmatefor understandsthe comingsandgoingsofBilly n "Buck Nekkid."Blesstheir grizzledbeards. P
 t ( ; i b b o n s .E \ c l : \ n o r c i s s t e e p c di r t h c r i c h
A m e f i c . r nr r u s i r . r lh c f i t x g e r h . B i l l ) . r [ r s o r b c d
g r - o w i r l i L r pi n l l o L r s t o r il n r h e F i f t i e s .S o m e o f
I i . , . r l . . r ' . r . . . , 1r ' . r ' , , , - . , . . , ro\' r l r - . r i
v e r s cs o u n d sc o n r i n g o u t o f t h e l e c l i o ,r ! h . r r w e
n o r i .c a l l ' L - o o t n s rusic.'
" T h e l a v l i t c c h a n n e l so n t h c d i a l , " B i l h
r ' r 1 . , . c c . r . . lr , 'n , . l ' , R 8 B , r 1 l . o n . R \ ( r K
:ll1.l KCOH th!rr pl.rycd all thc blues ],ou could
Llsernd ilso colrntn'irrcl $estclrl tf:rcLs ol
t h e d r y , b . r c kl h c n H a n l ( \ V i l l i a m s r e i g r c d
k i D g .I n t l r o s er e d i o o f f c l i n g s .o n e c o ! l d h c a r
t h c c r o s s o v e re l e n r e n t st h r t l c d t o r h e L r i r l h( ) f
r ' o c k. r n d l o l l : t h c b l u e s n i e c t i r l gc o l u r t r \ ' ,n r e c t
i r g h i l l b i l l l . u d l l r c n b l L l e ! !r s s x l l o f t h i s
* . i l c l , n o n l c g i t i m l t c n r u s i c .r h e . r r . t f e l tm, o r c
. . r i r L i r. l , r i , . r ( , . r | j . . i , . f 1 f ( . r i i 1
r r t h c r p r i m i l i \ ' e v r c r t l l r r t u b e s t a t cb r c k t h e n .
s o \ ' o u c o L r l dt L r r nr h r n r u p l o u d ; r n dg e t b c a u -
tifullich clistoltion
Bilhrs drd hrd movetl or hom Holl\1vooll's
s t l d i ( ) o r c h c s r s t o h e c o m eI c o l d u c t o l o f t h e
H o l r s t o r lS \ m } r h ( m \ (' h c h e s t r . ::rr n dh i g h s o c i
c t \ b x n L l l e i d e rB . u t t s i l h s n r u s i c r le d o c l t i u l
coDtinucd on .l|r entifcl! diftircnt tl11ck.rt rge
seler. rhcn a lcchlcss h.rb)sittef Lregrnto bring
\ ( ) u n g n r r s t e r\ \ J i l l i i l n r n d h i s l i | e r c . l l . o l L ls i s
ter out () thc locil lloLrsto]l Iightspors, \1'her.e
tbe tirtLrrclc.rdcr ofZZ Top got his fifst tilsre of
l i \ e h l u e sr n d R & B D r L r s i cp,l . r ! e di n t h c s n o k \ '
rii\'cs thet .rl e the p|opcr crlr.iloDnrent ofrhese
mLrsic.rljtliorrs. The ne\t ln.ljor tu ring poirlt
o c c u r r c i lo n ( l h r i s n r r r sr r o | n i n g o f 1 9 6 2 .
- 14 G U I T I IT E G E I I D S
a
' ' I g o t 1 n \ 'f i f s t
uuitrf on Cbristlnrs d:rl,
s h o f t l y N i t c r l l l r L r f n e d1 : , " B i l l y s x ) s . ' t t
" r ' . ' . i t : 1 , i k . r , ' . i n 1 l -, c Lr . r r r r , . l
son N,Ielod) N1llker,\{ ith :r leDdef Ch|lnp
anrp- I in netli.rtely. r'ctired to ln\' r-ooIn rnd
l e a r n c r lh o s t o p l r l t h c i n t r o f i g u l e f l o m R l '
C h . r r l es " W h : r t ' d I S x \ ' . a n c lb y s L r n r l o ln I h a d
st:rrled leelnirg thc signirture Jjlnl11! Reed
rhvthnr lines."
HAllGlll'
WlTllllEll0RlXr
I.IFE
BETOREZZT|lP
Bilh pl$ ed in u \'ar'icnofjuniol high .rnd
h i g h s c h o o lr o c k b r n r l s d u r i n g t h r t g o l d e n
t r I - r , r , . , r ' ' \ r ' o rc , . . . , t , | ' | rr ' r " r
glrrges rnd brLScmentsacross r\n1efic.r, linock
i n g t o g e t h e l t h c i l o w n l o L r g l rt : r l { co n r h e B r i t
i s h l n l a s i o n s o u n d so l g r o u p s l i k c t h c R o l l i n g
S t o n e s ,K i n l i s r n d \ h r L l b i f d s .I l u t h i s f i r s t l i r l l \ .
p f o f t s s i o r r r l r c t \ \ ' . r st h c N , I o y i n gS i d e $ . r l K sl,
p s l c h c r t c l i ch l L r e so L r t E tp L r i t c r n c d: r f t e fT e x r s '
c e l e b r . i t e l .1l 3 t hl . l o o f E 1 e ! r t o r s . I ' h c l a t c S i x -
t i e s h . r d i r r i v c d . H i p t i e . l o u r u . , r st l k i n g h o l d .
' ' T h er e N r r s
t b i s b i g h o L r s ci n I l o u s t o n
c a l l c d t h e L o r r i s i r n r h o u s c , ' B i l l r f c c : r l l s ." I r
$ rs rhis girrlt. bcauriilrl ttl:tls tlrarlsion. .rnci
i t b e c l l 1 1 et h c b i g h i p p i c h o L L s ier t o \ \ n . T h c r c
\ \ . e r cl i t t l o c u L ) i c l e tsh t l t b e c r l n c l o o n r s t o l i r e
in. t he Elc\.itors li|ed therc. $rc nn)\'cd ir-
T h e R e d C f r ! o l . r , e n o t h c I r ' e n r r l . k . r L rpl cs l c h c
dclic brnd, lired thcrc too.Thosc guvs $ ere
r u t i s t so l r l l s o r t s .\ " i s Llrl . u t i s t s .T h o h o L r s c
r ' . r s a l c r l i n t e l e s t i n gk i n d o f l t i s r i c e r c l . r l e .
Ir \\rs not fcsiricted tojust lnrisicitnsithcr-c
! 1 r < i - l r ( . 1 , u f ; r . . . . r l r : i r. 1 .^ ' y r r p l e
B i l 1 1h, i m s e l f h . r d c o n s i d c r - e dr c a l e e l i n
thc visuxl afts shortly xficI high school. 'I
h a d c n l o l l e d i n . r r t c o l l e g el n d r h c n r r ' e n tu f
to ALrstiDto go to the Uni\'ersit! of fcxas to
s t u d \ e r t , " h e s r ! s . ' B u t t h e m L L s i c$ ' r s I s t r o n
lier cnll at th:rt tilne. It was cithcr- one oI the
o t h c r , : r n d I c h o s el n L r s i c.,t l t h o u g hI k c p t o n
s , i t h l n ) i r t f i x a t i o n .t h i s n e v e f e n d i n g q L r c s t
r o f i g u r e o L r th o \ t o d r i l \ f r l i D e l i o l r p o i n t A
rotoint B.'
tsut ihc :rrt school religee soon fourti rva|s
to nanifest his bizrlle lisLlrl sersibilities
t h r o l r g h m L r s i cg c a r :B i l l , , s m r n i r f o l t h e r i l t l
c u s t o n r i z i r r go l g u i t . r r s( l a t c sb a c l i r o h i \ N l o \
i n g s i d c l r l h s d : r ' s . E v i d c n c co i t h i s c r n b c
l o u n r l i n h i s l c c c n t c o l l e e t . r b l cb o o k , l t o c l , n n d
R o l l c c d r l e d d . O n p i g c 1 5 2 ,\ r ' e f i n d | r p h o t o
o f : r s t n n g e , s q u r l e b o d i c d c u s t o mj o b l i n c d
s . i t h p i r k f u r ; $ c f o r e L r e . rol f t h e r r c l l k n o l l
'fop
tilzzy gLritrrs fionr ZZ s \'ITV efr t\yo
' ' I w : r s| r l \ \
rvs i big frr of Bo Dilldlc\'. s:rvs
B i l l l : A n d i f l o u l o o k c l o s c l r r r rt h c c o r c r
pho|og-r'rph on thc LP cntitleLl &) ,Did.//c-yls .l
Iofrr. |rs he sits on rhe floor', hc s got his i:,-
n o l r s r c c t i n g u l : r r ( ] r ' e t s c ho n o n c s i d c : r n d o n
r h e o t h c r s i i l c t h c r c s i s i n g l e - c u t r $r \ C ; i b s o n
L e s P r u l . I r .t h r t \ r s c o v e r - c Li n1 s h : r gg l e l c r r '
p c t i n g . T h i s \ \ ' . r st f u l v t h e i n s p i r r t i o n t o c m L r -
l . t t e t h a t h i n d o f c l e z v g u i t r l c l L r l t .q , l r i c b i d i d
o n r b u t c h c l c c lT c l e c r s r e r ,r i d c d r n d r s s i r t c d
peting.This wastrulythe inspirationto emu
latethat kind ofcrazy guitar craft,which I did
on o butcheredTelecaster, aidedaId r\.ilred
byD.n Summers,the bassplayerforthe Mov-
ingSidewalks.He wasalsoquite talentedas
a craftsnan in glitar building only in those
drys.it wasn\ somuchguirarbuildingr" gui-
tar aberration.we learnedhow to ruin quite a
few guitarsreal quick.
''BurMr. Summers helpedbringrhoseearly
customguitar ideasinto reality,evengoingon
to createthe first spinningguitar He deviseda
spinningdevicethat he addedto his FlyingV
bassduring the MovingSidewalks'tour with
Jimi Hendrix. There were a coupleofmo-
mentsin the setwherewe turned D.n loosc.
Ofcourse,he had to unplughis bassto avoid
gertingthepatchcordtangledup whenthe in
strument$ asspinning.lThir wasyearsbefore
wireless,of coursef, B]utit was sucha magnetic
visualthing. Dn Summemloanedhis talents
yearslarerro the ZZ Topspinningfurry gui
tars.Sowhat goesaroundcomesaround."
'It wasunspoken but quireevidentrhr
Hendrixrhrewcaurionro rhewinds. Bill)
notes,"and decidedto do thingsto and with
a guitar that were not necessarilyrvrittenin
aly ofthe how-to books.For instance,itwas
considereda no no to chain two truzz-Tones
together.But I sawHendrix chain five ofthen
rogerherlAndhe d do thispersonalized dance.
stompingor five differ€ntpedals,sometimes
playingwith all five ofthen on at once-I think
it's fair to give hin1the awardforbreaking
the rules and startingto do thingsthat no one
dareddo before.Thatwasp tofhisgenius:a
total lack of fear."
ETIEIPEIRTY GATES:
TIIEEIRIII|lTzzIOP
By the start ofl969, the reverb-drenched,
combo-organenhanced,earlypsychedelic
soundofthe MovingSidewalkshad beenall
but totallyeclipsed by the hervierpower-rrio
vibe initiatedby $oups liLe the Jimi Herdrix
Experience,Creamand Blue Cheer Around
this time, which coincidedwith the United
States'escalationofthe vietnamwar, the
Sidewalks'bassist and organistwere drafted
into the army.This left Billy free to pursuehis
drearr offorming his own powertrio.
And so ZZ Top were born.The original
incarnationfeaturedBilly,Movi[g Side-
wrlks'drummer Dan Mitchell and l-anier
creg on bass.This lineuprecordedone stn-
gle,"salt Lick,"backedwith "Miller'sFarm."
It was okay,but things didn't rexlly gel untrl
the drummerFrankBeardand bassistDustv
Hill fell irto place asth€ ZZ Top rhythm
sectionthat would reiglrsupremefor the
next four decades.
Hill :nd Berrdl-:d playedtogefherin rherr
o u n p s y c h e d d i c b l u e s o r rA5m
r .e r i c aB
which releasedt,'roalbuns:,4mericdnBIues
Do TIEir Thi1g andAtntericatl BluesIs Here
"Thereweresongtitleslike'Chocolate
Hill says,laughing."Youget the idea.Also,I'd
playedu.ith FreddieKing on and ofl I played
at the Fillmore in Sanfrancisco for two weeks
1tn I feoole.lkr xnd llnJ llrrne|dere
r h e b i l l . a l o n g $ i rt hs u d dc\ u ) . B ' u e C l - e e l
and Electricflag [d Sij(tiesact thatfeatured
guitaristMike Bloonlfeldandfuture Hendrrx
collabordtorBLtddyMil es.l"
Clearly,Dustyand Frankwer-ea seasoned
rh)'thm sectjonbythe tinre theyjoined forces
with cibbons."Billy's bandopenedfor Hen-
drix," saysDusty.'AmericanBluesopenedfor
(he Animalsand Hermans Hermirs.I[ Iacr
ue hrd r litrleparryw.rh Herrnans Hermir.
afterth€ show.Youcan imagine.It didn't go
on all dght long.well, at least
nobodyhit anybody.I think it
brokeup just in time."
"l don't think they were
the partiersthat we wer-e,"
WT
Beardadds.
BeardjoinedZZ Top first
and then brought Hill into
the picture.Dusty beat out
a bunch of other potentiel
b|lssists.His audition quickly
morphedfrom a try-out to a
joyous,hourJongjam on a
bluesshuffle.It's one ofthe
legendrryepisodes in ZZ
Top lore.
"Dusty and I kn€w each
other'stricks,"Beardex-
plains."so auton'uticallyhis
auditionsoundedfour times
beiter than th€ other bass
playerswe were auditio Dg.
I reallywantedDustyin the
band.Sowhen the other bass
playerswere up th€re,I made
sureit wasplentylame.When
Dustygot up there,we knew
all theselittle punchesand
kickswe could do togetherrt
certainpoi[ts. And itwas like,
'Wowl Oh man!'"
Nearlv as important as findingthe right
rh).thm section even more some might
say was linding the right gritar rig to bring
that raw, munchy ZZ Top sound to life. In
the Moving Sidewalks, Billy had used nainly
Strats and Teles through American-made
Vox Super Beatle amps. Now he was after a
heavier sound and had decided hejust had to
have a Les Paul and a Marshall. In 1969,n'dnd
you, this was far from being the stand d gear
coffiguratiol it is today. Marshall amps were
brand new in the states, and glitarists were
j u - t b e g i n n i r g l o r e c o g n i z er h e r r l u e o f t h e
Les Paul as rwerpon ofrock destruction.
-Thc rnr'tique o'the 'u rbursrLes Prul.
Billy explains, "was frrst ignited by Keith
Richards, who had what is thought to be the
first sunburst that made the London scene.
You've probably seell pictures ofKeith Rich-
a r d s b u r s r w i r h a B i g s b y .W h a t r n a k e sr h r L
instrument intri€iuingis that you also see
photographs ofit being played bt' Jimmy Page,
Mick Jagger,Brian Jones aryl JeffBeck. so
'llues. it must have been passed around a bit. But
what reallygot me excited about the sunburst
Les Palrl was the back cover ofthe first Johr
Ego';' Mayall and the Bluesbreakers LP lreledsed
in 19651,the'Beano'album lBlues Breakers
with Eric Claptonl. There we see Eric Clnpton
with a Les Paul and a Marshall combo amp
on in the background. And imnrediately those
who could put two and two together began to
susp€ct that this wonderful gritar sound |lnd
its richnessofto[e might be the result ofthat
combinarion ofg!itar andamplilier.Sorhe
questwasto go lind r Les Paulsunburstand a
Marshallamplifier"
Billl'got the g:uitarfirst a 1959sunburst
cibson LesPaulthat haspassedinto legend
under the namePearlycates.There are many
m)-thsasto where Billy obtainedPearll',the
most promine[t beingthat the guitar was
found under a bed.Billy will
admit to paying$250for
the guitar,an incredible
dealwhe[ l'ou consider
not only what the instru-
ment is worth today
but alsothe staggering
amountofgood useBilly
hasgottenout ofPearlyon
everyZZ Top albuF from
consid-ered. the very first to the most
a no-no to sunburst
"Out ofthe 1,750or so
Les Paulsmade
ehain two betweer1958 and'60,
X'uzz-Tones stylized
althougheachhasits own
personalitychar-
together. acteristics,I've yet to 6nd
one that is not rip-roarin'
But f saw groow," Billy declares.
"They're all wicked.But
Hend.ri-x Pearlyremainsthe queen.
chain five Iongress shewasjust made
the right dan with the
of then right pieceofwood, right
amountofpaint,right
together ! " the
amountofwrapping on
- Gibbons pickup.I cal1always
rely on Pearlyto makethe
amp stmd up and bark.
Pearlyis sucha powel-
house,high output instrument.lt will kick the
preamp'sbutt. And when the preampbarks,
the ampwill follow."
With his covetedsunburstLes Paulir
hand,Billy set aboutacquiringtheamp ofhis
dreams.The magicwizard who madethis
wish cometrue was noneother than JeffBeck.
Or more accurately,JeffBeck'sroadie.
Fellow hot rod enthusiastsand guitar aces
both, cibbons and El Beckobondedon one of
Beck'svery Iirst U.S.tours.
'Jeffstoppedat Houstonfor a show,and I
had the opportunityto hangout with lTim a
little," Billy recalls.'AndI was fascinatedby
thesegiant,t: l amplifiershe had,theseM:rr-
shalll00-watt rigs.It wasthe SuperLead1OO,
modelnumber1968.And it was Jeff'sroadie
who hada friendshipwith Jim Marshalland
had a way to buy Marshallscheapand get'em
into the States.Interestinglyenough,we used
rhe.anreMrr.holl rig for Dusq . ba\. playing.
The wealth ofgrind that thosermps offered
workedjust aswell for bassasfor guitar.So
we had two identicalamp stacks,both being
guitar rigs,lhatwe usedfor guitar and bass.
Theywere purchasedfor $80o U.S.,delivered.
And they didn't requiretr'ansformervoltage
powef supp]ies.The]' were someofthe first
mrde ior U.S.I lo-volr\4rr.hl l.. Wehoughl
tlvo andvertrquicklyreorderedtlvo more.One
is good,more is better
"Thoseampsplayeda big role in how to
soh-ethe trio puzzle:how to makethree sound
suddenl_vbecamercrl wide, no holds barred
,rnd all holes filled. It was great for us, because
we LliLln'l hrve to hire sidclnen; $,c kept the
band three. It wrs:r lot nlore.rffordable. Fcrler

IHEt01t00ltYEARS,PIISE0ltE
(t970-72)r
llllcl(DIGS'EMl
B,vno\r,.ZZ Top w€r'e srlrtiDlito ath act
attention. Their nanegcr, tsill Ham, seculed
thcm a deal rvith London Records. Thc li'uvs
were delighicd to be on the srme record label
rs the Rollirlg Stoncs. Thcy plonr ptl,r,ho led up
in a small Texas lecordins- frcilit].. Robin Hooll
t s - " r : . I d i o . , . r r d l . r o c l e J o u r rl r e r lJ r l ' r r t
disc, aptly naned ZZ ?op'.sar7-stAlbun and
r e l e r s e c il n 1 9 7 0 .
"\,Verrtenptcd to crcatc matefialwfirte
b _ \t .h e t h f e e o f L L su, i t h n o i d e a o f r r h c l c i t
rvoukl go,'Bill_v sa!s. "l rha! vou herr is \r'hat
) ^ L rg ( t . l l r . r u r , , , f . l r . r rr . c " - d i . , n t e . l i r E i
that \r,e \r,ere merel) Lrpstart cop\.ists attempt-
. r . r ' . l r . r " r r o u r r e - . i on n i t h c 1 l-u < . .i u r
frled \{ith \\'hat we thought $'ould sound like
I(eith,lleck, Pagc,Clapton, N,IickTiylor, Peter
G r e e n . . . t h o s keu ) s . C l r o r v i D g u pF. r a n k a n d
Dust_vhrd listened to the senlc ridio stntions
I J i J : I r , l r , - r i . \ r , t r t i on o . r ro l N u . \ , i l L
WLAC, end the samc Mcxican border blasters.
S o u e h a d a s h a r ' e de x p e r i e n c cf r o m t h e s t a r t
thai r.:rs able to be broLlghr for\\'.ird irl thc
c r c a t i ( n lo f Z Z T o p , p l u s t h e b o n ! s o f h u v i n g
ne\,lbund hc|ocs in the British In\,!lsion guvs.
It rves r haDdv way t0 start."
The rlbu]n is yerv l1]uch a "livc in the sru-
,€
dio" affair', recordecl with the gloup's ncrvlv
a c q u i r e dt o u r i r g r i g . " T h e f i r s r r l b u n i s a l l
Pe:rrll, Grtes thrlrugh a 1Oo-\\'att N,Inrshrll,'
Billy exphins. "Dust)'waspleyilga Danclcc-
tro Longhofn bass throulih his l0O lvatt l,lir
s h a l l . t n f a m o u sD u s n f a s h i o n .h e l o f g o t t o
b r i n g h i s ' 5 1 T e l e b a s st o t h c s t u d i o ,s o h e h n d
to usc the house brss et thc studio, rrhich w:rs
this \rcird Danelecrfo LoDghorn. I think it lrxs
e two pickup nnrdcl, or nriybe N single. And
thrt s $fiat nade upthc sound.'
S h o r t l t r f t e r t h e d e b L r t . r l b u mr v a sc o m -
p l c t c d , B i l l i t o o k h i s f i r ' s t s t e p st L r n a r da i s s
i n g t h e i m p r c s s i v cg r i t a r -c o l l e c t i o nt b a t h e
possessestodrv. "Peerly had such a lobust
:rnd distinctiye personalitl, eDd it rvas ml goal
to get a sparc," he sa,vs."Looking at lrerrl).. I
t h o L r g h t L, c t ' s s c c .t h i s i s j L r s ta c h u n k o f l v o o d . fof Pexrll, but I said, 'Okal,,1ine.And ).cs,it had o n L l . ' B i l l , vn o t e s , ' w e t h o u g h t , l C s n o t o L r to f
I t l n u s t b e t h e s eh L r n l b u c k i n g p i c k u p st h n t a gTeatsourd.It{,as a f:rf cr\r irom the shapc of oul rcalm to use a ferv rlifferent Eirlilarsand
, r r r l <ier . o r r r d. ^ p l e r t . \ o r r r lJ . . . 1| . r . r , ' t . the Les Peul, but ithid those eally PAFs." . r r p \ , u g r \ i r I I ' , r r r r . ^ r rr . l . . T h e r r .rirc
L . r , r r . , r ' , , r l c - . rl , r r r . Lr e . l J . r l i r \ ' r . . Billv s glritrr collection had grorvn ap e x p l o s i o nt h a t $ a s t r k i n g p l a c e a t t h e t i r r c w a s
'Let's ger rrothcr cibsol guitar rvith these p r e c i a b l l b y t h e t i m e s e s s i o n sf b r t h c s c c o n d pm\.idin€ia \\,ide rrnlie o{tonrl verirnces, rrd
h u n ] b u c k i n gp i c k u p s l 'W e d i d n ' t c v e n k n o $ ZZ Top allruln. Rio a;,dnd" Mxd (1972), rolled that's \r-hcn rvc were $ illing to get inventive."
that thc sought-rfter hurrlbucking pickups r r o u n d . " I h a d i c q u i r e c l s o n r cm o r e o f r h o s e Slide guital oveldubs madc their lirst ap-
rvcre thc oncs marke!l 'PAF'-Prtent Applied t\\'o - h Lllrb LLcker' alibson g'uiters," hc says, peirance on Rio crdnd.'Md.l. tsilly used a
Fot, the first carly humbucltels. ''noncofwhich rvele natching
up to Pearllr 1 9 5 8S u n b u f s rL e s P n u l - n o r q u i t e P e a l l r b u t
''But lnv secord two huml ckingcibson
The1.x'elc a littlc lcss 1ou!1,so I rentirine.lon r o t a t a l l s h a b b v f o r t h e s l i d e l e a d so n J u s r
{,rs a 1958 korin,r Flving V A buddy do\rr ihe t h e q u e s t .I s r i d , ' Cc r t a i n l y t h e l e ' s a n o t h e r Got l'aid." He plays slidc in a varich ofopcn
street saill, Hc! rnxn, )'ou w:rnted a GibsoD qlritar out thefe that sounds likc Pearl)..'BLrt r I i r 9 . . - \ f ^ l ^ g i e ' o F e " l . l t .d l s . i r , r ' r A r .
\r'ith t$o hunlbuckcrs.l goi one I Llon't need. h.c vet to lind one. (llose, ves. But Perrl] is Cfdndc,VIud. is xn inshrrrrental slide nrrmber
I'm still ple,ling nrf l'encler So,-loyou u'ant ro still the benchnlerk." ph)e.l in oper E," he c\plains. Open C; LD G
b L r vt h i s C i b s o n ?I d o n ' t e v e n k n o M n h r t i t i s . Norletheless,severrl ofthosc othcr $itars D G B Dl and open A [E A E AC, El are t\!
I t ' s k i n d o f o d d . l t ' s h n r d t o h o l L lo n I ' o u f l e g c.rrle in handy for oveldubs on Rio crunde
r n d p h ) . B u t i t ' s g o t t h c p i c k u p s , v o uw e n t . ' I .L/rd. tsilh' nadc exiensive use olr 1956sur,- ZZ Top's iritial "Southcrn Man" pelsonn
s a i d , ' w e l l , i f i r ' s g o t t h e p i c k u p s ,b r i D g i t o v c r - bLrrstFenclerStretocrster, \\.hich plor.idecl r started to come into fbctls on -fiio Grdnde,/t rrd.
Ho\i nluch _\'ou$,anr?" And he seitl,'Thlcc nicc' single-coil counterpoint to Pc:uly's thro:rq, s o n g s l i k e ' J u s t c o t l l , r i d " . r n c l" C h e i r , r l e t "
hundred bucks. Thatrvxs 950 more lhrn I prid roar "Nloling from the 6r'st albul1rto the scc plojcct a stlong. blue-coll:rr, \\,orkin -ntin
identity.But the fondnessfor cowboyhats
andwestem garbwasknown to causeconftr-
sionbackin 1972.for insta[ce,the crowd was
a mite perplexedwhen ZZ Top openedfor the
Rolling Stonesin 1972.
"We gotword that Mick Jaggerheardour
fir.t albumandlikedir. Dusq Hill relare:.
'And he wantedus to openfor the Stonesin
Hawaii.Thatjustblew us away.Butthe next
thing I heardwasthat StevieWonderopened
for them here in the Statesand actuallygot
booedat one show SoI was scaredto death.
We get onstagein Hawaij with our cowbo}
hats,bootsandjeansandyou could heara pin
drop.Somebodywent, 'Oh no,thev're a coun-
try band.'"
"Butwe had our Marshallstackscranked
and we were readyto pouncefor the kjll,"
saysBilly,taking up the tale."we very quickly
had to getgrindingto dispelthe mlth: Yeah
we may look like wejust felloffa wagon,but
we're hereto entertain."
"We got an encoreon all three showswe
did, Dusq :dds. And ir waswri(tenup irL
Rol/ingStone or sonerhinglikerha(.It was
one ofthe first big stepsfor us.And I've got
grearmemories of lhar.lile neerirg Charie
watts down at the bar and havinga few."
TltEtoltloltYEtRs,
PfltsE
rYt0
(l07il-76):
Slllil(lGlGRS
0ll lcl0
The albumthat put ZZ Top on the map was
freslJombres.Releasedin 1973,itwas the
recordthat crystallizedZZ Top'ssoundand
early style.
Like Rio GrandeMud, the title ?reslfom-
bresreflectsthe influenceofla
Frontera,the Mexicanborder
flavorthat creepsinto Texan
culture in generalandthe ZZ
Top aestheticin particular
And bythis point, Zz Top had
becomea highly seasoned live
act,an inevitablebyproductof
almostconstanttourlng.
"Not to knock London Re-
cords,butthey didn't do a great
dealfor us,"saysHill. "we
were humping everynight. there t s
Any gig. Eveq' gig. Opening for
whoeverwe could," another
At the sametime,with two
albumsunder their ornate
guitar out
westernbelt buckles,ZZ Top there that
had becomecomfortableand
highly competentin the re- sounds like
cordingstudio.All ofthese
factorshelpedto make?res
Pearly. But
Ilornbresthe group'sfirst Plati-
num albumand an enduring
I've yet to
catalogitemto this day. finiL one.
"?res -lJombreswas olrr first
breakthrough,ard it's still a Closer Xos.
favo te discwith fansandthe
band,"saysBi1ly."Oneof the
But Pear1y
reasonsfor that is that it hasour
first Top-10hi!'La crange.'"
is still
ZZ Top'stribute to a legend- the bench
ary Texasbrothel,"La Grange"
is a shuffleboogiein a style mark. tt
initiatedbv bluesmanJohn Lee
Hookerand revivedby late-
- Gibbons
Sixtiesbluesgroup CannedHeat.ZZ Top put
their own stamponthe idiom, althoughBilly's
low-pitchedleadvocalcameaboutsomewhat
by accident.
"We'd cut the music track, and I was work-
ing on the vocal,"Billy recalls."Butsomehow
itwas notgelling.We workedand worked on
it. I rememberthe sessionhad startedearl;,
and we'd gottento the pointwhere everyone
wasgettirg fati$red and hungry.So I said,
'Look,takea lunchbreal. And t remembel
I wassitting in a metal foldingchair,having
stoodup in front ofthe vocalmic for hours.I
pulled the microphonedown and askedthe
engineer ro giveit onemore(D. Burhe was
havingsomekind oftechnicaldifficulty and
said,'Uh, you'll haveto wait a minute until I
figlre this out.'
'After a little while he said,'we're run-
ning,but I'm not sureifwe're taking [i.e.
recordinSlthis.You'll probablyhearit in your
headphones, but don't pay any attentionto
it.'So I heardthe musicstart.And it wasjust
one ofthose thingswhere I startedhorsing
aroundwith this lowvoice.I got throughthe
first stanzaofthe two. I happenedto glance
up throughthe control room glassandthe
engineerwaslookinghappyand excited,mak
ing gesturesthat seemedto say,Keepgoing.
You'vegot somethinghereand we'regetting
it on tapelAnd thatwas the take andthe 6nal
keeper the vocalyou hearon the record."
The extrabeelJguitartrack combinestwo
ofBilly's favoriteguitars:Pearlycates and a
1955maple-neck,hard tail Stratocaster, both
pumpedthrough100-wattMarshalls.The
combinationof Pearly'sLesPaul/humbucker
low end growl and the Strat's
crisply defined,single-
coil sparkleis a potent
one.The Stratis heard
frrst,statingthe song's
main chordaltheme.
in when the drums and
bassenter doublingthe
Strat'srh)'thm pattern and
kicking the grooveinto
'Tfi.r'qc sh.r ic i" sr
oneofthose great playing
great-sounding instru-
mentsl'Billy says."I still
haveit. By the time we
recordedlres lfombres,
we'd enteredthe eraof
the overdub. So it gaveus
a gloriousopportunityto
bring both Pearlyand the
Stmt into the picture."
Billy alsousedthe Strat
to playboth of the song's
memorableso1os. The sec
ond leadis the first ever
on a ZZ Top discto incor-
poratepinch harmonics,a
techniquethat would be
comea slgnrtureerement
ofBilly's glitar style.'And
that happenedquite by
accident,too,"he notes,"I
had not studieditor any-
thing.I just reailycame
acrossit and said,'cee, this is an odd effect.'At
thattime it wasquicenovel.Thoseharmonics
canbe highlyunpredictable.But the technique
isbasicallypicl followedbyflesh from the
thumb.My questionis how doesDusty do it
without a pick?How doesDustyplay at all is
myquestion.Buthe playsvery well. He'sthe
best,and very loud."
Like ZZ Top'sFirst Album and Rio Grandg
Mudbefore it, Ires Ilombreswas recordedat
RobinHood Brian Studioin Texas,but it is the
first ZZ Top albumto be mixed at Memphis'
legendarvArdentrecordingstudio,one more
factorthat puts it in a different leaguethan
its predecessors, Memphis,Tennessee, is one
ofAmerica'sgreatmusiccities,known,with
somejustice,asthe Home ofthe Blues.B.B.
King, Howlin'wolf, Elvis ?resley,Jerry Lee
Lewis and Otis Reddingcamefrom Memphis.
With SunStudios,SamPhillips' MemphisRe-
cordingServiceaIId StaxandArdent in town,
Memphishasalwaysbeena greatrecording
destinationaswell.
ZZ Top firstcameto Memphisro phy :
blue' iestival. The promoterhadheardtheir
recordsand assumedtheywere black.This
ni"understanding mrderhemlhe onlywhile
artistson the bill, but everythingworkedout
fine in the end.
"There were a lot oflocal musicianshang-
ingrbout. Billynrrrates.We made5ucha
goodimpres'ionrharue hadthe opporruniq
to meetthem afterthe showwasover Allthe
localhotshotgunslingerswere there.And
a coupleofthem said,'cee whiz, you guys
makesomepretty goodrecords.why don't
you considerrecordingherein Memphis?'l
said,'we've just completeda seriesofrecord-
ingswhich we're readyto take to the next
level.we call it ?resIJombres,in keepingwith
our Tex-Mexorigins.'Theysaid,'Sinceyou
alreadl'recordedit, would you considermx-
ing iLhere?\\e harer .tudio l"ereir \.4emphis
calledArdent, andthere'ssomereal handy
talent on the engineeringstaff As a matter of
fact.LedZeppelinhavejusrfinishedrecording
thei Led ZeppelinIII albumatArdent.'
"Well, that wasbig news.After abrief
discussion,we decided,Let's giveit atry
And havingmixedour frrst Top-10record at
Ardent,which was a big deal,we now had a
bondwith musicmadein Memphis.And we
worked atArdent recoldingstudiofor the
next 20 years."
Itwas a no-brainerfor the bandto head
for Ardent when the time arrivedto record
the follow-up to tres llombres.The studio
sessions would yield haif of what becameZZ
Top'ssecondPlatinumsuccess, Fdnddngo.
The otherhalfofthe albumwas culled from a
hell-raisin'liveshow in New Orleans.So{ans
got the bestofboth worlds:somefirst-rateZZ
Top studiotracksand a tasteofthe live sound
that had madethe group a hot concertdraw
in the Seventies. The album alsoofferedthe
wider paletteofguitar tonesthan an]' ofits
predecessors.
'?dnddngowaswhen we were starting to
showup bringingtruckloadsofguitars,"Billy
sats."This was a real tuming point in learn-
ing how to experimentwith unusualgear.It
turns out that the engineerswho worked at
Aident JohnHampton,TerryManningand
cutTtn
lEcExts
tt
S
JoeHardy were all gearheadsard had rooms
ofoff-the-wallequipmenttheyhadmanaged
:rmass. Oneofthe favoriteampson that album
\ asl Sil\erlone2rl2 combothath:d belongPd
to Alex Chilton lMempfiis legendof BoxTops/Big
Starfdne *'ho f ettuentlyrecoftledat Ardentl.
Manyofthe artistswhopassedthroughAident
endedup using it. AId there was e 4xl2 tweed
FenderBassman anda little topJoadingtweed
FenderHarvardwith a to-inchspeakerthat
had belongedto SteveCropper [Mernphrsgr:irar
leg,nd ofsta>.RetotdsOrisReddingBooka r.
dtldthe MGsfamel;'
Billy's distortedtoneson Fdnddngotracks
iike "NastyDogsand trunkyKings"hit a new
levelof graininess-atough,squared-off,
highlyclippedtone thatwould becomean-
other signaturecibbonsguitar timbre.Billy
attributes the tonality in part to the advent
ofsolid-statecompressors, mic pre amps
and other studiogearcominginto currency
ar studioilikeArdenrin the mid-Selenties.
Elsewhereon the disc,"Heard It on the x" rs
a superbslideworkout in openG,and "Blue
JeanBlues"featuressomeofthe mostlyrical,
minor-ke_v, sJow-blues playingBillyhas ever
done.For the song,he pJayeda maple-necked
'5o
S t r r l .a n dr l r er r s u l l i n cg l c d |l|o n c. h i r n
merswith amazingdepthand clarity.
"Thrt was ano!herstudjo experiment,"says
Billy. "The guitar was pl gg€ddirectlyinto the
board.our eqllipmenttruck had brokendown
and we had no amps,but the clockwas run-
ning and the engineersaid,'Well,ifyoujust
want to get somethingdownontape,we can
plugyour guitar straightinto the board.'Of
course,Fendersareby natureultra-cleanand
bright, so puttingthat Stratthroughthe board
worked for that particulartune.'BlueJean
Blues'couldbecalledone ofthe more haunt-
ing slow-blues-based numbersthat we've
managedto get down. The quietnessofit all
allowedthatclean effectto be usedto good
ad\anrage. lt s ven,differenrlrom what*e re
known for-a kind ofrash, hard,distorted
tone.But it's still a favorite."
By far the best known track on Fondango,
hoi,ever,is "Tirsh,"a brashuptemposhuffle
tnal Decame a malornltTotzz 1op.lnere
are numerous,variedand highly imaginative
interprerations ofwhal rheword"lulh. as
appliedin rhesong.acluallymeans.
clearlythe tale of one man'squestfor some-
thing fine.sungwith fearsomeupper-register
intensity by Dusty Hill.
"we wrote 'Tush' at a soundcheckin Ala-
balnail,Iaboutsix of eight minutes,"the bass
ist recalls."It washot ashel1,and with the
exceptionof a very few words the songyou
hearon the recordis whatwe wrote that day.
we alwaystape our soundchecksfof that very
reason[i.e.songu,riting]. Usually,though,it's
a little lick or avocal line or something,not a
whole damnsongl"
The oniythingthat couldmatchtheintensity
of"Tush" is a ftrll-onlive setby ZZ Top,which
is €nactlywhat fi\€ of-Fdndango's songsdeliver.
"For that pafticularshow,we were at a
fanous New OrleansvenuecalledtheWare-
house,"Billy recollects."It's a greatroom,a
tLrrnofthe centxry wood-and-brickwarehouse
right on TchoupitoulasStreetina line ofmany
old warehouses. Notonly wasit a popuiarplace
to go but the sound ir- a kind ofredneck drag.
to side was fabulous. with This wry overinsistence
that much brick and old on their Texas roots was
wood, it wasjust this one ofseveral factors that
fesonant box oftone, 5 e p a r a t e azl z l o p t r o m t n e
It didn't really matter herd of "southern boogie"
u'hrt )'ou brought into bands that had also gained
there, the room made it curency irthe mid to late
6t
sound $eat. Everybody
I've ever talked to who
l-s Seventies.
And like all great con-
played at the ware-
house has said,'Yeah,
probably the cepts, it functioned on
several levels. More down-
isn't that a great-sound
ing place to play?' "
best exanple home fans could raise a
longhom Bud in the air and
tne flafinum suc- of ZZ Top's holler "hell yeah!" while
cess of ?res Ifombres
and -Fdnddngoenabled
foray into hipsters could feel like they
were sharing an insidejoke.
ZZ Top to mount one the super-1ow ZZ Top were following the
ofthe most ambitious
and bizarre tours in frequencies. tt age old showbiz maxim:
Take whatever it is you've
alt ot rocx nls(ory. zz
Top's world Wjde - Gibbons got and exaggerate it.
"Well, we had a glaring
awareness of our inability
as "Taking Texas to to look like fashion mode1s,"
the People:'They meantthat literall)'.The Billy deadpans. "To this day,one ofthe band
35,000-square-foot stagewashewn in the in-jokesis aimedat our fearJess bassplayer,
shapeof Texasandweighed35tons.It took DustyHill, who is known for beingirnmr.rne
five massivetrucks to transpotthis mammoth to fashion.Be it clothing,the favoriteguitar
stageand all its attendantrigging,notto men ofthe day,the newestamp,you will not 6nd it
rionranch-l':ndpropsrhatincludedfences, in Dusty'scloset.In the beginning,we didn't
windmills, live cactiand livestock.Yes,a live havetime to designwardrobe;we were tour-
steerand buffalo,alongwith assortedbreeds ing too hard,bustingour assto get to the next
ofbuzzard and rattlesnake,all had rolesin the show andgoingonstagein whateverwe hap-
big extravaganza. Theywere attendedby fully penedto be wearingThatin jtselfbecamr
qualifiedanimalhandlers,who alsotraveled pan or rnepercepfion 01LL toq: |Jn)ean
with this rollingrock and roll circus.Nonethe- they're thoseTexasguys,I've seenthem.They
less,sometimesthe crittersgotloose,terror- wear cowboyhatsand cowboybootsa lot.'
izing concertgoers, What startedout aseveryday clothingto leave
As for Gibbons,Hill andBeard,they were thehousein overtheyearsbecame a Irade-
deckedout in elaboratelystitchedand or- mark,whether intentionalor not:'
natelystuddedwesternsuitsdesignedand Keepingthe Longhom Statemotifgoing,
handmadeby the famouscountry-and-west- ZZ Top decidedto nametheir next album
ern tailor Nudie Cohn.The outfits included TEds,the Spanishspellingfor the tenitory
big ol' cowboyhats,naturally.Billy and Dusty that had oncebeenpart ofMexico. It's another
playedcustomaxeswith Texas-shaped bodies. classic,bluesyzz Top disc,but a pronounced
By this time, Billy's lifelongquestfor a guitar countryinfluence alsocreepsinrothe mix,
equalto Pearlyhad led him deepinto design- The album'shit single,"It's Only Love,"is
ingcustom instruments.Gibsonmadehim the not only one ofcatchiestthingsthe band has
Texas'shaped glitars, but overthe years,Billy everydonebut alsopossesses an unmisral
hasharchedincreasinglyourrageou.guitar abletwang.And "She'sa Heartbreaker"is as
designswith a numberoftop luthiers,John cou ry asrt gers.
buLit s Bolanbeinga particularlyfavoriteaccompirce. "Oh,without question,"Billy concedes.
By way of context, the worldwide Texas "Aroundthattime I was driving from Hous
Tour rolled down the highwayat a time when ton down to Austin a lot ofhear the Fabulous
musicalstarslike DavidBowie,Alice Cooper, Thunderbirds,who werejust gettingstarted
Kiss and Parliament-Funkadelic were mounr and playing'BlueMonday'nightsat a pizza
inghighly elaborateconcerttours,bringing joiit inAustii calledthe Romelnn. And
larger. than lifeguillotineexecurions. space halfivaydown,you could startto pick up this
ship landingsand other spectacles to the rock geatAustin radio station,KOKE-IM. Oneof
Seenrgain.rtheb:ctdropofrhe"ebig the DJs on there decidedto turn the playiist
"r..r6es.
sho*-s,the world wide TexasTour functioned upsidedown and createa format that could go
asboth competitionand parody. from ceorgeJonesto the Rolling stones,back
The mid Sei.enties were alsoa time when to back.That certainlyhadan impacton me.
glamwasvery much the prcminentfashion 'And atthe tim€,therewasthis greatwave,
modein rock.A lot ofgroupsand their fans a new movenentcomingout of c alifomia:
werer-y'ngro looklike androgynous, deca counrryrock.lt hadsrarred when RogerMc-
dent,urban,ultrahip spacealiens.Meanwhile, cuinn lowedthe Byrdsto go in that direction
ZZ Tup u ereguingrrourd like shitlickers on sweetheartof theRodeo:the cowboy-ifica
on acid-very muchthe antithesisof glan'L tion ofrock, with pedalsteelguitarshou,ingup
althougheverybit asdressedup and im- on rockrecords. And comingoutofthatlineup
ag€consciousasth€ glamsters.The cowboy of the Byrdsyou had GrahamParsonsandhis
hatsthat had beena liabilitt'ir '72 had been band,the FlyingBurrito Brothers.And cra
transformedinto a high conceptstatenetl, ham wasofcour'sehang continuedonpage66
 3
.uGmilGE outside ofthe 220 piece of gear which

E
E
TresHotnbrcs (.\973)
"That is straight
guitar into amp: a
countries, as I can tell
you from experience,
they had-and still
have, I might add-
We had more than a in that studio. Sone
.! iv)5 Stratwltn 3 stop ferv paper clip nights ofthe guitar sounds
tailpiec€ through a over the years fdue to that appear to be
1969 Marshall Su- b1own,&sesl." doubled on the early
E per Lead loo. That albums are actuallv
fuzz sound in the
*fllsll' the byproduct of
t; lead and in the frort Fdndango! 11975) thrt oddballCooper rvhich was owred by
a "The first three Time Cube." one ofour famous
q) albums were re- Memphis pals, Crr-
c) corded exclusively
*TT BAD.
PT los De Marlos- lt's
X at the Robin Hood rfltoxwtDC" such nn interesting
o) Studiosoutside Degrello (r979) sound that it if3rited
a) ofDallas, and the "we wrote this Dust),'s lfl ill I'dssrs.]
d s p e c i a ls o u n d t h a t about the great Texas interest in learn-
x
o
alu,ays seenred to be
a c c e s s i b l et h e r e w a s
bluesman Joey Long,
a GulfCoast lerd-
ingsome keyboard
skills, and itwas he
H due in part to the g!itar picker who who subscquently
and back end ofthe fact that the equip, appeared on a great handled all the tick-
q
conposition isjust ment was nailed to lumber ofwonderful
o pure tube distortion. the floor and noth- records by the likes of
ling ofthe ivories."

Q Pickup-setting dif lngever noved so Slim Harpo al1dBar-

IGIIEIP
o ferentials account for you could always bara Lynn. He played surGltssEs'
d the difforent tones. count on a sound. on Lynn's great hit Deguello (t979)
CU The ope rgpart Quite a good sound, "This songwas ac.
o
q)
w|ls played on what I must say. cood Thing coing,' tually written during
w e u s e dt o c a l l ' t h e "'Tush'was Pearly which rvas covered a trip from the Gulf
d n]'stery setting'in cates, mybeloved btr the Stones, and Coast up to Austin,
q) the dark days before les Paul, played which was really one Texas.A b ght spot
q) the existence of through the same ofthe important re- ofcreativity flared as
tr the five-way toggle
switch, when finding
Marshall Super Lead, cordings that shaped we were passjng the
.q and we sure enough lnyunderstanding hamlet ofLa crange,
+ that perfect'tweener
lin-between setting
did stop and enjoy
the G tuning for the
ofwhere it was I
wanted to go with my
and I recited all three
verses of'Cheap Sun-
@ ofa three-way pickup composition's slide life. Itwas good. And glasses'within the
rJ selecfor] required elelnent. This song space of20 n1iles.And
r{ dedication. was largely straight 'Joey loaned me
a that's the way they
d u "ThatMaf- gllitar to amp, br.rt I multistringed man- stayed.Though that
o
o
t{
UI
,{iii;i:::,-,:;:,
-
throughthe
also utilized a real
odd, esoteric device
dolinlike instrun1ent
r1om Paffal, Nlexlco,
and I put it to good
use on 'Nationwide.'
may sound simplistic,
the lpics speak for
themselves.'Simplis-
tic'is indeed a word
first six records, Ifyou listen closely, which mal.come to
o you can hear close the minds ofsome.
broughtoverby niked mandolin- "Th€ lead track
JeffBeck'sat-the- soundingrhlthm was performed on a
.rl time tech.I had four accompanimellt, fake Fender gxitar,
<5 ofthosebabies,and The lead track was which I used for the
mey werernymarn played on a custonr- wiggle stick there
h roadampsfor years. made, half size, real is a little divc bomb
.{ I ran them through called the Cooper short-scaled guitar in the solo section.
|.-l . cabinetswith
.rt Time Cube, which tuned to G. It wrs I played it through
Fa those lcelestion]
creenback speak-
was a simplistic
application ofthe
actually standard a Marshall Major, a
tunillgcranked up n shoft lived 2oo-watt
complex world of minor third, {,hich beast, which had one
. srill physics. In a small remained quite pla1- blou'n tube. Hence
r r'etain a rack mouDted can able thanks to the the rather bulbous,
//
sits a small spcaker, guitar's short scale. rotund sourd. There's
.dlsnnctrve)
//
/ rrcn, enJov right up next to ma,v- "The song's tail a l s oa l i t t l e b i t o f
able tone and be 50 feet ofone inch cnd alternates be digital dela]' for that
are well u'orth rubber tubing, ivhich tween three distinct Bo Diddley imperson
is coiled, sp nglike. effects created bv tu'o atiol at the tail out,
The sound waves ac- pedalsr an Echoplex and a Maestro Ring
tuallv take longer to doubler and a Mae Modulator, which
travel, havingto make stro octave box alter- produces the strange
these corners, creat- nating every third bar tag to each verse.lt
ing a qpe ofdelay between having the appears rnree un1es, :
which is quite unlike octave up and the oc- and it's a prctty funny
the familiar sound of tave down. The song sound. That is one
a digital dela]'. That also contalns some insane effect put to
was a real left field Hohner Clavinet,
With Reeycle?, ZZ Top looked- to
the future by going back to their
roots. Billy Gibbons and.Dusty
Hill recall how it felt to boogie
agaln . ByHarold
Steinblatt
&BradTolinski
OIICE UFOI| A TrUE therewasWilliam Bunch,
bluesman.The saidBunchwasn'ta bad guitarist,
and he wasa prettygoodpianist.Buthe had a
gredrimaginaLror. so oned11he begancalling
hims€lfPeetieWheatstraw,the Devil'sSon In
Law and High Sherifffrom Hell. And Peetiedid
pretty goodfor himsell
Will:rm Bunchundersrood rhrr rhebluesis
ore than music,It is entertainment.EvenmLrre
so,it is mJsferious.
TommyJohnson,like the morefamous
Robert,wassaidto havesoldhis soul to the
devil in exchangefor his skills on tl,e guitar.
Accordingtobluesscholars,TomnTydid little
to discouragesuchtalk. Like Wiiliam Bunch,
he understoodthe powerof mystery.Consider
CharliePatton,known asthe Fatherofthe Delta
Blues,andAaron "T-Bone"Walkef perhapsthe
grearesrg!itarisr to.one our ofTej\as. Theif
stylescouldn'thavebeenmoredissimilar,but
they had at leastonethingin common:they
were energeticeltertainerswho, longbefore
Jimi Hendrix restrunghisfirst Strat,played
glitar overtheir headsandbehindtheir backs.
Billy cibbonsandDustyHill understandthe
blues."Understand," astheword is usedhere,
is not meantin the historicor musicalsenses,
r1-ough lhe two arecenrinl) wcllequipped it)
thosearenas.As a child,Billy spentcountless
hoursinthe time-honoredpursuitof Listeniruto
MusicYou'reNot Supposed To.Today,in the true
traditionofthe bluesobsessive, his eyeslightup
in intimaterecog tion atthe merementionofan
obscureDeltagritarist.And DustyHill? He was
playingbassbehindthe legendaryFreddieKing
at.15-anagewhen mostkidsthink a "shuffle"is
somethinglaz)'peopledo.
Nevertheless, Gibbonsalld Hill understand
the bluesin a mannerthat transcendstheir
considerableknowledgeof the music's
dereJopmenr ard instrurnental
rechnique:.
Unlike so nany second-rate, would be blues
players,they sharean intuitive feel for the blues
on an entjrelydifferentlevel.
Perhapsthe bestindicatorsofthis sensibilit_v
in Bill], and Dustj were the greatvideosfrom
the tlimindtor album-particularly "Sharp
DressedMan" and "Legs."cibbons,Hill and
drummer FrankBeardwere nothinglessthan
genii inthose clips,beni$, intengiblefi$rres
who existedsolelyto spreadthumbs up
encouragernenr rrd hot-hrbegoodcheerr
neprint0d
fromGUITAR
W0B[0,
ilovrnbor
1gg7
 '-j
1^..r

3a u
.
\, $ r''

t
+..

f" --
/'-

GUrnn
rcGEx!s
29Nl
 deserving,overworkedsoulsworldwide.The
ZZ Topbol. arethe lea.r-iocu5ed perlona.in
the videos-the most mysterious.The beards
fur'therblur their identities.cibbons and
Hillare notAmish farmers.Nor arethey 19th
centuryprospectors,or HasidicJews.They
are a bit like peetieWheatstraw,the Devil's
Son-In-Lawand High Sherifffrom Hell.
ZZ Top and william Bunchwould
understandeachother-that muchwas made
clearby the group's1991rlbum, R€cycler.
While it wasby no meansan acousticblues
album,itwas the rootsiestthing cibbons,Hill
and Beardhad donein years,the work of men
who know the blues-the entertainment,the
my\lery.As Billyhimselfsang,My Head' in
Mississippi"-..
OUTTAI|WORI.D What is it aboutthe
bluesthat attractedyou?
BILIY OIEBOIS The backbeat.The two
andthe four madeyour headsnap.Plusitwas
coolbecauseour parentshatedit. lldugfis]
oUSIY HlL|. Actuall).,mymother turned
me on to the blues.We had Lightnin' Hopkins
At;ta 24 curtrn
rErErDs
as well as Elvis Presley records. I thought
everyone had them. I'd go over to ftiends'
houses and ask them to put on some Howlin'
woll and theywouldn't know what I was
talking about. Then, wh€n theywould come
o v e r l o m v h o u 5 e .I d p l a l r l r e m , u m e b l u e s .
Their parents ivouldn't let them come back.
[lau3its] The blues were still called "race
records" back then.I lneall, how cold is that?
The €motion on those records reall]'
c a p r u r e dm e . l l o v e d r h e f e e l i n g o f r h e m u s i c .
When I started playing,I couldn'twaitto play
somethingthat had that much feeling.
G w I n w h r t w a 1 d i d r h eb l u e ss r i m u l a r e
your imagination?
HlI.L When I was younger,I'd listen to
a song and take it literally. I'd rhink, Boy,
what a drag. How horrible, he mustbe really
bummin'. Ifitwas about sex I'd think, Bo$ I
wish I was that gu].l
OW Because your appearances are so
unNual, and yourvideos are so clever, it's very
easy to believe that ZZ Top live the lyrics to
their songs. Il1 that way, the band comes close
to capturing the essenceofthose legendary
on tho E |.o6toqa,
Phoenlrr arkon4 ,lo!,1
countrybluesman,
GIBEOIS You'reright. Cotton is no longer
pickedby hand,sothe problemis: How do you
go aboutwriting freshblues?The bluesdeals
with the high€stofhighs, the lowestoflows
and allpoints in between.So\re had to create
surrealisticentitiestha! could handlethose
extrene moodsrvings.It seemedthat this was
the only legitinate way to approachit. we like
to think ofourselvesasthe SalvadorDalisof
the Delta.
OW The ZZ Top phenomenonis a
wonderfulvehiclefor fantasy.Do the fansever
confuseyour real selveswith your video and
vinyl personae?
HlLI- Oh yeah,especiallywhen I'm at
homelForexample,I'llgointo a convenience
store,and invariablytheguybehind the
counterwill say,"What areyou doinghere?"
like he doesn'tbelieveI eat,or somethingl
Then oncethat'sout ofthe way,he'll start
lookingoutthe window to seeifthe car and
the threegirls are out there.I usuallyend up
tellinghim that the girls are repairingthe car
backat the house,so he won'tbe too bummed.
ow Billy,you'vementionedthat Bo Diddley
wasoneofyour big innuences.Likeyou, he
wasknown for his odd-shaped guitars,great
rhlthm chopsandunusualstageclothing.
OIBBOIIS He wasthe perfectbridge
betweenDeltabluesand rockerslike Chuck
Berry Bo'stone-which was producedby a
cusromGrelSch g!itar andtwo DeArmon!
single-coil pickupssetin Lhemiddleroggle
position,and a Magnatoneamp-was
dramaticallydifferent.He didn't soundlike
anyoneelse,
His sound,combinedwith his arrayof
bizarrerectangularguitars,madehim a real
hero.The fact that a major manufacturer
buiit him a specialguitar alsointrigued me
I r h o u g hw
l,ho isthi.guy?Howdidheget
cretsch to makehim a gtlitar?He'sstill one of
the most fascinatingfiguresin Americanrock
and roll.
Interestingly,his soundseemsto be
making a comeback.RecentlyI've heard
a coupleofrecords featuringhis distinct
rh}'1hmtone.I guessit's taken the music
\rorld 30 yearsto finally crack the code.
[aug,ris]It's still a,fne sound.
cwwho elseinfluencedyour sound?
GIEBOHS Dusty and I recentlycompared
nore5on IharsuhjecrandcarneLp u irh rhe
obvious:B.B.King, MuddyWaters,Jimmy
Reed,Howlin' Woll John Lee Hooker and
Albert Collins.But someofthe more obscure
influencesincludeTerry Simpson,who played
with a Texasoutnt calledthe Raiders.They
hrd severalinstrumentalhits in the Sixties, a
includirg "Stick Shift,""Motivation" and -
"RaisingCain:' The Nightcaps,out ofDallas,
\uprp .ts^ hio infl,,an.pe
Htr.|. Even oncein a while, Billywill throu'
a Nightcaps lick in the midJleof a songduring
a live shoq and we'lljust look at eachother
 allthree shrre thc sanlophilosophv:"Lessis
brst." And "So/idlessis t/rebcst."Ifyou havea
soliclforrndation.then i,oLlcan pia)..
cw ulh).is Dalhs suchr hol,r'pl.rcefor'
g1litaf?
C I B E o S C u l r u r x l l y ,u p L l n t i l t h e r r i d
F i f t i e s t | e f e q r s n t n l L r c ht o d o e x c e p t p l a \ ' .
cw Dust1, \rho influelcc(l vour singing?
HrLL lriiialh; Ehis rlid Lirtle Rich.ud.
Then thefe $rs r ldlggap.l nr Dotknockir"
Pxt Boone iDcl Bobb] Vec rnd ill thxt stlrff,
but it was leall) gctting bo rirlts-.Then canc
the En€ilishg11\.s. who fcallv saved nre.I thinl
pcoplc likc the Beirles Iifted clclrrrnc b:rck up.

#
G W t s c r il l r i r L $ ' . r f / | l r i n r , , , / L l " t \ ,
\ r h o l e p r o d u d i o n s t l l c c h a n g e d .T h e p | i n . r | r
, l i f , r r c , . . r . l r e h e . r r r i, r L h . r ' l r L l r r r .L. c L i o l
\\rhere rr:rr\.gfolrys s\reetened their sound Lx
r i l d i n E is ! n t h e s i z c d s t r i n g s a n i l b e l l t o n e s ,v o U
t ( J o kt h c o p f o s i t e r o u t e b y c l o u b l i n g b a s sl r n e s
{-{ with fet, en.llog sh'lc sl'nrhs. At !imes, those
d o u b l e c lb . r s sl i n e s u e l c s u p p l c m c n t e i l\ r i t h
. r d d i t i o n : r sl i x t e e n r h - n o t eb a s so s t i l l a t o s .H o r t
c l i c tl h e t . r p p r o . r c ho . o l v e , a n e lh o r . d i d , v o u f e c l
. r b o u tt h a t r s I b a s sp l a l c r - ?
H I L L I f e l t f i D ei b o u t i t . I h n y c D o p f o b l € m s
\ \ , i f h a n \ . t h i n gt h a i \ 1 . i l le n h r n c e t h e s o u n d .
I considefthe synthesizclto bejust another'
instr-um€nt. I l(no\\'sorlle peoplc havc r
p r o b l e l n $ i t h i t , b u t c v e u t u : r l l i ,t h e l ' 1 1g e t
L r s e dt o i t . I n d 1 ee r f l v d r \ . s ,t h c ) w o u l d n t l e t
a dflurlner ph| ir the cnnd Olc Opn,. Now

GW I $,xs['t tryingto su€ieestdri]t d1e

synthesizefs hrd a regatilc in4ract on
thc soDgs.I {,rsjust wondering ho\\. thc
production stvlcc\'ohcd.
c I E B O N S \ I e h r d r e c o r d c dt l f d c o : r d
Deguello r-ith cvcllone in seprrrte lroorhs, aDd
\re hated ir.It felt too stcrile. lt relrll\' bothefed

f
rnd wink. I lovc it {4rou he Lloesthrt, 'c:ruscit
L r s L r : r ldl yo e s r r ' tb e l o r g t h c r c .
\ l \ ' ' r J . ir, i r f L r c n c e $ . ( r l r _r r | | i \ d r i r .
p h v e r s a n d b : r n d s ;i s t a r t e dp l . r v i n g t r a s sb \ '
a c c i d e n t .N { \ 'o l ( l c r b r o t h c r - p h | e d g u i t r r r n d I
. . r r \ \ . f n r r . 1 . . ' r ' L l r n r e .r r r . -r r , r ' r l i z e d
i v e n e r - , d etdo c o m p l c t c t h e f h ) t h m s e c t i o r r ,
so the\' elecred nre to [re thc bass p]:rl'er.
Str.right arr r\, we \\'efe pleving in clubs rnd
jrnlnlinlt \\'ith clcr-\tody in to\\,n, so I reallv
l c e | n e d t o p h l r r h i l c o n s i a g c .A i t e f p l , r ) i n g
l i I I o r , e a l s , I l a n c l e dI g i g $ , i t h F r o d d i e
Iiingl I \\'.rs anazcd that the,v even let lllc on
t h c s l n r e s t i e e ,b e c r u s cI r c a l l v w l l s n t \ , e r r
good though I ceme prett)' chelp. [du!'/rsl ]
w r s o n l v 1 6 i t t h c t i m c a u d \ 1 a sp e t r i f i e d .
BacL then, the clubs $-cre still segfe€iated.
One night \r,c plx_\'edrhe Ascot Bellroorn.
* ' h i c h u , a se b l a c k c l u b . I d i d n ' t h a v e a d l i v c r ' s
license et the time, so sonebody droppecl
Bllly In Houston. tslS
' r c r I | u l l , " lr r r : r I f r r o r ' e d ^ o f . . ' n L
l'
thc dffr xn. \\'ho lvas l prc|tl'big felli, srid
s o l n c \ ' h r t t h f e a t e n i n g l i , " W h . r t d o Y o uw a n t ? "
I s N i d , ' l h l w i t h t h c b a n d . ' I I e l o o k e dn l e o \ e r
a n d s : r i d ,' I d o n t t h i n k s o . ' . h s t a s a l l r h e s e
p e o p l e s t a r t c d g a t h e r i m ge r o L l n d l, r c d L l i c
pushed his s..rv through tlrc crotd rnd sxid
quictll.. "C nron. Aftef ore sorg. elerithing
\\'rs rll right.
ow \Vh.t gear did l.ou Lrse\r,hen vou lvere
plalirgwith Ffeddie Kirg'i
HILL I wxs fhvinli rn old hoLlori'bod!
H r f n r o n r t h r o u g h \ \ 4 r a t e \ ' o If c o u l d b o f r o $ . I
finalll stcpped up to rn Anlpcg, \\4rich I loved
becruse it had r-ollcrsl
clBBOl|S Love that outborfd geirr
llarqlnsl
cW \ hs l reddicvour rnaininlluence?
HIL! I lerrlled how to pla]'prilnafil)'ffom
Fr-eddie,ny hrother and Billy. IDtclcstingly,
Lrsto be conneded \\'ith hcadphoues rnd
m i c r o p h o n e s .S o e t t h e o u t s c t o l t l i r r i , r d r o r
r . . i r i J r l r , ' r ' ^ r l i l r c i - c l L , . , I. \ . n J r r . ,
in one roori. Out ofthat 8"r-ouIfocus crnle I
n c \ r r t t c n t i o n l o t e m p o .W e s t a r t c d p h f i n g i o
c l i c k t r a c k s ,c i u m m a c h i n e sr r d s e q u e n c e r s
fol adcleclprecisior.rncl found thrt \\'c cnjo]'ed
it. lt rlso hrd r posiri|e ilnprct or tightcning
u p o u l p l a f i n g . I f , r , o u ' lnl o t i c e ,d r e t i m i n g o n
Elirlndror is tightcr than on our ffevious
Icco|ds. \Ve steltecl rdhering to 11srri(lcnt
obserlancc ofteDrpo. ZZ Top becones a f tr
p i e c eb r n d $ , h c n " l { r T i n r c ' x r i v o s .
H I L ! \ I h e n r h e f h y t h r n s e c t i o ni s r o c k
. r l i , r .b i h , r l . . r r r p r r e L e ' r r r r . r o h ,
T h a f s \ \ , h e f et h e s e q u c r c i n g c a n r ci n . I r ' s | r
strangc but eifecti!e combination. Plat'in8
in thc samc loom :rllorrs Lrsto re.rp lhe [rll
b e n e f i t so f t h r t " h L r n a n f c c l . ' A t t h o s a r r e
t i I n c , w c f e a b l e t o j u x t . r p o s et h a t r o o t s !
g r o o v eo n t o p o f m a c h i r e - g e n e r r l e d f h l t h m s .
The approach allows Lrsto cor]lbine thc bcst o f
troth $'orlds.
G I B B o S l t w a s n ' t r c a l h .t h r t c r l c L r l : r t e d ,
because rr'e rerllv didn't kno\r'\llat \r'r: irefe
d o i r g i n t h e s y n t h e s i z e rd o m : r i n $ h i c h n l a d c
it n orc fun. We took our cuc ftom lrrnk i 1i t h T u b e w o l k s ' M o s v a l v e a m p . I t ' s j u s t t h e brother,Jimmie,w*s sittingon the sidelines,
Z a p p a .l v h o s . r i d , ' D o n ' t r e r d t h e n 1 i n u a l ; j u s t \\.ildcstthing. UJcused the Mosval\-c and our soI kind oflookedoverat him audhejust
get youf hxnds d;rtv ancl Llo it." usunl irssortmen! ofFenlderc and \,Iarsha1ls, shruggedhis shoulders;hedidn't sayarvord.
|iw Ho$ did Rc.rcl€rcomc togethcr? |rw Bill]', _vournd Dusq'r'eIe close so I let Steviejumponstagewith his red
cIEBONS ,Rc(rclcr \\.rs intefesting to fricn,.ls and musical collcagrresofStcvic SG.He pluggedin xndjust startedwailing. I
n r a k e ,h e c r u s c i n i t i r l l v s e p 1 : u r n e dt o f o l l o r v R . r \ ' \ ' : r r g h x n .I t w o u l d b e : r p p | o p | i r t e i f v o e r lookedover at Jimmie.who .|{asgriDrirg rvrth
t h e l i n c . r g ec s t . r b l i s h c di n E l i r r i r . r r ( ' a n d c o n c l u d c do u r c o n l c l s r t i o n w i r h s o n r e\ \ . o f d s 'Ye.rh,he nrvlittle
r lool{on his fxcethit s:ricl,
-,Vicrlurncr. Wc hdd $'rittei rr couplc ol highl) bfothcr.'Hcwis sofroud.
s t | u c t u | e c lp o p t u n e s i r r o u f s t u d i o i n I I o u s t o n . c l E B O l l S H e $ , i r si r t r ' e n e n d o u sp l l r y e r I t h i n k h i s d u e t a l b L r m\ y i t h J i r n n i c [ l 9 9 o s
'lhcn
\\'c n'cni oLrt o Los Angclcsfor:r couplc : u r da t l e m c n d o u s p e r s o n .T h e r e \ \ ' r s i r e r l Frrril\, Stflel is r re:rl gift. \\ie rll feel so
ofn(nlths ird got into thc \hole seqLrcnccr, bc.rLrtiful sensc ofclosLrrc:it stelic lla! s i , r r r r t , t , r . , . ,. l r . . l i r , l L 1 . , \ i , r . , r 1 i \ '
o y c r l t h i D g - i n - i l s - p l x c cl h i n g . B L r t\ v h e n w e [ e r ' . ' . ' . ( ' c c . \ \ ' e r , l l ( J I l Lr , L ' o L rl h < in the frce ofsuch agrc.rtloss.I ilon tthink
.rrrircd irl \'lcmphis to finish the lccoLd,l'. o l d d r r ' s .o n c t h i D g p x | t i c L r l r rs t o o d o L r ti n . r n l o r e s h o u l d h r l b o r ' : r n l l o n g - t e r - ms r c l n e s s ,
s l i d i n t o i d i t f e f e n ! l n o d e .\ V h i l e u . e r i . e r c l11)n1ird: I rcInclnbcr plrrirg.r prilltc ihnce thoush. Y)Lr nrust gricvc thc loss to tbc fullcsi,
l aiting iol alt ofoul high-tcchgcel to rlrive, c l u h i n D : r l l . r sc r l l e d A I t h u r ' s . s r e v i eR r y , $ ' h o but I think he grrced us !!ith irgrert merroly
l c sct up in r circlc :urd stated pll ing and w l s 1 6 a t t h c t i n r c , r s l { e dt o s i t i n . I l i s o l L l € f x n d r s e n s eo l p u r p o s e . 6 d
j r n n i n s . r s r L r r r r d .f h c s o L r n dc, v c n t h o L r g h
i , \ \ . , . n , , 1 1. r . ' ' J , ' , q - . i . l r i l i r $ c r ' .
l . a r T h c l c s u l t s o f s o n r c o f t h o s c s c s s i o u sc a r r
b c h e r r d o r c u t s l i k e ' 2 0 0 0 l l L L r c sr n d x l l !
H e r d ' s i n N , I i s s i s s i p f i .B" o t h : r r er e n r i n i s c e n t
o f o L u e a r l i c r m u s i c ,n h i c h i s n h 1 ' * . c c a l l
Rccrc/er our ?,"s l1onbft,-t€linirdfof rlbun-
\\ie LliLln'tiblndon rhe groLrnd \\'e co\,efed
o r l l l i r r i r d t o r r n d A f i c r b a r r r c r I ' o u c : r ns t i l l
h e l r ' t h e s c q u c r c c r ' si t n d s l n t h e s i z c f s b L r t
t h c \ " r c r l u c h n r o l e L l n o b h u s i v e\.V e a l l o N e d
s o m c o f t h c l o L r g h c lc 1 c m c n t so f t h c b : r n i l
to conrc shiniig dlroLrgh. Nlv Hc.rd's in
X ' l i s s i s s i f p i , \' \ , h i c h \ \ ' : r so n e o l t L e l l r s t
( o m p l c i c d t r r c k s o n t h c a 1 b u m ,i s a g l c a t
e x N m l r l co f h o $ . r c r r i x e d t h c n s v l i t h t h c
o.l Ir''|:. r ' r . . , . - . i ; h t , l ' <' . 1c n o ; . ,
f \ , - r r . f . , Lr ' l r - r l : . ' 1 1 C i r r . l t l r - n u r r
those highl) gated clc(tlonic dlum lills, rvhich
n r o c l e r n i z e dr h e t r - a c k .
cw Ho\r long did it trkc for lou to
c0nFlcte thc.rlbuln?
G I B B O S \ . 1 c n r ' : r ' r t s ( I e l l o , l , . . r i 'n
time ir Houstor arld Los Angclcs, it rool{
u s f o L r rm o n t h s t o n a k c . R c ( v c 1 o \rr a s o n e
o f o u f l o n g e r p f o j e c t s .I t h i n k i t r o o k e \ t r x
tirne bccaLLsc$.c mn'cLi ro Nlcnrfhis Sound
s t u d i o so n B c a l c s n - c c t .T h a t a | c a i s c h o c k
fullolclistlrctions. Tfere iverel lot of
glcarchalactcrsallals hugingout on the
s ! r e e t s .l h e r e \ f a s o n c s t r e c t l n u s i c i r n n a m c . l
A l a b e n r r ,r ' h o k n e l o r l \ o n e s o n g : ' B N b \ .
P l c : r s cD o n ' t c o . ' B L r tt h a r ' sr l l h e n e e d e dt
kno\: Hct Lrlal it fof onc clo*.d, ud rriren
d r e r ,r r o u l d n r o v eo n , h e c l p h l i t . r g . r i nf b l t h c
ncxt cro\r'cl, and so on.
c W l l i l l y , ) o L r rt o n e i s i r l s i a n t l )
r e c o g n i z r b l e .$ i h l r t d o e s i t c o n s i s to f ?
clBBoxs T o n c g o c sh a n d - i n - b r n i l r v i t h
d e l i ! e r \ ' .r n d I c r c d i t o L r rp r o d u c c r B i l l H a I r r
f o l c o r c h i n g n e o n u , h e r e t h e n o t e ss h o u l d
fr11.You can lorll_v thicken the glritxr rrrck bv
leyjn:j brrk just a Lrrcath frorrr ihc do{.nbcat.
T h a l \ i i ! , . t h e g u i t . r r i s r r ' tc o l n p e ! i n gd i r e c t l !
u i t h t h c b a s s: r n db a s sd r u m f o r s p r c e .I t ' s
s L L r p r i s l n hg o s n l u c h t h . r t l i t t L et r i c k c l r l a d . l

Also, it s har(l not to gci x glcat sounLl

n o w r d r y s , w i t h r l l t h c $ . u n d c r f u lc q u i p r r c n t
ou rhe |nrflet.I nr particuhfl) inpresscd

Blues bad.-asses?
Pop visionaries? Med.ia
nagicians? Will the
real ZZ Top please
stand. up !
E r L l y c r B B o N s p u L L s a b l r c l i l ) . r \ c b r l l( , r i )
ilrrr n on frr hcr,l IIr srle|]' x p,rifr)i5h.rdrs
l i , , r ) r, r b r g h l l c L lt r i t h J c s i g | c r e r c r t u r . , r n d
h t s i h e r ) rr ) r 1. r \ f x r c . s r f | | i n g b r c l i t i ) s u f \ c \
r h c r f l r c r . - \ r s ( l ) { ) : cI t h i n l , h c p | 0 r r 0 u I c t , s
n c d i t r t i r c l r s t i r , l i n s h i s t l , r L l c n r . r r ck h i n
$ u f r ) r c f .\ c \ r f o n r c s r l o r g o r r r c o l t t o m r t c h
\ 1 r ' .( l i b b i , n . r w n l c , r t h c r l l o o r J u s L c r t . i k t . ,
p . l l c f I c c : r s 1 ) f r et r i t l r l i n i t i i t i r ) n c e f c n r o r l \ .I
l c t l p r i v i l c g c d ,r r d n r . r rb c r l i r t l c : c r r e d I I e l c
I m . t t c i n g r l r L n s i r l n r c t li n t o : r r l r o n o l u l r
n r c u r h t f r ) l Z Z l o | b c r u J l c s s .h u r o r l r c N , : r
lulir rig.qcd.
I l i l l r n h c e l s n r e r r r L r r L it o l i r c c t h c c r n r c r : r
r n d b c i t i r l si s s L r i n gf u r + c o n r r r r r ( l s L c f i k i o r
i o f \ ' . r f d l R i g h r h l l n d p o i n r i n g .l i l i e r l )i \ . s t r ?
\ o . n o l T h r f i n L l e s e \ t e n r l c d .T h r r s i r . r ' e r h .
o L r \ : l L r l Lc h c c s r . R e r d \ , ) o \ : '
The rlcctronic llnsh rhirs rrrd hff:.
i D r m o r t . r l i r l f gm r \ | I \ l . r i c f t c n u I er l L l r
l c \ x s l c r r s t , u r € r f e s ( r r n ( 1r L l ll r l J L r n L l
i l r . r n ! f s i p o s r n r o d c l u h l u e s b r r n d .T h c
n h o l e j r D p r ( i m t m s o L r | c n i Is r : r p f c s th r L s
bccr:r nreredircr':ion f|onr the tIrre LrLrsints:
G U r r t nt E 0E t t 0 s
7 26
':
!.
'a
.l
r u th r L n t i .: r h i r h - p r r r re r t r l p l r o t o : l r o i r r l i t h
r ) r ) Lr ) f r l . L r tt \ r ( l h f r r c s t o p p i n g - 1 i g o r g c o L r :
n r o d . l \ r r ) d , r\ ! u r d f L , r ro f c . l u r l l r l . c . r L r r i l i r l
g L r i t . r f sI.t s i r l l l , r r ( o l t h c t f o n r o t i o u r l \ l )l r l
s L r f f o L u r d i n g l r r d ) n lZr Z . l { i I s l o n { - x nl i t e d
n c \ \ . r l b L r mt ,h c b r n d s i l , ' r l o f r h f i f l l c N
ftcr)fd lrbcl. tl(lA.
l I c \ \ f \ . l l i l l \ C i t r t r o n : .D L r s $ I I i l l . I r d f [ r ] r l i
B c . u d h r \ c t o r ) r r r r r d c c | c . l u s L r i t ,r:t r h c
I l o L r . n ) rO l n n i . \ ' h r f c t h c i i e s F e n tl l r c c l r
e n r c r l r i n i r r S i o L r r n r l i s t :l n d p h o t o g - r . r p h e l s
i n t h c i - r . r n ds r \ l r t b u r t h c r o r l d h : L sc o n r c
1 or \ p c ( t o 1Z Z T ( i | \ 1 ( r r s f f n r l i n ! m . u r !
't:ll
lillor irr inLligcnsrblc listrrl lis*r1ri,rlI lrir
A t r o L Ll tl i l l \ ( l i b b ( ) n s
l l o s r r n r L s r c i r nhs . l r f c n r N o t B i l l \ .
O f r r . r t i n g o n j L r s lI t r r h o L u . . 1 c c p .h c s
c v c l n h f r c r r o n . e . c : r l r f L r l hf i n c m n i r g
e \ e f \ p { r : c i r n ( 1c r m c r ' : rs e n L p i,e l e c t r n g
:,. 1., ,t i. ,.f :
)- .. .
 garncnts in accofd:rnce with sonc concept
t h r t o n L vB i l l l ' s c c m st o c o m p r e h e n d .H e h f f
neverIosl the sharpcve forvisual detailhe
acquifed xs nn !rr! stuclent at thc Universit\, of
Tex,rs during the Sixties. Don't let thc hillbill_v
h e . r rf 'o o l ' o u : B l h r i l ' l ' n r. i . . o t h i . r i i r r r . r
a n d o b s e s s i v eH. e ' s r c h r o l i c i n s o m n i r c , a t r u e
,r r r .r:. rnd rr th.olL(. cu l'l -e"\. \b
can't hclp but realize thjs once you\'c rvatched
the guv lelling fol gaffer's tape so that hc can
stick his shilt collarto the sideoihis neckrt
just the right rngle.
Gibbons brings the srme kild ofobsessive
energv to his grit:rr ph,vin!i. You think thos"
s € n r i n gp i c k h a r n o r i c s a n d f a t s l a b so i
suplemely bu fied rl, ythm torc j Lrst /rdppcn?
Thc kcv to cibbons'ax artistry is that he
nrkcs it all solrnd so effoltless es snnDih :rnd
eisv Ns.l loDg ncck Bud after a fierv bo\4 of
f i r , e - n l a l mT e x e sC h i l i . B i l l ) e x p h i n s t h a t Z Z
n r p \ \ , ' c r ec o n s c i o u s l )i.n s e r r c h o f a s t r i p p e d -
d o w n , u D s t l r d i c ds o u n d f o r A n t e t l t l d .
"Anrennd rvrs pcrhaps ZZ Top's firsl
c o n s c i o l r s! l e c i s i o nt o c r e . i t ca c o n c e p tp r i o r
t o t h c c o m m e n c e m e n !o f f e c o r d i n g . n J c t o l d
o u r s c l v c s ,' L e t ' s e s t r b l i s h a s t o p p i n gp l a c c a n d
n o t g o b e y o r d t h e s o u n d o i : r t h r e e p i e c eb a n d
fh!'ingthe blucs or thc kind ofinstrunrents
vou sce hefe: old, ne\\' rlrd in bctu,een !3ritars.
And abor'c all. Devel intfoduce a foufth chord
lnto the s{rngs. "
'fhe
n n i s h e . lp r o d u c t i s a d t r i l r b l v
faithful to the initial concept. Oh, there's
thc occ:rsional conga or I{annond B,3 prr.i.
A l w d i s c r c c t s v n t h e s i z e l sc a n e v e n b e
t
f&;r*, , L
go Gurrrl
rEcElros
i7
t/**.
heard lLrrking way' off in the beckgr-ouDd
"seasoning," rs ZZ T{4}'s bassist Dusty Hill
calls them. BLr!for the most par-t,Antcnnd
.rbouDdsin blLres]'12 bargrital {.olkouts and
stompil1g homc-sil'le grooves, all rendercd
with ZZ Top's chrractelistic irolish rnd
panache. Even in his pr'iicipal guitaf selechon
fol thc lccord, Bil11'rvent for a stripped-down
concept: Hc nlniDly played single pickup
Fencler Esquircs, \\-hil€ Dusty I-Iill shadorved
h i m o n a s e l i e s o f s i n g l c p i c k u p F e n d e rP -
tsass stl.Lcinstruments.I,roppcd up oD stands,
scattered arourd the roon1,the l11rtching
instrlrmen!s are llso coated in talcunr po\\'der.
Thcsc bl:rck hcquered be.ruties arc idenricrl
i n I ' r ' r r 'f n r r u l e . , l r h o . r g hp c r 5 u r J l ' 7d. l 1 !
sinuous irlavwork :rnd sculpted netal boLl_v
insets like c1.bcr'-paganjervelrl'.
''The notion
ofa singlc-pickLrp guitar," Mr.
Cibbons philosophizes, "is not too fnr fl.om
t h a t o f E i n s t c i r ' s c l o s e r ,w h i c h c o D t a i D c d
nanlr suits, but all ofthell rvere identicaL. tt
c l i r n i n r t e d t h e m o f n i D g d c c i s i o no f r v h r t r o
O n e r c h E s q u i r e ,B i l l y r n o u n t e d e i t h e r
r stacked Seynnmr Duncxn Pe:rflv Gates
pickup or rn EXIG voiccd to pr-oducerhat
P , . l \ L ; 1 r e ' r o n eP q . r f l L . i 1 l , s . , , .l n - : e . i .
B i l l v s l a n c f o l h i s b e l o v e do l d ' s 9 S u n b L r r s t
c i b s o n L e s P a u l S t a n d a r L l r n i n s t r u m e n tt h c
g r i t a r i s t c a l l s " o n e o f t h c c o r n c r s t o n e so f Z Z
Tq)'s humble beginnings."
'lhit's
cool, Bill)', but wh,v were you tNing
lo enrulrte a Clibson sound on :r Fender? lt
musr've been quitc a tnsk lraking a bolr-
'sr,
a T,? l;i . . lr*
,
neck guitll1.do thc sonic job ol-a set neck
"Correct," the €iuitafist pronounces.
"Ho\a'e\.er,thc notion is still that it's cither on
or off."
Uh, okal'. Sure. In coiversatior, rhere are
tin1cs $'hcr Billl' Gibbons sourds rcnlxrkably
like Robert Fr-ipp.$rhen he doesn't {,ant
t o : r n s r v e ra q u e s t i r m ,h e ' l l o f f e r u p s o n e
rn"vsteriousnon sequitur or Zen ko:u'r.Tfyou
t N t o p r c s sv o u r q u e r y ,h e ' l l j u s t b c c o m e m o r e
' n r : r r r i o J . .l \ r r , r ' - r " d o e . r\ i .
r h < u r r J ,r l r i E
messageis clerr: "tsack ofl honbre." That s
' ' r e , , f r h , F r - r r h ; n g .\ o L l , r r r J l ' n u r B i l )
c i b b o n s a n d i t ' s i r l l i s p e n s a b l ei n d c a l i n g u , r t h
him. Which blings us to our second Essential
F i c t A b o u t B i l l ) .C i b b o n s :
2)HE'S
ALWAYS
I.ITE
Pfepnrations for the dxv's phoio shoot
had begun brigh! and ealll insidc the b:rncls
hotel suitc. Lightinggeaf and backdrops wcr-c
positionecl \\.ith cxaciing care, the models
made up, coiffed .rnd corscted to allttl jng
pcrfcction. Then everybody scttled in for
t h r e c h o u r s o f a n a c t i v i t y w e l l k [ o $ l 1t o
e ' e f ) o | l < \ i r l i r r h . Z Z I n D c l r ' t p :\ r r l i S f , ' l
B i l l l r " F o r a l v h i l e ,i f s o l r e t h i D g u a s s c h e c l u l e d
for two o'clock, $,e'd telltsill,v it wns scheduled
for-trvclve o'clock," says a ZZ Top staffcr. "But
Billytl be latc an5val'. He ligured that one out
rcal quick."
Dusty Hill ;s the lirst band nember to
arr-ir.c.Hc chuckles kno*,ingly ol lcalning
, , \ , .. t ' ,
f,"--!'flff
\\ :Y"'.
1
tha!, e\'enthough he'sover an hour late,he has
still beat out l rank and Bill,v.A squat,amiable
biker,Hill is the only memberofZZ Top who
really livesup to the band's'good o1'boy"
image.He'slike one ofthose ruddy,hughing
cavalierspaintedby Dutch masterFrank Hals,
onlythis cavalierpreferschainsand black
denim.Dusty seemsp€rfectlycontentto hang
a while and passthe time of day.He shows
one ofthe modelshis abdominalscars,the
result ofaccidentallyshootinghimselfa few
yearsback.He chatsabouthis kids,relating
with disn'rayhow his 16 year-olddaughter
went through a New Kids on the Block phase
and he had to bring her alongto a localgig to
meether idols."Soyou'rethe New Kids onthe
Block?"Dusty demandedofthe wholesome
teen act."well, howdy,l'm the Old Fart Down
the Street."
ZZ Top'sbassistdeclareshimselfhappier
than a heifer in heat overthe band'snew
albumand recordlabel."RCA had Elvis
Presle].too,"he remindsme.'1\ndanythingto
do with Elvis,I like."
Drummer Frank Beardis next to arrive.
Like Hill, he'swearingcowbol'bootswith
sihcr toe ornamentsthatwould probablybea
tad overwhelmingevenon the hoodofa large
automobile."I didn't realizethat...mmtnm.
beautywason the scheduletoday,"he muscs,
ingTinr andSusie. rherwo ZZ Toperres
"pl
engagedfor the day'sphotographicneeds.
Apparently,Mr Beardhasmuch to do with
rhebr "ld5 verbalhumor-rhepunsandfisque
doubleentendresthat run throughtheir song
lyrics.Anfenndis particu)ar)yrich in that
department."CoverYourRig" is a pa€anto rod to the dazzledgasstationattendant.My
safesex,castasa l€ctureon the importanceof handtrembleswith reverenceasit passes
motor vehicleinsurance."FuzzboxVoodoo o\-erthe strings,tunedto openD. Billy winks
equatesthejoys offine gritar equipment and produces..-gulp...stillanotfierone of
with...aq shucks,6gureit out for yourself Bo Diddley'spersonalred cretsches:the
"we all write the ]),Ticstogether,"saysHill, cuNaceousax mainly playedonstageby
"but Frank reallyshineson 'em pretty good." Bo',sconsort,the Duchess.It too was a gift
"Um, sowe'rewaitingfor Billythen?" to Billy from Bo and is one ofonly four such
Bearddeadprnr. :en.ingthe nrounLing lerels instrumentsmade."Fortunately,theseguitars
ofrestlessness andexrsperationin the room. were sentto Ohio for repair,prior to the
Muchlarer.Billycibbonsu hisksinrorhe burningofthe cretsch factoryin Cincinnati,"
suile.The fir"r\urpriseis hou incrediblv rhin explainsBilly,who isjust asobsessiveabout
he is.He speakswith a sort ofnasalprecision guitar historyeshe is abouteverythingelse.
that contrastssharply with the slou',deepTexan "Sothey live on."
drawlthat issuesforth from mostofthe other Billr i. equalllfondofgivinggiftsa" he i.
mellir the room.His ardvaltriggersa flurry olreceiving them.ln our time together,he
of activiq..When Billy'saround,therealways bestowson me abaseballcap from the storied
seemsto be l0Othingsgoingonat once.He's bluesjoint calledthe Henry SwingClub,
perperu;lly in themidsrofoneor mo-ephone and a rare photo ofElmore James.(Elmore
calls.H€'s forever fishing into piecesofluggage was a key spiritual and musicalinfluence
scatteredaroundthe room,pullingout props onAnrennd;Gibbonsusedthe bluesman's
andvisualaidsmore-or-less relevanttothe openE tuning [E B E GsB E] or the song
businessathand..He reachesinto onecaseand "Everlthing.") It's all highly flatteringand
handsme.-.oh, sweetJesus, Bo Diddlel"sgllitarl f:scinaring. buronesenses rharrll (hegifrs.
guitars,phonecallsand souvenirsnapshots
are partof acarefullyorchestrateddiversion.
3)tusT
utGE[Yts, The main point ofthe whole thing seemsto
BlttYlsFo]ilt0FGtFrs be to deflectattentionfrom the thin, frdgety
Itwas givento Billyby Bo himselfandis man who playsguitar for ZZ Top-to keep
thoughtto be olle ofonly four suchguitarstn you from gettingtoo close,askingtoomany
existence."Checkit out;' Billy €ncourages, questions.He'slike a stagemusician.Start
profferingthe red, rectang!lar-bodycretsch actinglike you'regettinga beadon the real
madefamousbythemighty father oithe Billy Gibbonsand...whoosh, hoo-boy,here's
backbeat.It's like that scenein the video for anothershinygewgawflashingin your eyes.
"GimmeAllYour lovin'," where Billy and This is morethan aployfor keeping
the boystossthe keysofthe Eliminatorhot journalistsatbay.It is alsothe keyto the entire
imagethat ZZ Top have
masterfullycreatedfor
themselvesin the years
since1983'sElimlndtor
album.InaZZ Top
videq the gnarlycars,
bodaciousbabesand other
emusements serveto draw
attention away from the
threemusicians.When
the boysdo appeatthey're
oddly incognito:hidden
behindding.ycomic
SantaClausbeards,dark
glasses andhats,like bad
guyson the lam in some
!rftles ll-movre. lt s an
inspiredsend-upofthe
whole MTV pop process,
which generally puts the
artist'skisserfront and
center,a manufactured
personality carefully
"positioned"to seemas
uniqueand distinctiveas
possible.This ratherthan
recordedmusic iswhat
the musicbusinesstook
to sellingin the MTV era:
Madonna.Michael.Prince.
The geniusofZZ Top is
that they found a way to
pafticipatein this wicked
commercialgamei('hile
simultaneously denying
it. They deliberatelyleave
the "herospace"blank in
 bnck,we picked up these t.|vo
girls hitchhiking, and that's ho*'
we u'rote the song'Precious and
Grace'...butthat's another ston',
'Anlnl'ay, that
bass u'as the
lirst guitar $'e e\-cr modified.
when I p1a).edit, I noticed that
I eirher had the volume knob
w i d e o p e n o r e l s ec o m p l e t e l v
offbctwccn songs. So \1-etook
that knob offald got one of
'
t h o s el i t t l e w i n d o w c r a n k s -
like for the vent r-indow on
an older car and put that or.
If]'ou slapped the crank, the
volume u'ent all the wav on or
all the way off. So I'd have to
say that window crank was the
stert of it a11."
Everyone knows what
followed a whole sick series
of fur trimncd, munmy
wrapped bizarrely accoutered
monstrosities. ZZ Top's stage
scts got increasingllr demented,
too. tsy the time the fgds tour
rolled around in 1976,they
rvere sharing their stage with
crttle, buzzards and oth€r
critters native to the Lone Star
state. what was most brilliant
about the u.hole shtick was
that south€rn boogie bands
weren't supposedto have a
v i s u a l s e n s e .c u y s w h o s i n g
about "lookin' for some tush"
usually aren't conscious
of color schemes. Humblc
bluesmen arel,I't supposed to
have a marketing strateg-v.Yet
h€re they !',ere, an absolut€ly
ass kickin' Texas boogie
band rvith a flair for poking
ironic fun at itselfand its
surroundings. As the Seventies
turned into the Eighties, this
flair was to prove Zz Top's
savinggrace,
But nowwe're tr€adingon
da[gerous gr'ound. Tine for
another indispensable fact
thcir videos and album art. ?ut it do\,r,nto Billy's ar.ttraining or !o the aboutBiLI_v
cibbons.
Accorcling to them, ofcolrrse, the effect psychedelic times ir which he came up, but he
wesn't nearly so cortrived. "\ re didn't do any was hip to the idea ofrock staging and visual
oi thnt stuffto create ar image," irsists Dust_v n - e \ c n r J r i o n! e r y e a f l l o n . H i s f i | . - rr e c o f d i r r H
4) IIEVERBBI]IG
UPIHEOUTTAWS
Hill, who recounts the famiiiar stoly ofnorv band, thc Mo\.ing Sideu'alks, performed rvith III HISPRESEIIGE
he and Billy gr-el,r,theirbeards unbeknorvnst an elaborate coitraption that produced a Billy's thumb lands squarelvon the "stop"
t o o n e e n o t h e r d u r i D g t h e b a n d ' s1 9 7 6 1 9 7 9 phosphorescent rain shower at e stratcgic button on m)' tapc recordcr "Don't cvcn
hiatus. "we brought what we liked frolr the point in the set. /nention those nalnes," he cautions, brining
real world irto our \.ideos. \\re alread! had "Thatwas actually a notion ftom Jimi his shagpx'visage up close to mine. I've just
the Elinirator car;wc didnt build it for rhe Hendrixi' Bill"vexplains, "as we acccptcd the mlde th€ rnistake ofnlluding to the southern
video. And usingthe girls, thatu,as a real easy openingslot, follorved by the Soft Machire, on rock boom ofthc Se\.crties, obscNing that
d e c i s i o nt o m a k e . I d i d n ' t h e a r a ' n o ' v o r t Hendrix's 1968 tour He recommended that \\,e one tine trM radio kings like the Marshall
an\.where on that one." continu€ this entertrininfi sort of appearance." Tucker Band and the outlews have fallen by
Xlaybe so. But Bill!' Gibbons' persistentl), Jimi's ad\.icewas certainlytakcn to hcar1.It th€ comm€rcial u'ayside, l! hereas ZZ Top
keen visualsense has a lot to do with \r'hy wasn't longafter ZZ Top's fonnation ir 1969that have endured.
i h a i c o m b i n a t i o no f i n a g e s w o f k s s o w e l l . Billy's art enperiments began focusing on guttarc "I think it's just because we still love the
: Rock stals havc been posing\\'ith hot cars thenselves. "l'd say that started l,r,ayback in th€ music," Billy offers, "both individually and
: and prett) girls ftom Da,vOnc. Usually it's early Seventies,"Dusty Hill recalls."I remember collectivcl],. wc still cnjo,v tryingto g'uess
: extremel,v tacky, but \r'ith ZZ I'op, someho{. me and 8i111'dloveupto Dallas,where they what the other g1ry'sgointjto do next. our
- it isn't. cheap, yes. Tacky, no. They bring a had a lot ofpawn shopsback then, and he spied t a s ! e i s b r o a d , h a v i n g b e e nb r o u g h t u p i n
lrrrJ i r n n r r o r h er h i r g - a . r n i q u e this old Telecasterbass.l think we onl]. p: d 90 Texas u'here there's not much else to do
"fc:'i..renrirl
- brard oflegativc coo1. bucks for it a real steal. And \,r,hen\,r,edrovc except play provided yo have a porch. ure

GUrTr[
rEcExls
33EL
#r

e r j o \ e d c o u n t r \ ' . s o s l c l , . I e s u sh, i l l b i l l ) , r n d
c s t ) c c i r l l \ b l u c s . \ \ J cc h o s c b l u c s . r so n e o i r h c
colncrsroncsol our\o(rnd, antl th.rtsrilrcr"
Il!t brck rt thc daNn of rhe Eighties,
Z Z T r ) f ! l i d r r r d i c . t l s o t r r cr v o u l d s : r r , : r
s r c r i h s i o u s t h i r r g :t h e r ' s t a l t c c lc o n r b i r r i r l s
'Ir
. si.l , . r - i , I . r , r , . r . . . l r ' , . i ' ir '
d i s c o s v r t h s c q L r c n c cesn r l p o u r d i n g L LL u I
n r : r c h i n ep l L l s e sI.' c o t l c N b o r i e \ \ ' t h i s . r sr r
s c l l o u t . r c l n i c r l c o n r l c l c i . r l c r s l r - i n ,r l e
o r c r ' ) r x r k i r go n c l c r v i r n p o r t r n t l i r c t :
5)Bil.tY
GtBB0ltS
REA|ty
ut(ES
THATIIISC|I
STUFF
llLrfirit fhc dr\"s Ihon) sIoor Uilh mLrst
h r \ ' e I L L t, \ c e o f t t r s c s A l l T h l t S h c \ \ ' r r l 1 t s o n
t h c s t c | c o e t l c e s t . rh L r n d f c dt i r n c s .O b l i v i o t r s
t o r L I tJ| o a n s o f p | o t e s t ,i ) i 1 i n g t l l l . r f t c m p t st i )
h i c l et l r r :c a s s e t t cf r ! n r h i u r . t h e n r r n j u s t / r a d
t o h c e I t h e t c l c c p l rc l c c t l o l c s s r c - l i e d c l . r n c e
t r . r c k o Y c f r n c l o \ e f r g | i r . E . r c ht i n l c t i r r t
drunr rnichinc gfoolc st:utedup, heil lccr'
.rf f rr)\'inglI belrenth his sc|rgglv I'e.rrr1.
''Dincr nrusic
o f t e . e d s o n l c r h i n Ft-h x r
n r r r r I o c k t . r n sc h o s l ]i o t r o f e c o g n i z c , "h c
s . r | so l Z 7 l ( I r ' s c r r l \ ' l i s h t i c s s o l r i cs l r i f i .
' Ancl that s crtrrn](,
heLiriDcss.\\Jc.rttenrpt
l e m r i n h c l r : n o t o r l i i r t h c s t L r d i ob u r l i \ . o
e s s e l 1 .t l u t l e v c r l s o r o t i c e d d r . r td r u c c
n r u s i c i s r e r v h e u r . r lp a r t i c u l . r f l \ \ \ i t h f c g r r f d
t o t h c b o t n ) u r c r r d .T h e l y r i c s ' iE h , $ e l l , \ \ e
d c c i ( l eo n t h i t l r t e r : s l i r l t h e i n r c n d c d
e l l e c t ( l . u l c i n g i f \ ' r r u f e g o o d o r t r \ . of c c t
s o u r u c h t h e b e t r e r .I ] t r t o L l rD r a i ni n t c l c s t i :
p o i n t c d t o r i ' e l c lt h e h e : r ri r e s s o f d r u r c cr r L r s i c .
f . / r 4 p n r , q/ r i sl o n c o n o u d y . l T h e l r w s o l r n d . '
Pur it d(^yr to the srmc Nr|pcd, c|oss-
1 ,.i,.:.,ir '1.|| (Ir,.r:rr,, 'r.l:r
i r l r t op e r t s r o r n e l e ( r r i c g ( i t i r . \ \ ' h i ( b c \ e r
\!r\'\()u clfc to r\p1.rinit, thc nusic.rlblcnd
on t/itirdtr,]" rnd llif|l'u|rrcr p|ovell tlrc
t ) c f l e c r s r ) u n d hr r k l o r f h c A n l c f i c r n S . r t l r d r v
N i g h t : t l c n t l o l f i p s n o f L i l r ' l l i \ \ 1 ) r l if o f
t h c D r c nr o t h \ ' l i f g u i t e I t o , e n d s n r o o t h ,
s o p h i s t i c r t c dd . l n c cb c r t s i o f t h c l : r c l i e s'.l b u
h n o r r ' ,r r e c l i d s c c r r t o g c t m o r c f c n r r l c h n s
iuound th.rt tiure. Drsr] Hill lllo{ s.'BLrt
,l ...1..".l r "r ..i ..
' B e e r l ) r i r l k c r s & H c l l R . r i s c I s ,r n c l t h i t i s
krrrq
ol nrore gLr\: E!er1 fhoLrgh .r gill h.rnrl did rtr.rt
s o n g .I c l o nt t h i n l r e l o s t l n \ n l l l c f r n s , b u l
s c d e t i n i t e h d i d g c t n r o l e l e u u l e f . r n s .1 h t
s o m e n | e , r l h s e c l n c dn ) l i k r ' R o u g h I l o \ . '
S o n r co l c l e rZ Z ' l i ) p f L r r so f b o t h g c D d c r s
l c r c s l i g h t h m i l l i d L r rt h c b r r d s t c c h r o p h r s c
C N nr t r l L r c s r r i uc n r l ) m c et i i s c o. r r d r r o tl o s e
h i s s o l r l ' iB u t ! rg \ r ! r s d c c p l r s t c c p c di n h l u e s
h i s t o r l i s ( l i b L r o u sL n o \ r s t h a t b l L r c ss t a | t c r lo u i
, r si l . n l ( c r n u s i c ,D o c t u f l r r ln u s i c . d , r n c e h r l lr n d
b e l l o o r n n L r s i c -a c o u r p r n i ( n ri n i n t o \ i c . r t i o r '
r t r e l u r l e r o i r 1 t r , f c o u r s el.t. .s h i r c s i l l t h o s e
thirss \!ith nroclefu dllrc,.'mLrsic.So rrh\' frult
ZZ'lbt tofcoInLriningiheur? B e s i d e sb, r r h r ,
dl$ n ol the Niueti.,s thc b.rnd h:rd :rl|e.rdv
s t r f t c d f c t h i l r l t i n gi t s r t ) p r o l c h .
''Eyen ( ith Rr.r,rl|f. \re $
inled ro go brcli
i r ] t dd | l r s f | o m t h c p : r s t . \ i | s D u s r ! H i l l ' \ \ c
r1,.,1 , .1 . , ' , , , 1 , - , . . j r , 1 . 1 . i , r . . '
t-
r+*f,
\
ll97j:rl TruJ lnrnl)ft,s. \\t got pre|h tcchno on
zlnrrnrrrr{,. Jlrd .'VicrlLTmcr. $ hich I cnjofed.
lrl,rlr '\r r '.1 Irr .1.'.rr" r'r.r
tostrrt LrsiDgthetcchnoclcmcntrlittlc nro|c
spifinlil\. $Je strrted to {o in th.rt rlircction on
f i r . v r l c r ' .b u t T l l o n t t h l n k \ \ ' e i l o r . t l l t h c \ \ x \
l r . , ' , , ' r , l ' . n r ' r$ l r , i l . , , j . l r l r . r l - \ . r '
n r a d ei t . ' t . r h c . rs o n gl i k c ( l o ! ' e f Y o u f R i e . I r ' s I
sLrri$hl ar/'SblLrcs.nre Lrscclto rlo onc oftho..
, r . r e - r r l ' . r r ' , ' , 1r ' , . , r , , , . . k | , l ' r .
- \ \ , . . . r , . l, l
r s r n t h p o f b i n d N i r s o l i r \ ' . s : r v sB i l l \ . ' l i ! r t
\\ e chose !o lollo\' fhe nl.r1r. Dlrnv rcLlLrcsts
b \ ' l o g i o n so l Z Z T o p t r r r s f o r x f e t L r f nt o
somcthing closof to r,-f.r /loril,, r.\ thru
, ' V i t r " l r r r n c rA
. n d t h r t I n e : r n ro r r er h i n e : n e \ c f
N d d r f i , r f i b c h o r d .A l s o . n o p f o S f : u r r n r i r r g
'.1'r1 .( r,,rr.(.14J,.. ,r .1. ts,r r.
f r r , f r I b r c k g r ' o L r n di l, r ' o ! l i s t c f c l o s r l y r ' o
m , l f i n d t h c s o L u r do f e l e c t r o r i c k e v b o r . d
In kee|ing $ ith thejr renrID to rllusicrl
r o o i s ,A n r c , r , r dn x s n i r r r e d i n b o n o r o f t h e
N l e x i c r n b o r i l c l l r d i o s t l t i o n s t h L 'T o | | e r :
l i s t e n e dt o l s y o u n g l r o r s _ i n l l L L c n c cfsr l n r
the dirs l)el;le $e evc. st.utcd plilring. Billv
l o l L r r t e c L sT . o nrrke rhe fecofd. the i)rld
j o o ] . n e \ ' e dt o A r ( l c r 1 rS t L r d i o si n \ I e u r I h i s ,
d r c b i n h p l . r c eo f m . r n v r Z Z T o p f c c o r d . T o
g o n i t h t h i s c h o i c eo l s r f i p p e d d o $ r r . ! i n g , .
'i l'tl. riL.| ,r. di l.'1,.,r'i,.
,fi ,.,'. | ,t\ir,r.
\..,1\ , ,. rr .'i h i h i r . r . r. , : ' . . \ , . ,
"
| 'r l"'rl .lir., L( rl.,r'irl l
r l r . , ) r r r ' . r -r , - r , ' r r r, i r t t r q . l r
Malshall .Il4P-1 tube preamp xnd a Peavey
txbe preamp. Ior a iked cabiret sourd, he
went more vintage. "Frol11Brent Magrano's
cu;tar OasisofHuntington Beach,I pfocured
a sO-watt Marshall harkeningback to 1964,
with two gree[back Celestions. The other alnp
I u . e d i . p | o b a b l r t h e r n o 5 rc u r i o u s :r F e n J e r
Dunl Professional.Now considered extremely
rarc due to its lowproduction Dumber the Dual
Pfofessiorlal {-as Fender's frrst arnp to offer
t$'o speakers.It continued inthe line after1949
or'50 under the name of'Slrper.'Ai the time,
F e r d ," n r d . r d u r l - r e . l e d . r p, t e " l c r l e d t h e
Dual ?rofessional. so \,r.henitcanetineto nane
this amp, somebodyrcached into a box and
grabbed a fistftrl ofleftover nnme plates sayin€i
Dual Profcssional.Later on, moneywas spent to
lnlke up nameplatesthat said FelderSuper"
Despite his theories about Einstein's
closet, there's no ['ay a \.intage guitar hound
like cibbom could stick exclusivelyrvith his
EsqLriresthrough a whole album's $,ofth of
recordings.The song "Breakawa]t' he admi6,
"was actually performed on a 1936National 12-
fr et lstecl dcorrsti.] with a Ba&ls pickup attached.
It was close miked, itwrs recorded direct, dndit
was amplified. The echo\r,as added after the fact
bl' our engineet Mr Joe Hard)a'
whcrc docs agut,likc Billy Gibbons
get inspiration for his songs?Well that's
one reason why he's so fond ofgifts. They
provide instant subject m:rtter: "I u'as the
luckt' rccipiert ofa very rare stonp box bl
Marshallcalled Supa Fuzz-also a gift from
the coll€ctor Br€nt Magnano- That becrme At the concllrsion ofthis rather ironic track,
the inspiration for the song'Fuzzbox Voodoo.' evcr'lthing docs, indecd, become cve{.thing.
Although it does, indeed, as you discerned, There's El ore Janes stvle slide, the sound
ha\,€ two meanings," of a nrule which we were given by a famer
lnspiration struck rgnin the da,\'after who had a tape recorder, a cowbell, congas,
ZZ Top appeared at the \\lC- Handl' Blues a rviDd chine, a cuban fish...so ever).thing
Awards in Men1phis, where they presented beco es everjthing, you see?"
Entertainerofthe Year honors !o Buddy
Cuy. "It was th€ \€rtr next day thnt mtr
neon sign called't$,o foot door an' lny 0)lt0r EvElt
Bil.tYGtBB0lts
cAll
chin whiskers, that is-drew the attention AIYIAYS IIAYE
EVEBYTIIIIIG
o f a s t r a n g e r , "B i l l , vn a r - r a t e w
s ith an air "Nakedl"
ofrnystery. "It \{-asa gentleman who took lr's vef\ lJre.Lr.\ of 'leep has li,rrlly cJught
a noment to recotjnizc zz Top as being up with Bill). cibboN. He's barely able to
M e n r t h i . ! J o f ' r e d s o n s .K n o w i n g w e l o v < keep his eyes open. But one last visuel concept
t h e S o u t h ,t h e b l u e s a n d M e m p h i s ' r ' a t h e r .een-. r" h:re lodged it.plffrrml\ in hi. b-ri.r.
s p e c i a ll a b e l c a l l e d S t a x ,h e a s k c d i f h e s , o u l d He wants Cuirdr world's cover girl to disrobe
accept his gift to us: It was a pack ofmetches, for a llude shot- For the past l0 minutes, he's
the old fold-over cardboafd kind, from stax b e e ny e l l i n g o n e w o r J o v e r a n d o v e r r g a i r .
Records. It included the Stax logo and the "Nakedl"
slogan,'where Ev€rythingIs Everything.' Tnra, howcvcl, is having none ofit.
That becane our co[ceptualidea fof the 'Aw, it'llbe oka]t'he pleads.
"You can face
song called 'Everything.' The paradox there backward."
is th:rt, while the u'ords include everything, "I ain't gittin' naked and facin'any
the nusic is very sparc: drurns o[ly, u'ith Mr direction."
Hill playingjust one note on a Hanmond "Halfnaked then."
B - J . T h i s B - J . b y r h e \ v a \ ' .i s t h e v e f ! h i 5 t o r i c "I alreadyam half naked."
instrumentbeloDgingto Mr BookerT. Jones. "Three-qu:uters naked?"
I t ' s t h e o n c t h a t u , a su s e d o n ' G r e e n O n i r n s ' "I aheady am three quarters naked!"
and a1lthose records. "oh."
"In the middle of'Everything' there's a Ah,well.will it benecessary
to reinventZZ
guitar solo that emplo]'s the Tex$ Lightnin' Top : l over againfof th€ Ninctics?
Hopkins'I'm rot-gorna-put-my-hnnd-on- "Veryprobably;'Billy replies."Very
the neck-I'ln just gonna thrash it'technique. Probabl),."fr.
rurrln
rEGEr0s
35st
 zcfiAn
"This glitar is seen here in
the shape ofa'Z'. However
it has a folding mechanism
thatturns it into the shape
of a'V'. It was designed by
cibson gritar specialist
MatthewKlein and manu-
factured at the cibson plant."

N\

GETE$F&ITIN
"The cenesisguitar is a
handyitem becauseit's
nE!nus$ut/ got a coupleofholes cut
u.tGIffilx in the body and it's easy
"These were a gift from two to carry It was manu-
clsfltgrrfln
Russianrockers.They were given facturedby someone
to ZZ Top sometimebetween1990 'A Casioguitar arived we don't know Butwe
and '92,beforethe BerlinWall didn't mind. We just dig
camedown.They could probably on our doorstepone thosehandyhandles."
be played,but we can't seemtofind day,with the invita-
a cord that 6ts them.We suspect hon to trJ it out. We
they usea DIN plug insteadofa neverdid, but it looks
quarter-inchjack.Very weird. Very good.Can'taffordthe
-_. Russian-like." batteries."

I
\

TffiTVE.STIIXG
IIUiIIYGU]flN TililICIT
'An Explorerin shape,covered "This is a Mexican
guitar with 12strings,
ingauze and featu ng the Sony
watchman.Like the Z guitar, called a bi?,/bsercfo.
the Mummyguitarswere Difficult to play,ac-
'-:1\
created by Matthew Klein at cordingto some.We
cibson.They'reusedin the '{: don't know how we
t\
video for 'Sleeping Bag.' " don't know evenhow
I to tune lt, nor do we
chooseto. We enjoy
border music-con-
junto sounds-and for
us,this is a reminder
ofwhat we enjoy.It
was purchasedin San
Antonio, in a music/
furniture storethat
has sinceclosed:'
YilATISYEETS
"The Viva Las Veg|ls guitffs were created in Meridian,
Mississippi, where you can throw dice or go b-vthe Peavey
specialq,'guitar shop and say,'Hey, make me a Viva Las Ve-
gas g]litarl' They play quite well, by the way. The hardware OilE.STRIilG
GU|TTN
was a gilt from an actual slot machine." "This is kind ofhomemade.It
wasa gift from willie the work-
ingman,the engineerat ZZ Top's
Tex$ recordingstudio.It still
works. Butthere again,we need
batteries:'

THEGOOD
THE
&THEUG1Y ltwtmt
'A rather odd-looking guitar in
the flavor oforange. The name
'La warpa' identilies its curved
body: it's concave on one side
and convex on the other. You
can hear this one on'My Head's
in Mississippi.' "

FEIIDER
IIOUM
"Believeit or not, we still havea Jaglurkingin oul stable.This particular
instrumentis the secondglitar I everowned,and canbe heardon 'PCH; on
Antennd.It featuresa singleSeymourDuncanPearll,Gatespickup inthe bridge
positionand a VU meterrvherethe neckpickup probablywould'veexisted.It
alsofeaturesa paintingofa Rick surfboard.l don't know what that hasto do
u'ith an!'thing but it's there."

GUITIN
IEGETDS
37
Join Billy Gibbons on a fabulous od-yssey
across the glq-be r_n sealcn 01
wild., weird and. wond.erful_.ByCHRtsGl[l
aUPER BOWL SUXDAYT lggjt I am about
to settle into my favorite La-Z Boyto watch
thegEmewhen, to my annoyance,the phone
rings. Much to nry suryrise, on the line is none
other than BillyL Gibbons, liontman for th.
acclaimed Texas trio ZZ Top. The band is
scheduled to appear atthe half time show, and
allthe excitement and hoopla has apparently
given cibbons a caseotguitar fever
"we're goin'on agxitar safari. Wanna
join?" asks the great bearded one.
"Does a'53 Les Paul have a coldtop finish?"
I reply.
"Good.ZZIop's Rhythmeentour is picking
up in EasternEuropeir a few days.Meet me
in Moscow.Thursday.High noon."
"Wait,"I plead."What arewe hunting?,,
"Exoticbreeds.Endangeredbeasts.The
A few dayslater,in the aft€rmathofthe
creen BayPackers'great victory I find myself
on the red-eyerocketto Russia.Steppingout
ofthe plane,I scanthe airport waiting room
for cibbons,but not r singlepair ofR:ly Bans
is to be seen.Suddenly,a sultry youngwoman
in a leopard skinjacketcatchesmy attention.
lcprinted
?
She is holding a sign reading, "'59'Burst,
Cheap." This has to be my liaison.
The lady leads me to a Mercedes limo
a r d o p e n . t h e d o o r ' ._ V ) n a m e i . C o r i n n a .
she coos in avoice as sweet as Clapton's
Cream-era woman tone. As I settle into
the handsomely upholstered back seat,
she reaches over and hands me a pamphlet
entitled "cibbonics The Officialianglage i
ofcuitar Connoisseurs." "You'llbe needing i;
this as well," she says, slippingme an envelope J
filled rvith money from various count es
dollars, yen, rnaris and rubles. :
fmmGUITAR
W0[il],llovember
1997
t\
lIJ
L! [,[T
Sti! r Trt
lrttl
d,$
{#:ii

L.i
i"{t
..t-1
!*'t
r*:
 A few minuteslaterwe pull up in front of
Boris Kaganov'sAxe Shack.Hoppingout of
the Mercedes,Ispy a gnarly,Russian-made
sonicsurfboardin the shack'swindow-burnt
cheese-ocher 6nish,clamp-mountpickup
arrangementand non-innerplanetary
connectingjacks."Isn't shefine?"saysa
familiar baritonevoice.I turn aroundand
there standsBilly F. cibbons in the flesh,hrs
beardflappingin the frozenwind.
"The girl or the guitar?"I retort. "Both are
first class."I kiss my fingersfor emphasis.
"Oh dude,theseguitarsare out therel"
saysGibbons."Theysound,well-Russian.Of
course,there'stons ofthem aroundhere.Step
inside.Let's takealook around."
As we setfoot insidethe shop,we're met
by ComradeKaganovhimself,who leads
us to a backroomoverstockedwith sund4
Communistera oddities:Glasnostcasters,
Telesputniksand the like.cibbons and I settle
into two huge,overstuffedchairs.
'You know,the real reasonI'm hereis to
talk to you about'guitarmadness,"'I say.
"I'll gladly respondto any inquiry aboutmy
particularfave-ravesix-stringthangs;'says
cibbons.
With that word of
encouragementj we are on
our way.Awild, bumpyride,
for sure.
ttUtTAR woRlD What
got you startedon your quest
for guitars?
BiLLY F. GlEEOraSLet's
start at the beginning.It was
the soundofblues music
thatwe heardin the mid
Sixtiesthat really centered
our interest.When I speak
ofblues from this period,
it wasnot only American
bluesartistsbut the B tish
interpretersaswell. That
drawsus to one ofthe most
recogrizableiconsof Sixties
British blues:the John Mayall
and the Bluesbreakers album
lllruesllleaxerswttn I.llc
Clapton,reiecsedin I9651,
with Eric Claptonon guitar
and the famousphotographon the backcover
showingClaptonplayinga sunburstLesPaul
and a Marshallamplifier
At the time,I had beenplayingFender
Esquires,Jazzmasters, Jaguarsand
Stratocasters. I! wasmostly a single-coil
Fendergame.The LesPaulwaslessthan
popularthen.we suspectedthat double-
humbuckingpickupswere the sourceof
that Claptonsound.A friend of mine called
and said,"I've got an instrumentwith two
humbuckingpickups."ltturned out to be
a trlyingV That wasour first entry into the
humbuckingworld.
ow Shortlythereafteryou foundPearly
Gateslcrbbons'59sunb:'."stLesPauI
Stdnddrd]and,asthey say,the rest is history
GIBBOIS Indeed.
ow Having foundthe perfectguitar,why
did you continueto acquirethem?
c:BBOras Pearlyhassuchan unmistakable
characterthatwefelt itwas necessaryto6nd
anotherinstrumentwith a similar soundto
useasa spareglitar We accumulateddozens
ofguitars,but nothingquite matchedher.But
insteadof tossingtheseother acquisitions
rway.rheykepraccumularing. Ir'san ongoing
sagathat neverends.
cw what kind ofguitars did you
accumulate?
clEBOLs Just aboutanlthingthat had
thesefamoushumbuckingpickups.Youhad
theseoddball,pointy thingslike the I lying
"V" and the Explorer Those,too,had great
sound.They camefrom 1958andhad taller
and skinnierfret wire and a little bit different
feel.Then we startedfindingthingsliLe the
[Gi6son]ES-5Switchmasterwith not one,not
two, but lhreehumbuckersand a toggleswitch
with a settingthat says'All:' That'swhen it
startedgettingreallywhacked.
cW I've heardrumorsthatJimi Hendrix
gaveyou a pink Stratocaster backin those
days.
GIEEOI|S It wasjust beforewe formed
ZZ Top.FrankBeardldrummerland Dusty
Hill [bossist]were workingin Dallaswiththe
AmericanBlues,and myband,the Moving
Sidewalks,had beenhired to opensome
showsfor Jimi Hendrix.At that time I said
"Here'sthe masterofthe Stratocaster"That
domainreallybelongsto him. Here was an
exampieofa playerwho not only developed
someskills on chord structureand new chord
positioningsfor rock musicbutwas alsoreally
5queezing thingsout ota .impleguiraranL
amplifiersetupthat had notbeen written
aboutin anymanual.As far asI know,he was
lhe firsrexponent oi pla)ing a Srrarocasrer
in
the "in-between"toggleswitch setting.
At that time, trendersupportedwhat he
wasdoingasan artist.He really didn't mind
playingnew,out-of-thebox guitars.Fender
wassendingout stacksofthem; I remember
he oncegorl7 diifefentcrrtonslrom rhem.
Theywere comingfast and furiousat him
with newguitars,buthe had a few oldiesand
goodies. I acquired the pinkone.a lare-Fifiies in his garage.He had someofthe first unusual
Strat,during our time together.
Suddenly,our conversationis interrupted
whenCorinnaburs(sinrothe room.'Mr
Gibbonsl"sheshouts."Eiwood calledon the
cellular phone.He s locateda M issingLink
guitarl"
"Most exceilent,"repliescibbons."I'm
afraidwe'll haveto continueour conversatron
at alater date.Why don't we meetup in
Halle?"
"In the former EastGermany?"
"Yougoti'
*+***
It's agreywinter's day in Halle.The
temperatureis aboutl0belov zero,not
countingthe wind chillfactor As I make
my way to the back entranceofthe town's
KonzertHall, I'm stoppedby an armed
securityguardbrandishingamachineglln.
ShakingI flashmy credentials,and he nods
and points at a concretedoor
Inside,I1n greetedby the sight ofGibbons
exhalinga cloud ofsteam."Hey,"he says,
choking "Ijust swalloweda mouthful of
Tabasco-ridden soup.It took my breath away.
I'm lovin' itl"
Standingat his sideis
atall, thin fellow with a
neon-greenSidvicious
haircut."Meet Mr. Eiwood
Francis,"sayscibbons.
Currently employedas
cibbons'guitar tech,
Francis,explainscibbons,
is his chiefconspiratorin
guitar madness.Fmncisand
cibbons are co-o ginators
ofa new approachto guitar
designwhich advocatesthe
useof "found materials."
Executingdesignsfrom
their WestCoaststudio,
Slab7 Studiosa,they plan
on unleashingtheir Pacifiko
modelson an unsuspecting
public soon.
"Welcometo Halle,"says
Elwood."We'verenamedit
'He11e.' "
"Hellevapiacethey got
here,"I deadpan.
"We'rethrashed,brother,"sayscibbons.
"This is our frfthgigin a row.It's so cold and
desolatehere.Buthey,the local folks are
trying.They'remakingattemptsto havea
goodtime. Can'tbeatthat.We could be on a
lO day.un with enthusiasmlike this."
At cibbons' pronpting, the three of
us convenein atinybackstageroom that
curently serwes asstoragefor Gibbons'and
Franciseverexpanding g!irar collecrions.
Guitarsand ampsare stackedto the ceiling.
In a maherofminu(es.rhe Gibbonicsis flying
fastand furious.(The guitarsyou are now
goingto readaboutare real,Even the names
arethe same,so protectyour wallet.)
*****
ow You'vehad a number ofcustom guitars
builtoverthe years.What was the frrst?
cIaBo s DonaldSummers,the bass
playerfor the Moving Sidewalks,built guitars
 tt
b,

GUrr^[rEsErrs
4r'El
-._-.----.--- \
 hot-rod glitars. He was a mnster-flyingV h a t b o r k r o b r i r s e e t h r o J g h c l e a r .. i n g l c . a tendencyto want to float awa\'.
bassesand all kinds of odified npplications. cutaway, factorv-installed deluxe machine OW What oneguitar would )rouconsider
Not onlv tastcfully done, but functionrl.Irom heads and a fake gator-print pressboard case, the Holy crail?
there things feallv started gettingbizarre. with handle. FaA cls I believ€it's probablyonc's
Gw Describe some ofyour famous custom cW ls there some sort ofmodus operalldi "first" iNtrument. That'susuatlyrhe
glitars aDd the ideas behind them. to thjs habit ofacquisition? firestarterAin't nothin'like that first time.
ElwooD FnAr|Cts The stuff from thc FFAtaCIS Search and destroy. GIEAOl.S Most definiteb,.First time's
Scientifi co Musico Technographique companl' GIEBO S Scatt€rshot. the killer Ofcourse,there'salways,always
down South inVirginia is full-tilt, weird, c w H r \ e r n y o a r r i ( ' u h f l v \ t r a n g e .c u s r r i c solnethingaroundthe comer
Bigsby-styled Forties era design discoveries. or di\.ine transrctions gone down? GW What's the bestguitar you\e ever owned?
clBEo S Oh yeah. Most weird. And rhen clB3OtlS Yeah. A transaction did take FRAXCISAll of 'em.
there's the str arlge work of flutfiier] :ames Ttussart: place at Second-Hand Joe, in Johannesburg, ClBBoxs Pearly.
all lrench-made full customs, nude in Paris, SouthAfrica. Elwood keen-eyed a clap trap cW Describesomeofthe guitarsusedfor
inspired by the metal-bodied designs ofrhe l93ot tin shack down a side a1leyen route to the the makingof x,qyrftrneen.
Nationals, only modiFed into a soft of Fender- Jo-burggig. The signage showed a large F'lAxcts This oughtabe good.There'sa
€sque hot rod. His new Rust-O-Rama corrosion painted hand, paln1-sideoutstretched, next bulch, Brougham.
technique is stunning and just as sutprising a.s, to the number "2" and the name Joe with n GfBgOtfS Yeah,theRhJtl neengot
sa)',fie invention ofthe metal airplane. Sounds a.s homen1adeoutline ofa Telecaster Killer lind. mucho.First trlck cut with Pearly.'Nuff said.
smooth as a Bary White recording. Six new in-the-box cibsor ES-295s,allgold Then,lproducerand recordingengincerslMr.
The new House ofJB guitars from the with humbuckers and tags, eight left-handed JoeHardy and Mr C.L. "c-Mane" Moon
House ofJB Customs are also $eat- All fake Strats fronr the Philippines, maple neck, suggest€d I slamon my'55 cibson Les Paul
natural-6ber composition and complete new in box as well, plus three cibson angle- Goldtopwith P-90pickupsto match rhe
rccklessness when it co es to observing f r o n r r t e r e o a m p . . e l s on e w i n r l r r - b o \ . A l . famollsphoto ofMuddy waters in Chess
speed limits. Firle pearl "inla)"'forthe fashron "new:' from Second-Hmd Joe. No straps. Studios.
conscious...aswe all are- Call him. FRAl|CIS Delux€ diversion.
FnA Cts The Delta Blues clBEotas Allrightl Yeah, P-9O...rear
Museurn's custonr "Muddl.wood" is pickup onlyl Crackin'illto the track
seeing quite a bit ofaction on the ZZ " B a n g B a n g " o n t h e ' 5 5 e r . . s e r i a ln u m b e r
Top Contine[ta] Safari Rhythmeen 6 0091. Hardtail. Then it was on to a
tour A mostgenerous loan and a most 1956 Fender Esquire, tracks four and
inspilational rvar c1ub. live. Barbecued.
clEBoxS Yeah, all ofour olle-off, FRAI|CIS The Howlin' Wolf
ZZ Top six-string el€ctric Spanish Silvertone with brilt-in speaker..nake
guitars nnd bassesare outfitted for that "Silver Tone,"'cuz it's actually a
24-hour fleld use. Eventhe special Teisco. It's the one seen on the Howlin'
axes fabricated for MTVvideos dp Wolfboxed set. Devilish item-
with tone terror- They're all equipped cl3BO||S Some Gretsch [-Bo
with some badassmonstrous tone Diddley's 1960 rectdnglcl, some coldtop
generators from Seynour- Duncan\ alld some more Pearly.
line. The Dunc|ln Antiquities absolutely FnAXCIS Mostl_vPearly.
smoke. Makes all the differcnce in GlB3O[S Got tol
thes€ rare, off'the wall customs. FAAICIS Lots ofthis stuff from
cW What is the most bizarre ax in ,Riythmeen is mysteriousJike, because
your lineup? those lou'dou'n, substrata tunings chase
c l E B O r S C e r t a i n l yo n e o f t h e the character lcirbons tLmedseveral
most bizarre slabs lrtely are any ofthe ofhis guitars down to C /or a ftw songs,
imports being bootlegged out of India virft .008 strings, no l€ss.l
l.lllder the rame "Givson." Amftzing. ctEFors No doubt. And Elwood's
FRAiCTS I've €totmy Givson a specialty tunings truly make the most
l a p s t e e l .O n l y g o e s t o , , 8 . ' ,M u s t b c frmiliar glitar a stranger! Lowdowr in
something to it.
lo|BBOtaS Ifyou can score one GWWhat are sone other equipment
ofthe civson Esquires in Pyramid finds your fans can check up on?
Purple, get a haifdozen, mixed. What cIBBOXS Uh, the Bixoric Expandora
t h e y g o n n a s a ) 'i n D a l l a s ' c e p t ," P l a y i t , pedal-an unmerciftil orange squeezer-of
brother!" tone. And va gotta have the ZVex effect
ow WlTat are ]rour most recent pedals.El€gftnt. Theycome wrapped in
acquisitions? agas station shop rag!Addsto the effect.
FnA CtS A paif ofBond, as Airline Dan at Airline Guitars in Houston,
in James tsond, glitarc offered b]' Texas,has created a vvorking modelof
Gulfcoastcuitars in Florida.We'relooking F B A r | C t s Y e a h I. l i l r J o e .H c r o o km ! d u u g \ . another Slab 7 Studios design:the MissingLiok.
forwardto exploringtheextremeon this pair, o w W h r l r f e r h e r a r e s ra n d o d d e s rr x e s i n Aw, manl No description :rttempted.
asnot only arethey obscurebut from England your possession? FRAl|CIS The Roadrunner SLrpersonic
aswell.Asure plus.Keith Richardsis from G,BBoras Well, the absolute nost weird fuzz box- That's from Roadrunner cuitars it'r
Enfiland...the coolest.And thesestickshaveno are the Heliumzz. The)., well...almost levitate. Paris. And it'sjustgood, old thick fuzz. Hell,
fl ets,which means,ofcourse,no wrong notes, They've gotthis inner bladder with a check get it all.
Gottahaveitl r a l v el o a d i n g s p i g o t ' o r f o r c e t h r u . r i n j e c r i o n Gw Any xdvice for the passionate player'i
crsBo S Gil Southworth[o/Souf/irorrh o f h e l i u m o r o t h e r g a s e o u sc h e m i c a l s .T h e E o T H D i : r n - r . . . r 1 _r eg o b u 1 o u r - e c o r d .
GuitdrsinBethesdd, Marylan{ dugup a instruments hai.e a lhin skinled body again. [uproarious ?aug,htcr]
coupleof MelodyMak€rs.They'refrne not t
membrane in place ofthe mofe traditional +*+tt
"Givsons,"though,unfortunatel).. They're wood body. The result r-emainsnearl_v Ol1ceagain, the conversation is interrupted. 9
C i b . o nr,r o u n do ) o r ' o 3 .R i r h l , u r . r f i n i s h i n unlnanagerble. They're neck-heaq', the bodies Showtime. cibbons, HilLand Beard trke the
pure lacquer,extremelyrar'etortoiseguard undulate and ffex unpredictabll', and the1.have strge and proceed to rock the East Cermans to -

Ah, Munich charmingmountainoutpost
ofthe Bavalial republicand headquatersfor
Europe'sfrnestbreweries.The air is literally
perfumedwith the bodaciousbouquetof
bee[,I'\'e receivedinslructionsto meetMr,
Biily in his hotel room.As I knock on his
door',it swingsopen,and there is cibbons
sitting in a hard-backedchair,talking on the
telephone.Strewnacrosshis bed are sundry
CDs Barkmarket,Reef,Ncil Young'sredd
Man soundtrackand a feu'old PaulButterfield
BlLresBandreleases,
"Let's see,"saysGibbonsinto the
mouthpiccc."Pearlt'Gat€s.She'sgot pedigree,
celebritystatus,wasplayedat the SuperBowl.
How much you think I canget for her?"
" D o nr d o i r l l \ e l l . u - e \ r l i r g t h e r e c e : \ e r
from his hand and harging up.
"That r\.asSotheby's," chucklesGibbons.
"Don'tworry. I justwanted to mttle their cage.
I've no intention ofpartingwith Pearly."
I am relie\€d,to saythe least.It's hard to
imaginea ZZ Top albumthat won'tbe $aced
with Pearb,'spresence.And so,we proceedto
our final round ofquestioning.
*****
cw Mr Billy, what canyou tell us ofyour
firstg!itar-the "first one"*and its effecton
I cteeons the "effect"is the $.ofo,
-' Man, Christmas Da)',high noon, the
I unwrapping,and by sundownthe full-trlt
o ' . l r h - . l J p p i n cl T h " - e l f e c r "t o o \ t h e
PAWN
sf{OP
electricityfrom the body to guitarthrough
amplifierand on into atmosphere. There
wasno tulnin'back asfar asthe "effect"
\rvasconcerned.Nor moi,
ow Which ofthe glritarscurrentl]'being
madeare the classicsoftomorrow?
clBBoras I don't reallyknow,butthe tone
will tell the tale.The BigT. Andersonoutfit
of california meticulouslymanufacturesa
mrssively moringmrchine.Sodoe"Gib.on.
Sodoeslender And Len McRaeand Haftley
fPearey]havea real hot stean enginecrankin'
stuffout ofthe heartofMississippi.The real
sleepers:rrcthemade-in-the-darkspecials
by pla)'ers,themselves. EddieVanHalef's
shop-workapplicationsha\-eenrichedthe
popularityof pe.sonalizingan instrumentand
goneinto the productionJineswith amazing
cw What is the ugliestguitar!,ou'veever
beholden?And the mostbeautiful?
clBBoias Ah...Oneandthe same.Don
Leadyfrom Austin,fionting $ritar choreswith
the Tail cators,snaggedthis one uptight.He
hasa custom-madebolt-togetherthat we saw
backstageat ".Iimmy's,"down in Ne{'Orleans.
Sortofa cryptic "EssenceofJaundiceGreen"
and a purple and white swirled pearlscratch
plate.Bassman Keith LFcrgirsonl referredto it
asreminiscentofheartwonnsalld grapejelly.
A new contemporarybeauty,
ow Ifyou had only $I00 to spendon an ax,
whatwould you bu]' and why?
ctEBoxs I'd be \r'illin'to throw down !
"C" on any soJidbody outfitted u'ith a reaF
position pickup. Don't even have to work.
Grocery sack for a case,some spare change for
a couple ofRadio Shack leads and a furious
fuzz box. Killer combo for your stack of
grecnbacks.
cw whal i. rhe cheapesrIno\r erpensive
g!itaryou've ever bought?
clBBotas Cheapest and most expensive?
Plobably a pair ofhomemades picked up at
auction. They came through the Sotheby's
tribalsale in Johannesburg.I was fightin'
high bid from some catthat didn't play, didn't
wanna play, but wanted to "slugit out" in
r h e g a l l e r y .H e o u r b i d r n e .b u t ; n t h e e n d h e
didn't have enough pesos to pay the man, so
the pieces wound up back on the street. Later
that eveningl ran into the chap thatoriginally
offered the pieces,.iust wantingto make some
spare change. We settled with a figure that
doubled the auction bid a fair trade fol thc
both ofus. I got a great couple ofstyle mongers
thatthis g!)'basically chiseled out ofa Korrna
tree from his bLrshvillage. Expensive, yes, but
cheap in the end.
cw\ h r L d . ! r l o p m r n t . d o J o u f o r e s e ei r )
the electric g!itar's future?
GlBBorls More knobs. Bigger knobs.
Bigger tone. And probably much, much louder.
There's a famous saying..well, kinda famous...
which goes,'Anyone can rebuild a gllitar, but
it takes a re. man to cut one up." Lorg as
there's some thrashir' goin' on, we'li be fine,
6ne, fine. Chop the broccoli, brother. c'-
 :.(r I

.. :'it..l

cight studio f.rcks anLifolr lire cu$ irrc lirr.llI l $r,(. r\\lo
2:47AIll,,ST.IIIAFK'S
PIAGE, l : l i s h l l c l o u r s eqd i t h s o m c o l t h e l o s d o w n
r1.',.rI rri.r..rl..

EASTYIIIAGE, ]IEWYORI(
GITY
" H o r Z Z , r o c k o n l " T h e s e $ , o r d s ,s h o u t e d
f l o m a p a s s i n gc r r ' ,g r c c t B i l l ) f - c i b b o n s . r s h e
enrerges fr'om a co|ner- neNsstald al1clsn ides
, r'rri inelr., \\l B'llr'.: IJ,.. f\',
F o o t D o o f n l . r ) ( ) n e o f t h c m : r D ' sn r e r l o d u
n r m e s f o r h i s b e r l c i ) . i t u o L r l db c h a r d f o r l
n . . - , f l , \ / , o rt . , F , t | ! Z Z l , ' 1 , : . , 1 p . r r r i (
u | b ! n e $ r i t l r i s t , l i r t i c u l r f l v L r na s t r c c t t h : r t ' s
a l l b u t r l c s e r t e dl l c f c i n t h c s m e l l h o u r . so f
t h e n l o m i n g . B u t f o r B i l l r ' ,t h i s u n s o l i c i t e d
exhortrtioi to "roch on ' hrs rn alnost occulr
s i g n i h c i n c e . I t o n d c r s c o r c sl l f o i r l ! h e ' sb c c n
t t r . r k i n gr l l e v e n i n g .l l r c k i n t h c l i m o , h e l e . r n s
i n c l o s ea r d s l c r k s l o \ \ ' l
" I m h e e r j n g l l l o t o f s c L r t t l e b u tsf a Y i D g
th.lt rock mLrsicis b.rck. Pcople jLrs! \\'illlnr
. . . L . r r .i r . \ . r . r t . . - l l . ; , ' r r . I ' e r r l , lr l . .
l i o - . r r o r n d ,b c c a u s c: r l l r h e e l e n c n t s l e f t o v e f
frorr whitelcr $,ns hot on the chrrts hst
w e c h x r e g o i n g t o L r rt l l i \ e d i n . O f c o u r s e , r r p
r n d l o c k h a Y cb c e D s h o t n t o b c a b l c r o l i v e
togethef. So $.e migLt get rhis ferl s rrck!
c o l l i s i t l r rt h r t s j r l s t t o t r l l l ' c l r z e d . T h e l i l c l c r .
t h e b c t t e r ,I t h i n l { . '
ZZ Top's X,Y-)acortii n li cloesl.ock. Releasecl
i n 1 9 9 9 ;, r t t h c l i r l c o f t h i s s t o f \ r t h e d i s cs
n.rsticst$rit:rr wofk evcr to cmanate fronr ttle
' n - r i . i r ll , \ l r : , ; i l i ^ r . . \ r . 1 . \ t ) , \ 1 r i
,.
is \rilcl. At tinlcs thc te\tlrrcs go .rll gr-.rirl\':rnLl
d i s t r c s s c dr,n d l r e . r t so c c a s i o n a l l l o o p o f T i n t o
d1eLrrbrn junglL',but the lholc thing renr:rirrs
Lllrnistrkrbl). ZZ Tof. Th.rt littie old bind ironr
l . \ ' r . r " . l . ( . 1 'l | , , , r , . , r ' . c k . n r ' * . r ' , l r r l
arLl stmngest conccpts. Th:rfs dre best \..rv
t o p n i i t . f o f r l l h i s p r o \ r c s sr s : rg u i t r f i s t ,
B i l l l t i s f i r ' s ta n c lf o r e m o s t . rc o n c c p h r r l i s t : . '
s u n c r l i s t b l u r e s n l n ,a g c n t l e n r r nc o l l e c t ( no- f
cLrltural a|tifacts-clothcs, c:us, grciges rnd
s o l r n d s t h r t s o n r e h o \ \ ' r 1 1 h ucr. r p t a c ei n t l r c
{'oflcl ol ZZ lbp.
''ThreeX" is
t h e c o r r c c t r v a r ,r o . . N t h e
title bard s xlburr. 'l! lneins nranl diffefent
t h i n € i s , t"s i l h ,s a ) s .A s h e p o i n t s o u t , i t c o u l c lb e
trken |rs rn ackno$leLlgrren! th.lt thc rc:rr of
i t s r c l c a s er r : r r l s Z Z T 0 p ' s 3 O t hA n n i ! e f s a .
"It's rlso thc nrnre ol-rgretltbccr ItcoulLl
n r e : r np o i s o n .o r a p : r f t i c u l ! r ft v p e o f l i L l € o
I l i l l l ' s D r i n d$ o | k s i n L r n L r s u a n l: r , v s ,
g e n e tr l l y . m o v i n g i n s e v e r ' . r l i l i f T c r e n t
d i r c c t i o n s r l l . r t o r c c . S o i t \ \ , r s r r r . r n g c df i ) f
r1lcto sfL'nd :rr entife cvcninq in his conprr\;
c l L r i s i r gN I r n h : r t t r n r f i e r d a l h i n I b h c k
N { i \ ' b e $ e s h o r l d s t a r t a t t h o b e g i D n i n go f
rhc c\.erirg. six holrfse.ulicr.
9:40P.lrt.,
Rlll|iAR0YAL
ll0TEt,
wEsT
siltE
I l i l l l i s l o o k i n g r c n r r r k a b l i ,c l i s p f o r . r g u v
$io got ofTthc planc flom Texlrs jLrst .l| hoLrr
r g - oT . h e S h , r f pD r c s s c d N I a n p e r s o n i f i e c lh. e ' s
\ r ' c . u i n gr n i r n m r c u l r t e l y c L r tb l u c d c s i g n c ,
. r ' i r , l ' r t l r , . r " i , , , ' f . . c e , . o - i c :i . . . . rt 1 .
. iFl. \ eflo r;Q. ll , . r " e o r L r .o i l \ 1 . \ r . . ' r '
silver' $ r'ist brngles, e gold ltoils,Royce I;rpel
pirr, ,r bright rcd silk pocket squ.D'e$.ith \a hite
p o l k r c l o t s .T h c c l o $ n i n g g l o l v i s I n r o < t
unusurl lecl-rnd grcen hai pltbcfet,pert
sho\\'cf cap cfowded with 3/.1 inch clorl
r . r L ' . . 1 .,1l r, . r , ln c l . j r , r . r . , r ( . r ' ., , r 1 1\ i , .
-oLrf ne$.
t r a d c l n a r LA f | i c n n h N t , "B i l l ) .
n n n o u n c c s .' F u n n y d r e r d l o c k h a t - ( l o w b o ,
The hlrt tics ir, albcit obl iquell',rvith I song
or ItI crlled 'Dreadnx)nboogxl(x),'I iruntj,
instnrncntrl that successfirllyconlbircs rcggre,
blues, techno, talli rrd io. Il vine srucers .lnd .r
'.
, r ' a \ \ o r e . . r 'l ( . r r . f r L c B i l l \ ' \ I . i f u l ' ,
a mad junrble of ern likel). itcrN rhit ought no!

ou GUrTrn
LEcEil0s
7 Rcprintrd
tromGlllTAB
W0B[0,
0ecember
1999
to work together,yet somehowdo.And aswe
leavethe Rihga,Billy's headgearis lile a beacon,
drawing every autographhound on 54th Sbeet.
He patiently and cheerfully signshis nameand
posesfor pictures.Then we're off
l0:3llP.ltl.,lllDluil llZ Gllll,
wEsTsDE
Billy leanstoward me in aconspiratorial
manner:"I'm notgonnasit in. we're just here
to observetonight,okay?"
cuitar legendLes Paul and fus trio have a
regular Monday night residencyat Iridium.
Billy smilesthrough yet another round of
autographsand snapshotsat the door. Then
we're sho\l,nto someseats.The club is crowded
and the seatingis communal,with audience
memberspackedcheekbyjowl at long rows of
tables like somethingout of an encient Norman
banquetinghall. "No private table," I find
myself wincing. "This is gpnnabe weird:'
But it's not. Within seconds,Billyis the
best of friends with the guys seatednear
him-fellow Texans,it turns out. They'resoon
comparingnotesonAustin nightspots.Billy
hasa greatability to putpeople at ease.He
can readthem quickly and zero in on some
aJeaofcommon interest.As he s inleresteL
injust abourcveryrfiing. thisisnl loo hdrd. becomean actress,There'sa car,a vintage
Everyone'shavingagoodtime, but Billy is yerbarelyroadworlhyvehiclethat Billl gives
holdingfirm on one point: his friend for herjourney westward.(The
"I'm not sitting in." automotivegift is anotheressentialingredlent
triveminuteslater,he'sup onstagewith a in ZZ Top ml'thoiogy.cleamingcar keysare
cibson LesPaulmodelstrappedarolrndhrs invariablytossedto deservingprotagonists)
neck,the grinning objectof"beard" jokesad- The giri makesitto L.A.,6nds success, sells
libbedby Les Paulhimsell (Exampler"MaD, the car atway under marketvalueand sends
how'dyou getthat terrible fungus?")Les is the moneyto Billy,who resig[edlyusesit to
84.Whether it's a put-on or not, he seemsto purchasethe aforementioned'59 LesPaul
be only dimly awareofwho Billy is. "Do yor.r from a Texasfarmer Sincethe car had been
haveaband?"he asks."What are someofvour namedPearlycates,thatbecomesthe guitart
songs?"Audiencememberspitch in. "Cheap name,too. With this instrume[t, ZZ Top is
Sunglasses" ! "SleepingBag"l founded.End of story
"we do lots ofsongsabout,um, anatomy," Another l2-bar,a few morejokesand Billy's
Billy deadpans. "There'sonecalled'Legs.'And back in his seat.All the facialhair in the world
we haveanothercalled'Tush.'I guesswe're couldn'tconcealhis ear-to-eargrin. Not gonna
working our way up." sit in, eh?
The two glitar greatsdueton a breezyi2- 'Aw comeon, it'sl€s, man!How could I
barblues.The bluesis a languagethat Billy refuse?"
speaksfluentlyin allits manydialects.In The L.A./Texasconnectionis an important
homageto his host,Billy tells the story ofhrs one in Billy's own life story The son ofa
mostbelovedLes?aul guitar,Pearlycates,a musician,he grew up aroundHoll)'wood,Las
sunburst'59cibson Customthat loomslarge Vegasand Texas,the three placeswherehls
in ZZ Top lore.The nar.ativeis pure Billy: father worked most frequ€ntly.His family
fast paced,with manytangledthreads.But it tree alsoincludesnotedfilm setdesigner,
possesses all the essentialsofa classicZZ Top art director and studio execCedric Gibbons,,
video.There'sa woman,in this casea ftiend creatorofthe AcademyAward'sOscar
ofBilly's who wantedto go to Holl).woodand statuette.The art genewaspassedon to Billy,
who earneda degreein the subjectfrom the
Universityof Texasduringthe Sixties.Yes,the
bigol beardandu ild shitkickerimageis.in
Billy's case,somethingofa facade.Or rather,
a kind ofsurrealistexaggeration ofjust one
aspectofthe man'ssociomusicalbackground.
Billy tried combiningvisualart with rocL
and roll in his pre-Zz band,the Moving
Sidewalks,who were knowo for their
elaboratelypsychedelicstageeffects.Shortly
after,ne met I ranKSearoano Dusty H, .
The drummer and bassisthadaheadyjelled
asa rh)'thm section,havingplayedtogether
in countlessTexasbar bandsand the group
AmericanBlues,u hosetwo albums,American
BluesDo Their Thing andAftericdn BluesIs
Hprp,ares(ill a sourceofembarrassmentfor
the duo.But nobodywasembarrassed when
Beardand Hill teamedup with cibbons.
"I attribute a lotto Frank and Dusty,"
Mr Gibbonsdeclares."Their cohesiveness
asa rhlthm section.The real functioning
cornerstone,the backbone,of anymusic is the
rhlthms. And in the caseofXXX, Dusty and
Frank havelearnedto createsomething,in
many instances,by way ofsubtraction.There
is a lot ofspareness.I'mfinding shiny spots
where the guitar is actuallyliving in the midst
oftheir absence. That'sin the studio portion
ofthe record.As for the live tracks,they're
full-on thrash-outstuff."
Texasblues-based rockwas stilla novel
conceptin 1970when ZZ Top'sFirstA[bum
cameour.Burr\e banddugor.rL a nichefor
itselfthrough a se esofhard-grinding albums
and relentlesstouring.The thingbroke
through to awhole new levelwith 1975's
World Wide TexasTour.That outingfound
Messrs.cibbons,Beardand Hill performing
onstagewith an entire menagerier buffalo,
cattle,rattlesnakes, buzzardsand other
creaturesnativeto the Lone StarState.It set
ZZ Top milesapartfrom what by that point
had becomea glut of"southern boogie"bands.
 Rock and roll theme rours $erc
still in their infanc].- This one gr\.c
ZZ lbp an ironic ecigc thnt rerched
orit beyond their core febcl,vell
a u d i e n c e .W a s i t a j o k e ? T h e r n u s i c

A few years later, dulingthe

band's extcnded I977 79 hiatus,
Gibbons and Hill bodr gr.e$
b e a r d s .B i l l y q u i c k l y n r r n e d t h i s
chance coincidencc iuto another
high concept/lori' comcclyr.isull
s t a t e m e n t -B e a r d si n p l a c e ,t h c
band the world now thinks ofas
Z Z t o p s t e p p e dl o l w a r d i n ' 7 9 w i t h
Lrnalbum calJedDc.qre11o, rccorcleci
for their new record label, \ hrner
B r o s .A l t h o u g h t h e m u s i c w a s s t i l l
de€plvrootedirblues rrrdition,
thc visual presentation harl more in
conmon r-ith rvhat u'as bcirgdone
b,Yrnother bunch ofarr students,
some guys named Devo, rnd the
ne$r wnve ofrock groups to u hich
they belonged. ZZ Top's lylics also
begrn takingor a kind ofifonic
undercurrent, as hinred b)' song
t i t l e s l i k e " C h e a p S u r g h s s e s "a n d
"lln Bad,I'm NetionNiclc.'
The phrase, "I'ln bad, t\r
uation\|.ide;' Gibbons discloscs,
\.as co-originatcd bt, "Billy Lee
C l a 1 . t o na, n o l d b u d d v o f o u l s . H e
end I stunbled our ofthe Vulcan
cas Compan)', a nightclub ir Austin.
[Je'd jusr seen l'rcddie Iiing. And
rvc *-ere searching{or-a phr.ase
that lvould sum it uF. He said, N{in
he's b,rd.'And I said,'Ye.rh,he's
nationwide.' Thc actu:rl l)'rics were
devotcd to another-dcar fr-iend,
Joey Long. He wrs this six foot-trll,
i{ hite Cajun gurwho looked likc
Wolfinan and piaycd the meanest
s\.amp guitar ever-.Hc had I lovely
wifc named Barbarella, rvho drove
t h e i r s e r i e so f C x d i l l a c s .H e c l i d r ' r
cyen have a drivcr's license. Butthat
nadc it all the lnorc bealrtifLrl.He for Tall{ing He.rds' 'BurIing DolvD thc HoLrse. t s i l l \ 'h i n l s e l i .u r i t h c o r s i d c r a b l e r e l i s h , B i i , l
wrs d elinitel]' b:rd, rnd nation\,r,ide." You kDolv the one sherc ih€i"fe projectinS tells the storl'ofho\\. he got intlr.r rcccnt sold-
The advert ofNITV in 1980 {,as like a dr.ca!r l h i s i m r g c o f D . i d B i , m e ' sh c a d o n t h i s o u t C h e m i c | r lt s r o t h c r ss h o r v j u s t b e c a u s et h c
corre true lor !i]11, a br.end ne$' r.chicle fol highrva,vu ith \1tite lines going Lrpthc middle? guv at the doofcorldn'tbclic\'e thitsol11eoue
devcloping the visual/concepruil side ofZZ L . , ' \ i n E . i , l r e . . l i zd, r r r . r l lr h o s , * h i r , in ZZ T()P \,r,oulderen \.ant tLrgo ncxr ir
Top. "There's sonething rcal valuable in \\4rat lines ar-cgoing str.:lght Lrphis nose. Thrt jLrst Chelnicel Br-others€iig.
MTV nanaged to bdngto rnoment-bl, lnolnenl a b o u t s u I n su p t h e E i g h r i c s ,d o D ' ry o u t h i n k ? " "lbu mean vou'rc into ahis?' s.li.l thc
1iving,"Billy rnuscs,"ifyoLr so chosc to enrer thc astonished doorkeeper',c)'ing Bill,v's long
l'or-ld ofthe surleal. Salvador Dali, picasso and be.ud- ''fhis I gottr see. Con e on in."
the rest ofthem \\,ere right \rhen fiev said thnl !:q5&Iil.!IESIAUBAilT
rmREilT, cibbors and ZZ Top have long had a
some day art i{'ill not be itllcccssiblei aft lvill bc MEAT PACIIIIGDISTBICT grcat Lnnck tbr ircrj] p0r-irting contenporirrv
in oul hands." "N{nn, rh.rt's tighfl" Billy is gr.o{J\.irgto the r h l t h m s a n d s o u n d si n t o t h e i l c l a s s i cb l u e s
A , 1 ,d l , ! r r u t r r , r r n - r b l e\ i , 1 . , c, l i t " t e c h n o f u t u r i s t s o u n d so f P h o r e k b l a s t i n s f r o r n baseclnppr-oach.Thel used hea\.ily scquenced
".ui
: r n da n e w t e c h n o - e n h a D c c ds o u n ! 1Z, Z T o p rhe stefeo svsten in this all night boho hipster. Eighties nlachiDe rhltlnns on a/ininotor and
eDjoyed its gleatest commercial sLrccessever d i n e f .A D i n s o m n i a c .f o u n d t h c , c l o c k k i n c l o f Alierburncr es deftly as ihe! fold drlrm .rnd
with I983's,1ini,rdtor, 8 5's A/terbrrrncr and gr],, Bill) kno\r's the :rll-night placcs in nrany brss bcats iDto XXX'S "Dreadnonboogiloo."
singlcs like "cilnInc All YoLrrLo\.in'," "Sharp ofthc u,orld's gfcat citics. He comes to this fxr A n o t h e r t r a c k , " C r u f c i 6 y r I F l a t t , "c r - o s s c s
Ilressed l\4an" ind "Legs." ZZ Top u,efe on top. \ \ < . 1, l u $ r r o $ r \ l l n h d r ' r . , r r . ' ^ r ' r 5 en r r' i , b o l d l , vo n t o l T i p h o p s r h v t h m i c t u r i
$ , h i l e s o u t h e l n b l u e s - b a s e dc o n r e m p o r e r i e s a s m L l c hr s t h c f o o d . I J e s o o n h a s a d e c i d e d l v "The stuLlio sessioDsfor XIX unfolded
like Ll,nyrd Sk1'n1'r'dor'.38 Special \\.cfe nrmes p o s F m o d e r n l o o k i D g \ r ' a i t r e s sL l po n a c h n i , , . f o r . r B u \ R . c ^ r . l i n g . o Jp .r i r . r , ' , ' r r i r
v o L r j u s td i d n t h e a f r n l n r c r c . T h e E i g h t i c s - r r | i , r r qr \ n '
D r h . r 5r o , , r ' p l r r i r g . o . h , HolLston, Texrs," Billl l]elates."And \\'e're
$,efe a grcat time lbr ZZ, but ho\r does Bili) c:u1$ r'ite do\rn rhe trrck rancs fof Billy It's right next door to the farnrus mp stuclio, John
rate lhe decadc in generaL? f o . F c - e I t n r ( z z l " l \ . e u r l l t l : t l s . r t t . Ll a
\ 1l . ! n l\{ordn's House o{ Funk. Hc docs Sc|lrface, the
''l think got
I i t i r p e r s p e c t i v ej L r s ta l i t t l c o f c l e c t r o n i ca n d , - l a r i c cm u s i c . N o o n e , - l e l i g h t s G e t o B o v s ,D c s t i n r ' s C h i l c l ,C a s h l 4 o n c 1 . . a l l
u4rile ago," he grins. "l nxs watchingthe video l]1thc seeming incongr-uity ofthis lnore than t h e s e$ e a t t h i r g s t h a t a r - eh a v i n g s u c h a .

uo GUrT^n
tEGExrs
7
tremendous impact il1 Houstol So we started
hangingout over there.In fact, we wound
u p m i r i r r Eo.u r t - r c k sr r I h e H o u \ eo f F u n k .
DuriDgthat, we werc still findingtime to go
back in our studio and cut new tracks. So
we couldn't help butbe inlluenced b]' our
socializing \r,ith the rappers. They were so
gracious ir doingthat streetwise thingwith
ZZ. And we were willing stude[ts."
XX]., B;ll!' continues, "is the result of
ahnost a full year doing the daily studio grind
out at troam Box. Thercwere hours and hours
ofjam sessions.And the best ofthat was
taken and reassembled usingPro Tools. ZZ
Top lrrtc. in rnyhumhle opinion.o re great
true trio record: our last album, Rhythm€en,
which had very feu overJub'orpunch irrs.
That's about as straight ahead as it gets. But
on this new record, rve have made great
strides and takeD great lib€rties with some
wonderfuldrun loops al]d sone great textural
background-y things. And its all aimed at
givingthe guitar player a nice heary platform
to feel solid with. wher )'ou get that much
to stand on, brother, it's pedalto the metal. I
mean sfdnd on it."
With all that digital cuttingand pasting
there are momcnts when XXX takes on a kind
ofTom waits scrap]'ard sensibility. "Tom
waits is one ofn,Iy all-time heroes," Billy
confirms. "We learned a long time ago that we
were better off att€mpting
to emulate Howli['
Wolf than pretending
to be the next Bob
Dylan. Yet there are
just somecharming
dranratics in a handful
of really visual I,vricists
like waits, and that
gets us ained in
rhp richt dirprtinn
hammer-on note is more than an afterthoughti
it was directed to bejust that.Itbrings into
focus the factthat ZZ Top still manage to hold
onto thatbarroom tradition frorn whence the
band originated.lr's a legitimizing factor that
balalces out some ofthe craziness on the resr
ofthe albu ."
Another key influeDce ol1xxx was Jeff
Beck. ZZ Top caught one ofBeck's shows et
New York's Roseland.Afterward, theyrvent
backstage.'Jeff's new thing is champagne
only backstage;'Billy says-"No beer No water
Nothingbut champagne.Everyone r-as ill a
great mood. It was very Jively back stage.But
suddenly a sort oflull fell o\€r the room. In
the awkward silence I suddelly found nyself
blufting out, 'Hey Jef{ wanna play on our ne\r'
r l l r u - n l \ o n o o r e r $ e r e r h e w o r J s o u t o fm
mouththar I became painfully au'are ofwhat
a dumb remarkthatwas. Beck doesn't playon
an]'body's album. Not MichaelJackson. Not
P r i n . c . N n L o d y .S o r n I r y a n d . a v e t h e . i t u l t i o n .
I said to Jefl'But I don'twantyou to play
guitar I want )'ou to sing: Beck says'B lliantl'
I don't know ifhe was being $acious and
r'escuingrne from myfounpds or ifhe really
meant it. Jeffhasnt reall], srngall that much
on record. But the [ext dayhis manager said to
me,'He's really serious about this."'
S o B . c l $ o u n d u p o v e r d u h h i n gb a c k . n g
vocals onto the live track, "Hey Mr.
Millionaire." "t \r,ert up to Jeff's
"qE
_il-
il:t
f$flf E rt. urltvcontrrrue..
.5.L
\D -
-trlU.kllthr room.Theengireerfor
ouralbum haatoldme,
out to get the new JeffBeck album.And it did
innuerce us cluitea bit."
2:15A.Itl.,RESIAURAIII
Ft0BEllT
"Let's see,giveme four ofthe vegetarian
chilis,six ofthe mushroomsalads..."
Nou'Billy's orderingsomefood to go.It's
anotheroneofhis peculiarities. He likesto
order up toff offood. Around him, there
are often numerouspeoplerushingoff in
different directionsto fullilldetailed setsof
instructions culinaryand otherwise-issued
bylilly. Somewhatsheepishly, he telJsme how
he oncecommandeered cartonsofcomestibles
at the airport. He knew the food on the plane
would be wretch€d.Blt oncehe got onboard,
he fellasleep,rot eatinga thing-
To tellthe truth, Billy is somethingof
a packrlt. A hoarder.When he leavesa
restaurantor club,he'l] invariablyJinehis
pocketswith matchbooks,postcards,an).thing
that'sthere for the taking.He carriesa
miniaturecamerawith him to capturescenes
that seemirnportantto him rtthe moment.
l r c o u l db er h ei r r ' i d eo l a s t u - . O
. rasrreer
corner.Just aboutanlthing. Backin Tenas
there are saidto be eight warehousesfilled
with ZZ Top m€mor:rbilia:stageclothing,
props,equipment...
2:301.tt1.,
GEltl
SPl,ST.ill[l('S
PI.AGE,
EASIYIIIAGE
Apparently,Billy's hoardinginstinct
-,Ano
extendsto informationaswellas material
objects.Here he is at one of NewYork's
best stockedDewsstands buyinga dozel hot-
rod magazinesand a few surfnags, having
decidedthat he'salreadyreadallthe pertinent
nusic rnagazines on display.Ifnothingelse,
ail this voraciousreadingnakes Billy a gl eat

lyricalll'. Some of it what a #"jfi:y?:ll'il'":1,, conver\ationalisr Af ch;tecrufe,Inacrobiotics,

is nothirg morc thnn
backroom poetry
crucif ix is, ;i'lf:::J:ili"T.';il:
ob.crrre hlue. reco'ding...ruto:lobile..
desig'rrrd mrnutucrureof.Lrrg'rs.e....
the
Brirg
'Crucifixx-A-Flatt' is
aniL mO S t itretchit if rveneerl
to.' up a subjectand he'sjust aboutcertainto be n
our religion neets possession ofthe relevarrtfacts,ligxres and a
automotive-safety song people know lt';l:'*1fif.T,1'liJ" handful of originalopinions.
but attempted from
that Ton1 Waits' point what a can i3i:Jlxfr;.1!i,ifi- 3:35A.ltl.,Rlllcl R0YAL
lllITEt
of i'iew. Like, you know entails?'
refrsaid to me.
whnt a crucifix is, and
Of Fj_XX-a- The eveningwindsdown where it began,at
n1ostPeoPle know
what a can ofFixx a
Fratt is, uut ;"ffTffff:ii1""""' the bar in Billy's hotel,which is now deserted.
As oftenhappensat this time ofthe morning,
Flatt is, but Crucifix A crucifbt-A- the conver'sation turns to stupid stufflike, will
Flatt is that gift from
God at thosc times
"";:lnX::l',:i,";:.u,.
Flatt is that :::i"":iilii.'ffii'."" therebe bluesin the 2lst century?
"Ofcourse,"saysBill,v,whosedevotionto
when life hands 1,ou
nothing but a lonely
glft flom the genreis plofound.
:':lli-,!".:{:1il,,",
And doeshe havea disasterplan in the
road and a flat tire. It's GOd. at thOSg Beckisminhisphrasing,
eventthat, aspredicted,a computerbugshuts
that safetv factor." notebendsarduseordown powergrids aroundthe world at the
Other songs times when strokeofnidnight on NewYear'sEve 20OO?
"well, we havepurchasedsone
on XXX are more
straighttorrvard, like life hand.s ..;.'"'.'":::;";.TJ*,"0
Ba)€enradios,"he replies,referringto the
thc albunls first single, yOU nOthing ourmindsatthatshou-'
handcrankedtransistorizeddevices."The],
"FearlessBoogie." "It's havea rechargeabie batt€rythat canprovide
oln'best work drawn
ftom thatJimmy Reed
drrt a roner''y 5:l:illT""Tllli:" abouta halfhour beforeit needsto be
rechargedagain.The fanciermodelshavea
tradition," Billt' says. road. and. a lff,i'J:i$i;::,':L'"",:t
light aswell, which meansyou canhavehalf
"That litde Eddie
Trylor lAr]cricdn rlues flat tire. " an hour of light and,during that time, listen to
:iif:T::X-,:Til:"*'
your favoritemusic.Sothat, while we might
guitatist/singcr and
jliend ofJnnmy Reedl
- Gibbons ,Yff'ffitji3'J1*.experienceablackout in the new century,we
can still havethe blues."$./

attt^t,rr,trt a
\r
Lffi 0n
TH
FN
H
*'I{

IIITHE
With MescaTero, their first album
after a five-year absence, ZZ Top
proved. that the bawd.y bad- boys of
boogie rock could. stil1 raj-se heI1
wlth the best of 'em. ByllanEpstein

Gunrn
lEGEros
Vi2 Rcpninted
fromGUIT
I W0RL0,
]{ovember
2003
 lT'S A qBAY UARGH afternoonin Houston,
Texas.Outside,the rain is comingdown in
chilly torents, but insidea hotelsuite near
the city's calleria shoppingcenter,hometown
heroesZZ Top arebaskingwarmlyin the
toastyglareofa TV crew'slightiry rig-
Scheduledto play RodeoHoustontomorrow
night, drummer FrankBeard,bassistDusty
Hill and guitaristBilly F.Gibbonshave
assembled to good-naturedlyanswera few
quesriorrs abourlhe r lhree-weeL rodeomu\ic
eventfor the local newsmedia."You'vegotta
put on agood show in your hometown,"Dusty
says."Otherwise,you hearaboutitthe next
day atthe gasstationl"when the interviewer
asksthem the secretoftheir success, cibbons
doesn'tmissa beat,"Tone,tasteand tenacity,"
he rumblesfrom behind his omnipresent
beardand shades.
co ahead-nane anotherrock bandthat's
stayedtogetherwithout a singlelineup change
for aslongasZZ Top.Youcan't;evenU2,who
arc generallyviewedasthe modelofiong-
termband unity,lirst took the stagealmost
eight yearsafter Billy,Dusty and Frank's
jnauguraljamat a 1969Halloweer parry Put
it down to tone,taste,tenacityor anlthingelse
I'ou like,but ever sincethat day,the self styled
"Little Ol'Band from Texas"hasconsistently
offeredup a deliciouslytwisted,gloriousl]'
djstortedspin on tone StarStateblues.
They'veincorporatedvarioustechnological
advancesalongthe way,yet they'vetypically
ignoredthe prevailingfadsand trendsofthe
moment,
Mescdlero(RCA), ZZ Top's sprawling
l6-back albumfrom 2oo3,addsits own
unusualchaplerro rheongoingsonicsaga.
Producedby BillyL Cibbonsathis troamBox
Recordingsstudio in Houston,the albumhas
a little bit of something fo. every ZZ Top t'a]Ir,
whether theymetthe bandon 1973's?r€s
Hombres,Ba3'sEliminatoror 1999'sXXX. "7t
hassomeearlystyle,somemiddle styleand
then somewild style,"Billysayswith a smile.
Youwant someold-schoolroadhousecrunch?
Dig the Io!v-downboogieof "Liquor,"the
raunchy"Buck Nekkid" or the greasycoverof
Lowell Fulson's"Tramp."Needa little bluesto
go with that heartbreak?Try the tear-jerking
lament"Goin' SoGood."Havea tastefor solne
futuristic,industIial-flavoredbeats?Help
yourselfto the goofy"Me So Stupid"or the
d vinginstrumental"Crunchy."And then
thefe! I'ackslike Mescalero,_Ttro\ a)s
to PIay. PunkAssBo)'friendand Piece,
on which ZZ Top soundboth more nastily
fuzzed-outand more electronicallyhot-
roddedthan ever.In fact,ifpressedfor some
sort ofshofthand to sum it all up,you could
do far wolse than ro describeMescoleroas_
'Tush' GoesTechno."
"Hel.,notbadl Canwe usethat?"Billy
says,ashe and Dustysit down with c&ifdr"
Worldto discussthe record.Accordingto the
$ritarist, the album'sgenesisbeganwith one
ofthe band'spreviousEuropeantours,where
the bovswere slrbjectedto a steadystream
ofelectronicsoundsin the localciubsand
wateringholes."Technois rockin'over there,"
he says."They do it in a differentkind ofway
than what we might considerit from stateside.
lr'5a litrlemorehei,"y.And DJsq . t ind o.
pushedme off in a direction. He said,'Putmrs
intoyourbrain. Think early-styleZZ with the
Europeanth:ng.' "
" 'Techno'is a word almostlike 'disco,'"
Dustyadds."It's got a bad connotationto
it you know what I lnean?But there'scool
techno,stuffthat hasmore ofan element
ofrock and rollto it. Plus,when we put our
hrnd\ on ic.ir ger\dirry W\ich. t ou know,is
good,asfar aswe'reconcerned,"
Ditty soundscertainlydo abound
on Mescdlero, thanksin part to an odd
Germanguitar calledthe TeuifelBirdfish.e
lightweightaluminuminstrumentwith no
headstock,three moon-shapedhumbucking
pickupsand interchangeable "tone bars"
resonators-theBirdfishlooksmore like
a work ofpostmodernsculpturethan a
functionalax.
"This eccentriccerman gly makesthem
in somehidden-au'aybarn in the dark part of
the Blackforest," Billy explains."Butthere
was a Teuffelrep basedin OrangeCounty,
California,andhe knew that ZZ Top both
Dustyand I-had ar affinity for the odd
andunusual. And I'm thilkin', well,I've
heardthatbefore...But he waslike, [in leras
approximationof Germdndccentl'Oh,Billy,let
me zendyou zomethingl'Well,we openedthe
box, and I said,'What is this?whalever it is,
I likeitl'
"Dusty and I €xperimentedwith them,
just out ofcuriosity.But they had our kind
ofsound right out ofthe bor..And we used
them on four tracks-'Mescalero,''Two Ways
to Play,''BuckNekkid' and 'Piece.'They,re
quite comfortable,they stayin tu[e great.It's
adjustable in every way that you'd want: the
pickupsgo up and down,they go forward and
back,and you cansetyou. pickup position
to the 16thofan inch. lt reallyshineson
'Mescalero'becauseofthat dirty, raunchy
tone.I defy anyother instrumentto get thdf
crazy.It would takea line of50 Fuzz-Tonesl"
Ofcourse,it wouldn't be a ZZ Top album
without the presenceofPearlycates,Billy's
legendary'59LesPaul."Pearly'son just about
everythingon Mescdlero," Billy says."Pearly
Gatesis the cornerstoneofsound,and from
all that, otherswill bejudged.I alsousedan
old cretsch that Bo Diddleygaveme,and a'51
blackpickguardEsquirethatl think I usedon
'Tramp.'Itwas tuned down to low B, which
almostrendereditunusable,but it lendedthat
fiedvln?ss ro i(. lt s a stran8e
sound-strange in
a goodwat I supposel"
For aband so steepedin blueshistory and
lore,ZZ Top havesurprisinglyfewcoversof
classicbluesnumbersin their discography.
Butthe lure of "Tramp,"originallyrecordedin
1966by Lowell Fulson and later coveredby
numerousartists,mostfamouslyasa duetby
OtisReddingandCarlaThomas-simply could
not be denied. t
"I heardit on the radio in Los Angeles :l
duringone ofthe Sundayafternoonblues
hours,"Billy er.plains,"and I couldn't
forgetjt. Itjust stuckand stuckand stuck."
After kicking it arourd n few timesduring
prerecordingjams, the banddecidedto try
trackingit. "Itjust becameso much fun to
play,we thought,Hey,let'sgivethis trrunt"
Dustysays."Throughthe years,we haven't
E!{A
7

', t-'F I
,; \r r:-r] -rl
done a lot ofother people's stutf,
but occ asionally rve'11do something.
fu1d with Billy's voice, itjust seened
right."
Adds Billy, "LowellFulson was
so gTeat,but somewhat underrated
in the $and scheme ofwho gets
mentioned first. You'\€ got Howlin'
woll B.B. King, Jilnlnv Reed, T-
Bonc Walker, Freddie King, Albert
King. tsut where's Lowell? He was a
talent; he could delil.er His records
on Kenl have a beautiful, warm
s o u n d . ' B l a c kN i g h t s ' ?T h a t ' s s o m e
great, gleat stuff-"
In addition to his Tu€ffel Birdfish
bass (allegedly rhe only one in
exist€nce), Dusry used his trusty
early Fifti€s Fender Telecaster bass
on the albuln, alongwith an off-
the-rack Sixties Jazz Bass r-eissue.
"Dust!"s the only bassist I knou'
that's got abuilt-in truzz-Tone in
his finger," Billy sa,vs,then laughs
as Dustv proudly displays his right
index finger Nicknamed "the
Pleaser,"the stubby djgit hasn't
b e n t i n d e c a d e st,h e r e s u l t o f a
football injurl. in his,vounger days.
"Whatever I'm playing, oncc I put
'the Plcaser'onit,
i t s e e m st o c h a n g e
the sound an\,.way,"Dusty says with
a shrug.
Dust-v'sstudio rig, an old Ampeg
SVT head with an 8xt0 cabinet,
made its preserce felt dLrring the
M€rcdlero sessioDsin more wavs

"To got a little sepamtion in

the recordingroom,the speaker
crbinets were cranmed into the
corner, turned in to the wall," Bill_v
says. "Now, our next door neighbor
shares a common wall. cnnted, it's
a pretty significant firewall, but the
u'alr Dusly plays...Our neighbor is a
photographer, and he basically does
glamour work. One day he ca e
o v e r a n d s a i d , ' S o ,w h a t ' s u p ? ' A n d I
said, 'We're basically just reviewing
the tracks, doing a little catch-up
aod housecleaning. Why do you
a s k ? ' A n d h e s a i d , ' B e c a u s eI ' v e g o t t h e s e
STeat-lookin'girls comin'in, and they always
work better when that'boom'comes throuph
the walll"'
"It really shakes their tiara;'Dusty says,
gnnn'ng.
"I'mglad you said that," Billy says.laughrllg.
"I was gonra say something else,but'tiara'
HAIIG O|'T rH HOUSTOX with Bill], F.
cibbons for any decent length of time and
you'll cone away {.ith a sense ofwhat it
nustbe like to keep compan,vu'ith royalty
EverFvhcre Billy goes in H Tou'n, people call
out his name, greeting him like an old fliend.
Middle-aged men come to his table, hands
trembling, to shyly request an nlrtographj
i n r a c t i r e l a d i c sd r r F e t h e m . r h c . a r o u n d h i .
)anky figure, playfully askingwhen he's going
to rnarry !hen. Through it aLl,Billy remains
temarkablygracious,neverpullinga star trip
or beinganlthinglessthan accommodating.
It's beensaidthat no one in rock and roll trulv
enjot'shis famemorethan Billy F.cibbons,
andthere'slittle in his mannerthatu'ould
appearto contradictsucha statement.
There are,however,timeswhe[ the
patienceofeven the most stoicindividualcan
be sorelrresred. The nighrbeforeZZ Toptr
appearance at RodeoHouston,GuitdJ'World,
Billy and a coupleofhis palsrepairto a local
cantinafor a post-r'ehearsal round ofbeer,
marga tas and chickenenchiladas.It's alnost
closingtime,and the placeis empty,savefor
a f€w custonersand oneexceedinglydrunk
nariachi, rvhose6lny eveslight up assoon
asBilly u,alksthroughthe door.Thoughthe
g!itarist is too sous€dto play,letalole drive
home,he insistson performinganumberor
tv.o for Billy and his crew.Bill-vrequeststhe
rfadiliordl\4e\icanballaJ"Volrpr,\olver,
takingthe high vocalharmonyasthe musician
happilyfumbleshis rvaythrough the song.
When the performanceconcludes,Billy's
cohortsoffer polite applause,silently hoping
thatthe mariachiwill return to his barstool.
Instead,fired up b]' the positivereception,the
manbegin.ro \ ammere\ciledlyin frpid firc
Spanish,obliviousto the fact that not even
Billy,the one personat the tablewith decent
Espariolskills,hasanyidearvhat he'stalking
about.Then,satisfred*'ith his monologue,
the glitarist breaksinto :rrendition of
"Guantanamera" that can o ybe described
as"grinding."As his audiencelooks on in
wordlesshorror,a steadystreamofdrool
begir. ro p^ur froml\e righrrorne-of hi:
m o u r h\ l - i l e h e f r J y s T
. h es a l i r ru r t e r f r I
first hits the body oithe grlitar,thel splashes B
stlaightinto the freshbasketoftortilla chips =
. i n i r g o n h et a b l e-.l r h i n l r h e . eo u g h r b ae
hermeticallysealedor something,"Billy says, :
 that,"he says,rattling offa
list ofeffectsthat includes
Vari Drive,RealT!be,
Austoneand Expandora
distortionunits,some
ancientDeArmondtremolo
pedalsand "that Danelectro
wah-wahthat lookslike
a car-that's the craziest
thingl've everseenl"But for
the mostpat, Mescdl€ro's
sleazy,splooge encrusted
guitar tonesareasmuch the
product ofa hrppy accident
ofphysicsasthey are of
well-chosenstonrpboxes.
Or maybewe'd betterjust
get out ofthe way and let
the man explain.
"l've got a nice little
2x10Marshallthatwas put
togetherby Brent Magnano's
outfit, GuitarOasis,"Billy
says."Ior convenie[ce,a
'Plexi'headwasstuffed
into an old mini-Marshall
cabinet;therewasjust
e[ough spaceto squeez€
two l0-inch speakersinto
it. That'spannedhard right
on the r€cording,and then
we'reusingthe Marshall
JMP-I pre-amp-it's got a
little 12Ax7tube in ir-and
that'sdirect-signaledto the
left side,hard-pannedleft.
"while lecordilg, u,e
kept hearingwhat we
thoughtrvasa delay,a little
bit of slapback.But itwasn't
eren somenoteswele
closertogetherthan other
notes.And we lookedand
we searched;wechasedall
the signallinesdown, and
we didn't evenhavea delay
in the line.what we suspect
wasoccurringwas a s;mple
law ofphysics:the paper
speakerswere maki[g their
excursionsoutward and
inward,while the JMP-I wns
chucklilgas hc gingerly moves the chipbasket hardwir€d. Now, electrons travel much fast€r
to the next table, as the restaurant rnalager dowr the wire thar this primitive nethod of
fina1ly escorts the sodden guitarist back to the solrnd reproduction; the paper was respondilg
bar "But what I reallywanna know is, what . l o w e r b u t r h e h i g h n o t e sw e r e c l o . e r o g e r h e r .
kind oftequild was that cat drinkin'?" a r d t l - e l o u n o t e sg o t u i d e r r p r r t . s o i r s t h i "
For all his elemental sang froid, you've organic delay effect. It weaves all over the
gotta wonder sometimes ifthe guitarist's self- place-it's smedry. We've noticed that it even
c f f a c i n g s e n s eo f h u m o r h i s b u s i n e s sc a r d changes from glitar to guitar, particularJy
reads "cibbom:trriend ofEric Claptol" and Feldcrs. Because oftheir longer scale,the)'
e c c e n r r i cp e r s o r ) a sl r ) l e h x . n t s o m e h o $ k e p ( have a tighter, treblier sound, and ofcourse
Billy r'. cibbons trom gettinghis lotaldue it's refleced in the amplifier end ofthings.
a s a m u s i c i a n .T o m u c h o f t h e w o r l d , B i l l y r s Man,justwhen I'oLrthink you know it all,
nore ofa cartoon character than a guitar hero, somethingjumps up to say,'Nope, it's gonDa
but his searing approach to electric blues is change on ya!' "
certrinly as unique (and nearly as influential) According to Billy, humidity-something
as that ofClapton, Keith Richards or the late that Houston hff no shortage of also pln-ved
Stevie Ray Vrughen. its part in the recofding. "The cluality ofthe
Mescd/ero represents yet another milestone ajr surrounding a microphone can really affect
i n B i l l y : e n d l e : .q u e - t t o r e F n eh i s . r t u r r t e d . the sound," he says."You say,'what's different
instantly recognizabl€ tonc. "I'm not abo\.c today?'Weli, it's 1O0d€grees and 80 percent
taking a rnoment to experiment \,r,iththis and humidi\'; the air is rich, and then ifthat
changes. guesswhat?fhe fesponsc irfrhrl
.peakeranddiaphragrn ofthe microphone.
it's all different,becausethe air between'em
i sd i f ' e r e n lrr. ' sa m r z i r g l.r c r n d f i \ ey o u
crazy-gooil cfazy.
"Maybethat'swhat contributesto the
magicandthe mysterythatdifferentiates
Texastone from an!?laceelse.Particularly
on the GulfCoast you getplayersfrom
the Mexicanborder,allthe waythrough
Louisianaand Mississippi.Youget in a hot rod
a n df o l l o uI n t e r r t r t el 0 u . l r i li t e n d s o \ e r i n
Florida.As longasyou staysouth,it's gonra
be fat and sassy."
lTiS XEARIY SHOWTIIE at Houston's
ReliantStadium,an ediliceso monunentally
hulking it positivelydwarfsthe neighboring
Astrodome.This is the eighth night ofthis
year'sRodeoHouston,but most ofthe 60,000-
plus peoplein attendanceseemasifthel'
couldcarele.. abourrheevening.calf ropir)'
andbronc-bustin'competitions.They'rehere
ro .cr ZZ Tup.\ ho rfe ph1 ingbrck in their
hometownfor the firsttime iD 12months.
After country artist Lee Greenwoodgets
the crowdpunped with a soloperforn'nnce of
hi. _codBle.\rheUSA.serrorhrckdropoi
SpaceShuttle and U.S.Air Forcefootage,Billy
and Dusty emergeonto the revoh.ingstagein
rhinestone-studded serapes andl0-gallonhats
andpromptlykickthe shitoutofa hit-packed
15songset.Billyplayshis Bo DiddleyGretschfor
nos! ofthe evening, thenwhipsout PearlyGates
fora coupleofnumbers-onlyit'snot actually
tl-ehl'led 59LesPrulburrJrherrhollo$ed-
out reissuemodelthat,Billl' proudlytellsGuitar
Worl4 "weighs lessthan a Marlin acoustic."
"We.reamedo[f rheropandwenf for it.
he says."I wnslike,'I don'twanta speckof
sawdustthat isn't necessary'We did four of
'em- srandafd. r;gh(off rhe rackGibson..
Therewas one ofthe cibson Les Paulreissues
that wrs quite pricey,but I knew thrtwe
were takinga chanc€on totally trashiDgthem
aq.way,sowe boughtthe cheapones."
In soundandattitude,ZZ Top stillcome
off morelike a grage bandthan a cla.ssic-rock
institution. Not surprisingly,they'vebeen
heaftenedby the emergenceofnewer, rawer
bandslike the Hives,theVinesandthe White
Stripes."whrt they'redoingfeelscloserto the
heaft of how we start€dthan anltling elseout
there,"saysDusty,who paid his garageband
dueswith FrankBeardin the AnericanBlues
beforetheyhookedup with Bill]',whohadbeen
playingwith the Moving Sidewalks.':Iust bangin'
for it and gettin' conplaints {fom neighbors,you
know?I mean,you'vegottagetcomplaintsfrom
neighbors, or you ain't doin'it right."
'All ofthe 'thc'bands,they're poignantry
expendingtheirpersonalenergytoward
gettingit right,"'says Billy, noddingsagely.
"what'right'is,u'edon'tknow.But whenyou
feel it, it's good.And theseguysare doingit."
ZZ Top aredoing it aswell, and they'll
probablycontinueto do so until the Grim
R€aperpri€stheir vintageaxesfrom their
cold,deadhands."We're still the samethlee
guys,playingthe samethree chords,enjoying
it all:'srys Billy."That's howwe started.
we've aiwayssaic{,'Makeit loud, and it'll be
6ne."'And it ahvat'sis.qr-
 Mellow d.own easy with nasty d-og
and. funky king Bi11y F. Gi-bbons, the
Houston kid. who has seen hi-s
li'l- Ol t Band-From Texas go from
natj-onwld-e boogie boys to international
ambassad-orsof bl-ues rock. ByBobGulla
EttLY F. clBEO s tlt lookinginto the cam- Cortrol bridge, G tailpiece, three-position tog- S i x t i e sG. i b b , ' r rI.' e ' r i e n d e JJ i r r i H e n d r ' \
em- At least we think he's lookinginto thc cam- g-lesu.itch, and string through bod1,construc, w h o h e l p e d h i m u n d e r s t a n dt h e p o t c n t i a l o f
era. It's impossible to tcll becausehis eyes arc tion.It's ore sweetnachirc, onethat cibbons the inslrunent- lnspired ar the srme time bi'
blacked outbl.his signature "cheap" sunglass now tours uith and beats on coDstantly thc explosive sound ofEric Cl:rpton's cibsoD
€s (Rai.Bans, actually).In fact, his entire head * hi, h :. reallyrrr rrr! .orrerh'ng r ner vor- s c a n d \ 4 r r . h r ' 1 .C i b b o n sb . g : n , u r r i r g h i r
is blacked out, sort ol what$ ith the beard, considcr the heap ofaxes the grv owns. "crab own musicxl path, first as the foundcr-oftne
the glasscs,and an AfricaD sklrllcap rhat could t h a t s l a b ,p l u g i t i n a n d g r i n d m c a p o u n d , " h e margin:rlly inlluential Texas ps),chedelic band
. r l m o . r n u s sf , ' - r ' e r - - rw e i r J h r i r E r e n I n r g r i n r e i n s i s t s .G i b b o n sh a s i n n u m e r r b l e w a v s o f t e l i - rhe Movirg Sidewalks, al1dthen,latel after.
'r'r. would be hrr.l
tfe.\ed ro lDrh( nrr'. inghis fans the sane thing: pick up the g'uitar m e e t i n g b a s s i s tD u s t y H i i l e r d c l r u m e r F r r n k
mkcd visage.SlilL,sittirgon a stoolin frontof rnd play it. Beard, as hontman for ZZ Top.
his Cratc V-50 combo, he looks and sounds like The thing is, he means it. He's been a Benealh the beard and dapper tux likc suit
a pro as he shills forhis neu, guitar fanatic about the instrumcnt since the late is r rix .rlirU rnrdn rn.x gretr.eJ up bluc\-
''This
cretsch is r De\,! model called the Filiies, when, as a kid in his nativ€ Houstor', l o c k m a c h i n eu , i t h t h e f i n e s s eo f a n e x p e n ,
Billy Bo," he begins. "It was inspi|ed by Bo he sr\l- Scott]' Moore accompanying Elvis. lhe revs ofa muscle car, and the guitar \-ocab-
D i d d l e y ' sg u i t a r : p € r f e c t l yb a l a l c c d , o n e - p r e c e Growing up in the early Sixties, he witnessed ular',vofa scholar-.He's a psycho hillbilll,
bod1.,nice backside coltour. I highly reco[r- t h e s u r f s c c n c ;a n i m a g e o f t h e F c n d e r S t r a t longhorn in heavy camouflage, and over.tne
lnend it. All vou gotta do is spank the plank s r . r h r u . r i n u \ i . l r e r d . q n d r r l e r . tL { x i r J - p a s t 3 0 l c a t - sh e ' s k i c k e d u p t h c m o s t v i s c e r r l
and tear it up." ists emerged in the Sixtics, Gibbons rvas light blues *,e've hear-d from a conmercial act- And
Gibbons's new Billy-Bo is !l.ull' a gem. 11 thele, zcroing in on a style ofhis ou'n, pat rl'hile he mry harbol much ofhis true per-son-
lctains the Diddley oliginal's four-knob con- terned alier Diddley, Chuck !cII),, Buddy cuy, aliqr under and within thosc g assl',foot long
flguration, two Filtertron pickups, Space S t e v eC r o p p c r a n d J i m m i e N o l a n . I n t h e l a t e strawbcrry stlands of facial hair', there's no
hiding Gibbons'trueand deeptovefor righ- plemented that particular ffwirh rhis move guitars are much like babies: theylike r lotof
teousblues and boogieguit,lr. la M chatlgewith a i3rd .trd grace slurl, and attcntion rnd a lot ofliquids.
"There's nothing nnlr€ enjoyable than you could combine the rlvo and play it like this It's impor-tant to note that there's a s,vner-
p i c k i n ' u p a g e e t a ra n d b a n g i n ' i t , f i n d i n ' t h e [acuRE 21.And ofcourse, the famous ans\,r,er gislic connectivitv between cars and guitars:
l ' e s ' l r e t . .f i r J i l h n . e . o u n L l . , l r ( s r ' r e \ i r lrurndround], from the V bacL to the I, goes all on the gear le\€l,,vou get a g!ita1 learn a song,
lis new book, rilryF. dibbonsjRocl + Roll the way back to Robeft Johnsor." (FrcuRE3) and thcn you ha\c to take it to th€ nightcLub.
G e a r h e a d ,a h a r d c o v e r l o v e l e t t e r ! o h i s r w o C i h b o n .c r r L . , , u l \ . r - ' : l l i o n 5 o l h , , r i d i - But to get to the club you have to have a cat
g r e r t c s l I l i r \ . i o n s :c r r s . r d g i r i r . . T h e r : l l J i r r r I R e e J f i F f$ i r l - e r . e . h l e n d i n 6r n - so why not do it in style? That's the backbone
b o t t o m i i n c i s i o v e { ' h a t v o u d o , c h a s el v h a t t\r'istirgeach one together-like colors on abar- o f h o u ' a l l o f t h i s b e l o v e da c c u m u l a t i o nc a ! r e
y o r i \ r , a n n eh c a r l I p e r s o n a l l v c h o o s e t o u s e ber''spole, adding increasinli amounts ofmeat to bcrng-
e v e r i ' t h i n g a v a i l a b l c n s f a r : r st h e h a n d s g o . to what began as a b e-bones ligltrc. Then cW And,voLrr story in glitars alone is an
Ard what goes on il my hcad what goes Bill,v'scellphone ril1gs.He stops for a nomcrt, ln!eresflng ol]c.
o n i n n 1 yh e a d c r n b e q u i t e o y e r w h e l m - ans\r'ers."It's JinnnyReecl calling!" he says GIBBOtaS The cornerstone is the first
ing. Count on using everything you canl r l o u d 6 . r uf f l ) . $ i r h a . b : n r i l L . I l r r r . ' r r o r ' r e guitar that founded the soulld ofBilly f.
c e t m e n n e r , f a s t e r , q u i c k e r . . . . "H e c l o s e s phone:"Whatwas that? Thrn around atth€ Gibbonsand ZZ Top, which is the 1959
the quotc by paraphrasilltj N{uddv \ ra!ers: hve? OK." Sunburst Gibsor Les Paul "Pearlv cates "
"You doD't have to be rhe best one,just be a Atlast, cibbons takes thc call, blrt not before Ard from that rrther unexpected begin
good'un," t e l l i n g e v c r v o n ei n t h e s t u d i o " l ' 1 1 b er i g h r b a c k nintj, the chase to find a guitar that ivould
cibbons has ebided by waters' ad\.icc to,val" Within n few minutes he does indeed p e r f b r m i n t h e s n m e r n a n n e r ,v o l u m e - w i s e ,
by bccoming a superb stylist, a player ivho, .eturnj and we resum€ our intervierv. f r e q u e n c ru r . r r n d h r - r r o n i c u i , c , r ' , , n -
like nany of rock's greatest pick€rs, can be t i n u e d t o b e e v a s i v e .I t w a s a n e l u s i v e s p c
identified b1'a single plucked note or thun- OUITAR WORLD What inspired you ro cialty that this one guitar had, and nlong the
dcring chord. His tonc rnd style benefit put this book together? w a y w e ' v e d i s c o v e r e dt h a t e a c h g u i t a r h a s
from his gear fanaticisn. To wit, on his to EILLY GIBBO S lt's no secret dtat this i t s o w n c h a r a c t e r a n d p e r s o n a l i ! y ,w h i c h
do Iist \r'hilc in New York City, along wirh astounding number ofcars and guitars has , rr 1,.nrgrilieJ onc, rl-cplrrerergagesirr
a ZZ Top gig and a few promo appearanc- escalated to the poin! whefe it's \,r.orthyof beatin'it up.
cs for his book, r,as a irip down to Chclsex p u b l i . h i n A . br o n \ n l r h e n r .W ( GW Likc perfume on a womal, right?
"rJfrrddigging
Guitars, a uell'knor.n guitar shop orvncd back through the vauJt ir's rlways fun to go OIBBOIIS Yes, it's ver]'perso[a]. In fact,
b y D a n C o u r t e n a , vt h a t i s h o m c t o r r a f t o f iird thrt glritar that may have been ovellooked even two glitars manufactured on the sanc
- " r e g L i r r r ' . T - r . \ i , l e j . r u n r r ' . r . r , r r r n r l . i rg
but has gotten some sigllificallce along the day ale different:board byboald, pJank b1
ofa pilgrilnagc lor cibbons, r,ho nantcd wr).. So thcre was rn excursion into thar realnl plaDk, th€ glLrethey use, the tenlpcrature,
to see (nnd hold, ard hear) an early Leo o f p l r l l i n g o u t t h i r g s t h a t h a d a k e e n s e n s co f the amount ofpnint all these elements adcl
F e n d e r 'T c l c c a s t e l p r o t o t _ v p ck l 1 o w n s i n p l y inpor-tance, both cars ard guitars. Cars and to this flavor With rcsp€ct to the diversity of
as"No.0O09."
likeprina/acle cvidence, ZZ Top's two
r i . r r r l r r e i . - L r e Jc l . r . s i , . . / r . i H o n t 6 r e s FIGURET
. r D dn . d n d d n g o - b o t h o f w h i c h w e r e € i i v e n
lllt'd€rareh (I::.1 ))
t h e d e l u x e t r c a t m e n t b ) , W a r 1 1 e rB r o s . /
Rhino-offer ploof that cibbons' guitar
talents are on paf rl.ith those ofany well
n o t e d b l u c s - r o c k g u i t . r r g o c l .Y o u m i g h r c a l l
him the "othcr" guit:rr god. ?resHombrcs,
- e - e " . e J i n 1 . 7 3 .l , . r u - p d r h e h l u c s l , , r g r e
"Ia Crange" (basedon John Lee Hooker's
seminal "Boogie Chillen") and album
tr:rcks/li\.c stnples like "Beer Drinkers &
Hell Raisers" end'.Iesus Just Left Chicago."
It was the work that hcrded the band our
of Texas and into the lational limelight. 'IGURE2
F a n J o ' t . ; ox. r r r i l i r e , l - a l f . t u J . u f o l l e . - r u , d d u l o t('t : . 1 ))
r'^n i.suedtro irrr': lrtp-.ho-.tcd r.er.
ond hit single, the crowd,fnvorite "Tuslr "
rs lvell as "Heard It On the X" (r'hich many
c o l . i d e r L ub L r - r el . 1 n d . h c s r$ , , r k l T h i .
sound, this hoodoo boogie, sent not onlv ZZ
l'op stampedjng acrossthe countrv but also
helpcd to cstablish blues rock as a com
mercial forn.
A iter cibbons lirishcs sturrping for his reu'
L " L i r J r lr . f - e t " r e . t o J i r r r l c * o r . . T o f r c i l i
r r r e r l r i . r . : 1 . r C u t d r W o r/ r i LJ i r ^ r I ' r i n g . h i r n
a paper bag{,ith a six-pack ofBudu.ciser tnll FIGURE
3
boys in it. \\ie had heard Gibbons drinks bcer
\t,,dt.rr€t\lJJ=J.f)
through a srra$,,to kcep the suds outofhis
berrd, naturall,vi but rt the moment he is sans
straw He dit+i oui a can, yanks opcr the pop-
bp with a ts.,rsst/, tips itback, rhen placcs it

" O n e g o o d s t x l t i n € ip o i n f f o r r D c k i n ' b l u e s
i . . l ' n ' r r \ k e . L l . h r . , ' ! . \ v i r h o u rl r , 5 r t r t i n . r .
Hc quickIyn'ofks up a blues shLrflle.(flcUREr)
"It doesn't get n]uch sinplcr than this. Reed
\r,as accompanied by Eddie Ta_vlor,u'ho com
 the guitar, the interest factor goes through ilr the blues and keep one eye on the horizon, Fairchild and Pultec compressorsand equal-
the roofrrith that one notior ofpelsonality ow Tell me abouttie currentcreative tra- izers- The room wasn't anlthing to breg
and charact€r, piece by piece, performance jectory ofthe band? about-just a squarebox, really-butwe all
b), performancc.Ior me. it's a seemingly end- olBEOraS The new direction for ZZ Top o r r^ nl'v r^dprlta'

less well of interest. Certain guitars justaffect i r r r o t. o n c w .\ r | r . u p p o r t , J b r u u r c n g i ow What guitars and ampswere you
one's playing rvhether ifs his technique or his n e e r s .J o e H . r d y r n d C L . M o o n , w h o r e m , i n usingback then?
sourd. ADd I have on man-voccasions shared in-house and hands-on, and with a few select OIEBOIIS Just nry GibsonLes Paul and
m o m e n t so l g r r i t a rp l a ) i n g m y ' t e r i e s 1 i 1 . . words their assistalce brings special skills a's4 Hardtlil FenderStrat an old maple-
Man, I played this exactly the sa e way, but I to the part-v they keep even the nost fer neckthingthat I still havekickirg around
just hrppened to pla]' it on a different instru fetched, far out ideas grounded. There are some\rhere. I recallusingthat Straton
ment and it carne out totally different; it t h r e e m u s i c i a n st h a t g e t i n t h e b o x a n d t h r a s h "BlueJeanBlues,"and I had it goingboth
\vasn't everl the same rifl Butthe point is to it out, and with the help ofa tremendous staff through the arnp and direct into the board.
have a good time with it. we've become a s,ell oiled machite. The band You'llnoticeit's a very cleansoundon that
ow How much consideration do ),ou grve joke, ofcourse, is that we all $,ant to play solo song.we were actuallyjus! warmingup,
to st-vle,as n phyer, a person and ngerrguv? albums-butwe'd all have to hrve this samc and the engineersaid,"c€e,this is different,
crEEoxs Styl€ is paramount. We nr€ now band plal' on 'em, becausewe like thc way it why dor't we explore that tone a little bit?"
livingin a rvolld that is divided into agazillior My alnpat the time was a 1969100-watt
segments,each requiri[g a bit ofattentio[ to There must be sonethingyou seeon the Marshall.Itwasn'ta plexi;it had a golcl-
maintain a level ofpalience that allows one to horizon that tellsyou it's worth it to continue anodizedface,and I ran it into a
develop somethingthat could be lecogrized as on with the brnd, and to continueplaying 4x12 cabinet loadcd with Celestion
a sigrature or style. lt motivates us to capture this styleofguitar. lndced.tror eveq, greenbacks.
our own moments ill a world that is continu guy that saysthi[gs aregoingsouth, ow what kinds ofslides were
ally beingdivided; it's the challenge oferery thereare rwo !hat areconvincedit's you using?
player Th€re was a tim€ i{hen there weren t goingin the other direction.My GIEEO S Back then,I used
as many styles to consider. Br.ltthe good news discussiorwith Keith Richards to take Atlas mic slands and chop
is that we're experiencingan escaletingrange aboutthe creativeprocessled me them up. Another thing I'd use
ofcreativiry on one hand it's more difficult to to believelhat there'san invisible sometimes wxs a lO-gauge metal
find sonrethingthat will hold your attention. presence ofa s!rcam ofever-flowing shotgun shell. Thcy were made of
on the other hand, in the words ofSalvador c r e e t r irD t l - r t r r e o r e r h e r r a l l r u u solid brass, but rvith really thin
Dali, "at sone point in the not so distant haveto do rspull up lhe antennir
rnJ walls, and they gave a sort of
future, tl,e u,orld willbecome surreal." And I dial it in. This presence shofl, strccJtolikc
think, g!ilarwise, we're there no\r alloil'syou to maintain delivery,with less
ow Tell us nbout thejoys and challenges of your senseofo gin sustainthan yoLl
sittingillwith someone like Les Paul, or 8.8. and nove forward.You get from a thicker
King. what do you bringto those situations? cant stop it. The radio brassslide.
olBEoxs Stepping outside ofthe private is piayingin my head OW Canyou
c i u h c . r l l e dZ Z T o p . | \ e r c c e p r c d s n r n ef t s c i all daylong boasta little bit
nating invitations from groups as diverse as ow What are )'our aboutyour high
Quccns ofthe Stone Age and Nickelback, and playinghabits,and points?
also to Ies Paul's 9oth birthday ribute, and what are you working GIEEOIISA
B . B . 8 o r h . T h e s ea r e i r l ' d i f h r e n t p l o j e . r . on right now? high point in my
and they require different approaches. With OIBBOLS Our careerurculdhave
Queens ofthc stone Age, they're a real focused playinghabitsare to b€
unit, a bit eccentlic, but focused in awaythat never-elding;it's discoveringthe
m a d e i t r e a l e a s yt o c o m e i n , a n d p l u g i n a n d an onSoingprocess liberationthe
plalr There are always certain challeng€s that of experi entation. guitar affords,
I don't anticipate. we've reacheda very the tot aban-
ow Lefs talk about {,hat's in store for,\'ou sophisticated levelof donmentof
as a player, and for ZZ Top in general. tonal tweaking.That playing. That
oIEEo||a lt's entered into this realm of doesn'tmeenthat it's is, you need to
mind reading. ZZ Top is what we enjoy most. over.It just meansthat
Playirgin zZ 1bp, playingwith the Rolling there'snothingl€ft but of integrity but
stones-there's an enjoyable sidelight. wh]' the next thing. realll' let it go.
do we do it? we lo\.e doingit. It's all we kno1,r,, ortl ZZ'top And in so doing
and all we knou'hou-to do. Once you get strulg cut a lot ofits
by it, it sta,vswith you, and thafs certainly the early recordings aermlngs
case with us. We're also entertained by the
fact that u'e're excited about neu- gear. You Studios.what
can play three chords as long as you want, so do you recall able.The
longas some pedal or some attachment, some atroutthe stu- unpre-
s i g n a l p a r h - m o d i f i c a t i o nu n i l . c n m e ' r l o n g l o dio, and {-hat was dictable
keep it fresh.Itbecom€s a rather interesting it like recording natureol
e r c u r . i , ' n .n r : . t i r ' ; : r d t L | 1 | | n gr n d c h a n g i n g there? things lakes you to
that which wds into that which could be. OIEBOxS That the next step up.
ow You and the brnd hrve beenso con- was 30 years ago, If]'ou rnake a
sistent rvith your style. Do l-ou ever have the and the equip- few mistakes,
desire to tr,v someth ing di fferent? ment available let itgo.It's
clBBol|s Thc desire renrains. Bur 1s tir'e at that time was part ofthe
l e 5 . t o u f e r s ,w e d o n r h , r ! e r i - n e i o r i r . S u r e program.
a vou can check in with your pals, check in u'ith tl
= the newsstald that a1lplays a part in that ele- Neumannand got to
n1ent offreshness. You don't have to abandon
^ expect
history, but i!'s a goal ofours to stay one foot micsand
TffiEIHSTONYO

By BObgft Palmef )k Reprinred

rrom
0utTtfi
w0il.0,
ssprember
tss6

o [AtTEn WHAT you nay have heard or r-cad,nobody kno$'s lr-her.c deglee, Texas blucs absorbed:rll
the blucs bcgan-or even ifit riid be€iin in a pafticuiar place, as opposed these influences, and thc biues
to splinging up in several pleces trore or.less silrrultaneoush..The Mis- was itsclfn pr'ime ingredient in
s i s s i p p i D e l t ai s o f t c n c r e d i t e d l v i t h l r e i n g t ] r e" c f a d l e o f r h e b 1 u e s ,b" u t later'ltx:rs swles such as \Vestern :
tLere is evidence tlat the mus;c wrs flourishing in Texas at least as swing, honk)' tonk and rockabilly.
earlv as it was in Mississippi. When isked for lis opinion, pioneering Texas'blues pedigree is un-
blues and foik scholal Alan Lonlax sed to quote a traditional, anonv- s u r p a s s c d ,a n d t h e L o n e S t a r
mous lvric hc h:rd encounlered earh. in his trivels: "The blues callre Strte, alorgwith its bordering
flom Texas, Ioping likc a rr'ru1e." territofies (parts of Louisiana,
lllues is bv n:rture sonetlirgofa gun1bo:pert licld holler, Arkansrs and Oklehorna),
pirt g!itar r_igtilne and songstcr balladr\,, and part berrel- plal'cd a folmrtive role in the a
h o u s eb o o g i e ,l v i t h a s € a s o n i n go f g o s p e l , j a z za n d e v e n h i l l developmert ofboogje-
bill"v music. In Texas, a big, big state $'ith a number of immi woogrej
grant communities and small farnrers in addition to its large the pounding, rockiDg cight-
cotton plartations, early blues musicians rvere exposed to an to thc bar rhlthmic fbunda
unr.rsuallvbroad ralge of inlluences: mariachi tion fbr all subscq ent de-
bands and {lamenco inspiled guritaristsfr.orr velopmentsin rock and roll.
trIexico; Ilcnch-speaking Caj n rnd Zi'deco The origirs ofboogie arc | , u n er s z r 6
bancls;tlTe polkas and other accor-dion-dr-iven
'
generallv attributed to anony ous black
dance music ofGerlnan and Easterr Europe:rn set- pianistswho entertained \r'orkersin thc
tlers; and a widespread jazz scene,\'ith sophisticated i s o l a t e d ,b r c k r v o o d s l u n r b e r a n d t u r p e n t i n e
music hcard not onl)' in the cities blrt also in thc rural ter- c a l r p s o f c a s t e r n T e x a s a n d w e s t e r - nL o u i s i ,
ritofies, $'hcre it took tl,e fr)l lL ofold-rime lToedorrr mLrsic.To sonle a n a ,p f o b r b h . a r o u n d t h e t u r n o f t h e c c n t u n r
Ff : _
\s
L.
'v't
.
F

'''
 A traveling pianist and songrvriter As early as1915,Jeffersonwas
fi om Neq' Orleans,ClarenceWilliams, known aroundDallasand in the
reported hearing a Texaspianist play- surroundingcountr'$ide asan
ing boogie-woogiebassfigures in itinerant streetsinger Begin.
Houstonin 19ll, morethan 15years ning in 1926,he enjoyeda string
before the filst boogie-r-oogier-e- of hit recordsthat continued,
cordings.(The Texaspianist ceorge offand on, until his deathin
Thomaswasthe p:rtriarchofa piano l92q Nowadays,CharleyPat-
playing family that included earl,v ton, RobertJohnsonand other
recordingartistsHocieland Hersal Mississippi Deltabluesmen
Thomas and their sister,better known arethe bestrememberedof
asthe classicbluessinger-andBonnie Lemon'sn€arcontemporaries,
Raittidol-Sippie Wallace.In 1917or but he wasarguablya more
1918,anotherpianist,Samm]'Price, signilicant bluesartist than any
heardbluesguitaristBlind Lemon ofthem. Accordingto blues
Jeffersonplaying b ass-string boogie historiaf SteveCalt,a Patton
riffs. The term Jeffersonknew, how- chan'rpionand bio$apher,
ever,was 'rboogerrooger,"which was Blind Lemon Jeffersonwas"as
somethinglike an all-weekend house importantwithin the scheme
party, r\-hatEast TexasCajunscalled ofblues asEh.isPresleyis to
r "la la."YoucanhearJefferson's jam- rock" and "the most famous
ming,loose-limbed approachto the malesbluessingerwho ever
"booger-rooger"rhythm in the final lived,rivalingBessieSmith for
chorusesof"EasyRiderBlues,"his popularityamongrecordbuyers
versionofthe pre-WorldWar I Texas of his time."
standard.As u'ith so nuch ofAncrican Many rural bluesmenhabitu
music'shistory, nobody knows for ally drop a beat or a bar from,
sure whether boogie-woogieu'as in or add a halfbar or more to, the
vented by pianists and later adapted standard12-barverse,resulting
to the guitar, or the other rvayaround. in actualverselengthsranging
However it went down, it probably from ll to 13|lnd a halfbars,
went down in Texas. often in the sane tune.On 6rst
impression,Jefferson'splaying
wff evenmore anarchicthat
IIIEFIRST
GUITARISTS that while singing,he would
cuitars seemto have found their strul11quiet chordsor softly
w a y i n t o t h e h a n d so f b l a c k m u s i c i a n s mark the beat,but his guitar
in Texas earlier than in other parts of fills, generall,vtumbling single-
the South. The longborder the state note linesinsertedbetrveen
shares with Mexico mernt there was vocalverses,were liableto
widespread contact with Spanish-speak- and entertainmentmLlsicofchoice.In nost meanderalmostan)'!vhere.Calt
ingimmigrants, whose culture has cherished ofthe South,therewere considerablesocial de'cribe.rhe"efill. rs imp-omp(u-sounding
the gritar since the Moors brought prototypcs aswellasmusicalbarricrsseparatingblues riffs ofno frxedorder or duration."This edge-
to Spain in the Middle Ages. Centuries later, musiciansfrom thosewho playedjazzor sang of-]'our-seatapproechto improvisationis
back in Texas, the 6r'st wave ofblack guitarists gospel.Bluesi('as"countr)',"associated with whrt makesJeffersonclassicslike "Match Box
u,e knorv about had already der.eloped their rlte"Jowrrrrd nrrr': j:zz mu.ici.rn.corrsid Blues,""SeeThat My crave Is Kept Clean"
own style ard repertoire wellbefore the initial eredit musically moronic,andpiouschurch- and "That BlackSnakeMoan" perennially
wave ofpopulafit-v for the blues. Huddie Led goelsdeened it the der.il'smusic. reu'ardingand surprising.
better, better known as Leadbelly, roamed the Tere..nncergrir. did rhingsdrlielentll. In effect,Jeffersondevelopedand popular-
coulltfyside plaving I rolljngbass heav_vslvle Frontrhebcginning. l cra- hlue."rd jazzen- ized_lerdgritrr' r. r .tyleofblue<accom
ofl2-stringguitar (then a novelMexican im joyed a fruitfulrelationship,one thnt worked paniment.T BoneWalker,who listenedto
port) and si nging narrati\€ ballads, hoedorvn to the advantageofboth. Eventhe most un- Jeffersonand follorvedhim aroundDallasas
tunes and other dance music that pr€dnted the reconstructed,musicalll'primirivebluesmen, a youth,later amplifiedthe single-notelead
b l u e s ." T e x a s " H e n r y T h o m a s u a s a h o b o w h o suchasthe influentialsingerTexasAlexander, lilles he'd inherited.Wa]ker'scombinatiol,Iof
ferociously str-urnmedhis guirar rvhile blor',- often recordedwith a sympatheticjazzplayer melodicinvention,bluesystringbendingand
i n g n n r s e t o l c a r r ep r n p i p r . r h r r r v r s r a c k or-tvo asfeaturedsoloists.Thejazz musi- jazz-11avored chord voicingsinspiredvirtually
rnoulted around his neck,like a hannonica. cians,for their part,didn't sharetheir peers' everyblues-based guitaristwho's come along
Thornas left an impressive body oflecold- disdainfor the blues;in f:rct,jazzbandsfrom since,includingDelta-bredst_vlists asinfluen-
ings, including"Bull Doze Blues," from which Texasand Oklahomalargelybuilt their repu- rial in dreiro$ n r:gl-rJ. B.B.King and Roberr
Canned Heat derived their 1969 hit "coing trtion playinglooselyarranged,rhllhmicalltr Jr. Lockwood.
Up the Countr]'." Oiall the Texas songsters conpellingjunp blues.This wasastrue ofthe
(archet]'pal wando]-ing bluesmen except that BlueDevils,Twentiesprecursorsofthe origi
they perforll]ed n1oreballads, breakdowns end llal Count Basieband,asit r-as2o yearslaler, ELEIITRI|!
TflAS
ra€itime than blues), Mance Lipscomb was *-henHouston'sMilt larkin Orchestraintro- Texasmusicianstook to the electricguitar
one ofthe longest lived and best 1oved.Unlike duceda u,holcneu'generationofhonking, asmpidl,vand enthusiasticallyasthelrhad
L e a d \ e l l t r r r J T h , , n - r . .h e g e n e r a l L s r a r e " big-tonedTexassaxophonistsbluesmenall. taker up the guitar itselfat the beginningof
in one spo! and farned rather thrn brave the the centur_v.EddieDurham,a guitaristfrom
jukc joints and barrelhouses, where murder SanMarcos,Texas,madehis first "amplified"
and nayhem could be counted on to spice up BffilltLEttt0lt
tEFFERs0ll guitar in the e l]. Thirties, usinga tin pan as
most any Saturday night- But\r'hen it comes to blues, Blind Lemon a resonator.Soonhe had graduatedto home-
Duringthe first few decadesofthe 20th Jeffersonwas the most influential ar'tist Tetas madepickups,playingthroughradiosand
century bluesslorvl_v
eclipsedthe old songster produced until the post-World War II arrival phonogmphsand leavinga trailofburned-out
balladsand hoedorvntlrnesasthe rural darrce o - < e m t n a te t e c l| ' | cg l l I J n 5 l t - E o n e w a t t e t appliancesbehind him. When DeArmond

GUIITTTEGETOS
 on the highway), and
the best-known,most
influentialWestern
swing pickers were
guitaristsEldon Sham-
blin andsteelguitarist
Leon C'Takeit away,
Leon!') McAuliffe,both
ofwhomwere featured
with BobWills. Nobody
who'sheardBobDunn's
twistedsteellines
comecascaotng out
ofa charmingpieceof
Milton Brown square-
dancehokumcanforget
the experience. The glly
wasoneofakind,and
his few recordingmust
ties.For electricguitaristsJohnnyWinter,
Jimmie and StevieRayVaughanand Doug
Sahm,aswellas for acousticailymindedpick-
ers Kewll|le L\etson ano towne(v!tt zanot,
blueswas much more than a musicallanguage
acquiredfrom obscurephonographrecords;
it wasa languagethey sharedwith the form's
mostlyblackcreators,often from early child-
hood.As a result,Texasguitaristsseemto
havea genuine,deeplyrooted feel for the
blues,whatevertheir color \ryhenStevieRay
Vaughansoaredon ninor-key blueschanges,
o r w h e nV a nZ a n d p
r i c l sa n ds i n g .o n eo f h i s
l0- and ll-bar originals,there canbe no doubt
this i. theblues.u e shouldnr be surpfiseo
from Bob Dunlto honky-tonk'sLefty Frizzell
to rockabilly'ssleepyLaBee{Texasguitarists
havebeenplayingandsingingidiomatic,natu-
rtrl hl"pc fnr opnpniinnc

only hint at his weird

cameout with its pioneeringgljtar pickup
ir the Thirties,Durham was amongthefirst
to useit. In l93z he met anothef_\7ounglocal
guitarist,CharlieChristian,and they traded
amplificationarcana.
In parallelto rhe.ederelopments.arnpli
fiedguitar and1ap-steelguitar quicklymade
inroad.to rheWe.rernswingmusicscene, The
moststrrtlingof theerrlyelectricsteelplele-s
wasBobDunn, a featuredsoloistwitLMilton
Brown andHis MusicalBrownies.Dunn played
pedalsteellike a modernistleaningtrumpeter:
isolatedburstsofnotes,darirg harrnonic
2 choices,unprcdictablephrasingthat couldbe
jaggedone minuteand flow like honeythe next.
= By the end ofthe Thirties,Milton Brcwn'sband
= hadbrokenup (followingtheleader'sd€ath
genius,
Afterworldwar 8tGSrArE,
E|GGER
QUESI|0I|S
Il, electricguitaisand why is this sigrificant and substantial
g:uitaristscontinuedto musical culture still relatively little known
proliferate,challengingand underappreciated? Texaswas an incu-
andeventuallysup- bator perhapsthe incubator for blues and
plantingthe saxophone boogie woogie at the beginningofthis cen
asvernacularnusic's tury, and later for electric blues,honky-tonk
principalsoJovoice. and important developmentsin country
Iconoclastic, quasi-free-
swing and rock. Yet we hear and read much
form bluesguitarists more about the Delta, Robert Johnson and
in the Blind Lemon Muddy waters. In part, Delta blues has at-
tladition-Lightnin' tracted fans and boosterswith its rawer and
llopKrns. ! ranKte Lee more in your face approach,which features
Sims,the BlackAce and aggressivelydriving, syncopatedcross-
others-pluggedin and rhythms. And Delta music has a potent m)'s-
rockedthejukejoints tique hellhounds on your trail, the blues
andtaverns,but the T- atd the devil walking side by side,selling
Bonewalkermodewas your soulto the dark man at the crossroads.
dominant,and in the To somedegree,this mystiquewas calculat-
ed from the very beginning:early bluesmen
producedan astonishing such asTommy Johnson,Son House and
numberofin0uential, Muddy watersknew that invokinghoodoo
wildly kjneticandcom- not only playedto the beliefs and fears of
petitiveleadguitar- their audiencein thejointsbut alsohelped
ist/bluessingers.Evena them to craft an image.And it sold records.
limited list would have Texashas its own brand ofhoodoo, and
to includeiconicfigures it hasseepedinto tuneslike Hop wilson's
suchasClarence"cate- odesto his babys bhck cdrbone.But the
mouth" Bro\rvn, PeeWee deep,heavy,seriousmetaphysical baggage
Cralton,FreddieKing, that comeswith so muchDeltabluesis rare
Albert Collins,Johnny in Texas,where blues is, aboveall, music for
Copeland,Lowell e n r e r J i n m e narr r dd a n c i n go.r f o r c h r o n i
Fulson,CalGreen cling the ups and downs ofday-to-day expe-
(HankBallardandthe rience,asin the autobiographicalblues of
Midnighters'a.{mln), Lightnin' Hopkins.
Clarencecarlow,RoyGainesandGoreeCarter Deltabluesi' a kindofsacredInus;c. op
(whose1949"RockAwhile"is a wofthy candi posedto the church but espousingits own
datefor "lirst'everrock andmll record"),not African-rootedspiritualvalues.In Texas,on
to mentionlegendarysessionguit istssuch the other hand,bluestendsto be resolutel)',
rs wJlmebennenJnoLtd'enaeHo omanano unapologeticallysecular,sensuous, even
lap steelplayilg bluesmenSoru1y Rhodesand carnal,likerock and roll. The bluesscholars
Hop wilson. Most oftheseguitaristsfronted maynot all get it, but musiciansdo;there isn't
bandswith a smallhorn sectionofsaxesand rblues guitaristalivewho hasn'tpickedup
brassrs well asthe standardpiallo,bassal1d someLhing frornI BoneWalkeror oneof his
.i urns.The clo.e connecrionberweenbldes disciples,just asnojazz guitaristfor decades
andjazzin Texaswasstillmuch in evidence. hasremaineduntouchedby the innovations
Anisr" J" rhe"eofrenpeffofmedl, ofCharlie Christian.AmongTexasguitarists,
"uch
cally,bringingtheir showsnot just to cities musicalstandardsareparticularlyhigh,which
and townsbut alsoto rough,ruraldancehalls. is why youll findevenB.B.hing u orshipping
This rich musicalenvironmenthad every.thing at T-Bone'sfeet.That Texesbluesjust keeps
to do with the growth and developmentof loping along,butthese daysit's more like an
youngermusicialscomingofageinthe Si^ expresstrain than a mule, i.

GU[lntEcExts65
continued from page 19
ingwith the Stones in the era
when they were doing things
like "wild Horses," "Dead Flow-
ers" and "Country Honk." Along
with that there was Poco, the
Eagles..just a real fun,'let's be
cowboys for a day'kind ofthing.
"So not wantingto be left
belind, we took measures to
see if we could stay in step
with the trend. Some fans were
suryrised. But some ofthem
rcmembcred thrt our second
single, 'Shakin' YouI Tree,'had
pedal steel on it. And one ofmy
alltime frvolite country tingcd
ZZ Top numbersis'Mexicen
Blackbird' florr Fcndango,
which is definitely a slidester's
chewed-up version of rock-
neets countr)', inspired by that
particular period."
But what's interestirg is that
there's a bit of Keefin Billy's
country playing. The chordal
voicings and edgv ci€an tones
on both "It's Only Love" and
"She's a H€artbreaker" o$,e a lot
to Keith Richards' London take
on the country idiom.
''()h, without
a doubt," Billy
admits. "The Stones have beell a
benchmark for-so many aspiring
rock musicians. Thel.'re true-
blue interpreters of American
music. Theytook up the blues
and R&B at a time when it was
by and lalge being dismissed
at home. And they explored
country music in the same wa\r
Thev were pals \,r,ithsome of
tirose California bands. And,
y e s , l w o u l d s p e n dh o u r s u p o n
hours stud)'i ng Ke ith's playing
st_vleand his chord voicings. It
took me a longtime to reftlize
he pla,veda five-strj ng Telecaster in open c. B r i : t r E n o h a d b ( , u r n ep a r r o l . r . c e n c r h . r r of rhe decrdr: _rlrerrarive lnLsicalZ.ir.
Bo),,that was rbrand-new dayu.hen I figured r l ' o i n c l u d e d p l a r e r s J i k v P i r k F l o y d a s s o Li geisr. Billy got to know both Bob Marlev and
that one outl" ate Robert Wyatt and glltarists Ired Frith PeterTosh,spendingsomc tim€ in Trinidad
and Kevin A1'ers,pla,ving in bands like the Arr with Mallel'.
B€ars and Henry Cow' Itwas alLa mighry long "Bob wes an intense kind ofguf'Billy says
IllE L0llG
lllAIUS:
ZZI0P !va), ftom Texas, but it did involve making o l r h e r e g g a ei c o n : _ \ e l . e r o n d o i n g t h i n g q
ETPTORE TIIEGI.OBE noises with $ritars. So Bi1l1.wasdown. his way. He was a gl eat leader for that outfit
Sl-orrlrrftel rhe tlc-r.e oc Tcjd..ZZ fop dp- "cranted, during rhe Movil1gSidewalks lthe l dilers]. He had an ilcredible rh]thm
cided itwas time for a break. They'd been touf days, u'e got to know Robert Wyatt ftom the sectionbehind him: ldrummerl Carly and lbl]ss-
inghard al]d hca\.t' since 1970,and the logisrical Soft Machine," Billy says."Talk about heac, istl AstonBafrett. Carlv Barretfs treatnent of
rigors ofthe Worldwide Texas Tour would'v€ trip, way ouFthere art rock. And in the Seven the bentwas so unique. There isn't a tu'o or a
beel enough to killlesser mcn. "Itstalted out t i e s t h e r e w a s a l o t o f t h a t s c e n eg o i l g o n i n fouf ii earlv regfiae.There was a nam€ given
that we were goingto take a 90 dayhiatus England. And ifyou check out the liner notes to thatbeat: "the one dlop." The reggae soLrnd
from public appearances,"Billy says."Thnt r o . o r n e o l t - r o . ee a r l t f l i p p r n d E r o r e l e a : c . . comingout ofJen1aica in that[iorious pedod
allow€d us to enjov a littlc getawa_v.f rank wcnt the,ygo to $eat lengths to revealtheir studio fion 1971 77 is to this davconsider€d the rear
to Jarnaica,Dustvwentto Mexico, and I was s-vstem:'Youhave to go through al] echo unit essenceofwhen reggae ruled."
offto Europe. well, three months became si^ here, then run the signal through this...'It
months, \ahich bccame a year, which becanre
t1,r,o)'€ars.We were still in touch, but it was
beco es quite fascinatilltj, not only as an in
sight to what they're doingj it also stimulares
fltEwABltER
YEARS,
PI|ASE 01tE
kind ofa long-distance lor.e affair" one's own curiosity:Wow, ifrhey can do thar, (1979-8t):
llEWSIYTES
lll tllUSlG
Asked what brought him to Europe, Billy
promptly answefs, "The first Fripp and Eno
I w o n d e r i f I c a n d o t l i s . B u t s o m eo f t h e r e AIIO FACIAT
IIAIR
ally obtuse art r-ockwas coming out ofParis, SorvhenZZ Top final1yreconvenedin 1979,
aibum, No P ssy/oofing." cibbons had become trrance. So I spent some time there, too." Billy's musicalperspectivehad beel stretched l
intrigued with the European art rock move- Billl' also got interested in reggae music. in severalnew directions-Frank had picked :
ment ofthe Seventies.Former KingCrimson The Jarnaican musicalidiom was nt a high up someJamaicaninfluenceaswell. It wasthe l
guitarist Robert Fripp and Roxy Music vet point in the Seventies and very much a part startofr new era for the group in manyrvays. i
They had alsoleft LondonRecordsand signed
a dealwith WarnerBros.
All theseparadigmshifts arereflected
onthe band'sfirst albumfor their new label,
uegueuo \.te/e).I nefersa grearerempnasrs
on cleanchorusyg!itartoneschaneverbe-
fore,and an arch senseofpostmodernirony
in songslike "CheapSunglasses" and "Fool
for Your Stockings."It all very much reflects
the impactof new wave,the postpunkmusical
stylethat rubbedshoulderswith artrock in
the late Seventies. (Eno had goneon to pro-
duceDevoand the TalkingHeads;Fripp had
formedthe Leagueofcentlemen with a trio of
new wavemusicians.)In true DIY punk/new
wavefashion,the membersofZZ Top even
taughtthemselvesto play saxophonein order
to add sone horn chartsto the disc.
"one ofthe highestcomplimentsat the
time,"Billy recalls,"camefrom the late rock
critic LesterBangs,who saidthat'Cheap
sunglasses' waschoser asa favoriteby some-
one wearingpurple hair who did not realize
who they were listeningto.Thank you Lester,
thank you purple hair,thank vou cheapsun-
glasses, tha[k you RayCharles."
The cowboyhats all but disappeared
ound this time. But therewas plenty on Deg-
u€?lofor old-time fansto dig like the bluesy
fave"I'm Bad,l'm Nationwide,"with its sear-
inglead tones.The glitar soloin "she Loves
My Automobile"quotesthe FreddieKing
bluesinstr-urnental classic"The Stumble,"
popularizedby PeterGreenin John Mayall's
Bluesbreakefs. A double entendrelyric to
"she LovesMy Automobile"is very nuch rn
the risqu6R&B styleoflorties greatLouis
Jordan.ZZ Top had managedto reinvent
thenselvesfor a new efawhile remaining
firmly groundedin their bluesroots.
Butjust to help smooththe way into this
new era ofZZ Top,the bandunleashedthe
greatestal1dmostprotractedPR stunt ofits
career:the beards.While on hiatus,Billy and
Dusty had gottenout ofthe habit ofshaving.
Hangingwith the R|lstamen,Billy must hrve
receivedextra encouragementtothrow away
the razor And when they gotback together
cibbons and Hill decidedto keepthe beard
thinggoing.Despitehis name,FrankBeard
reftrsedto participate-He doeshowever,sport
the occasionalmoustacheand/or goatee.
The ZZ Top beardsare rock'sgreatestMac-
Cu'fin.A \4rcdl|fFn'. r cine-nrlictric\ in-
v€ntedby the greatdirectorAlfred Hitchcock.
It's an objectthat capturesthe audience's
attention(a mysteriousbox,which mayor
may not containa bomb,for instrnce)while
key plot developmentsare snuckpastthe
viewer in order to preparea surpriseending,
so hereZZ Top had apprecieblychangedtheir
musicalstyleand signedi{ith a new iabel,but
all anyonecould talk aboutwerethe beards.
Pressfor the albumtendedto revolvearound
beardjokes,beardeartools,funny fakebeards
on peoplewho weren't in the band...From
this moment forward,ZZ Top {'ould b€ "those
glys with the beafds."
And in growingthosewhiskers,they'd
written themselvesan unlimited musical
license.Theycould decideto becomea clas-
sicalstringtrio or atradjazz outfit andthe1"d
stillbe "thoseglys {,ith the beards."As with
the WorldwideTexasTout they'dtakensome Gibbonshaseverylaid to tape,or any other
naturalaspectoftheir livesand found awayto recordingmedium,for that mafter.The album
put it to creativeuse. was createdat Ardent,the samestudiothat
ZZ Tops nextalbum.E/ Lo.oi'l08l).conlin- produced Fdnddngoand Tejds,and ZZ Top
ued in the vein ofDe8uello:clean,chorused/ were doingexactlywhat they did on those
phased/flanged guitar tonesand rampantdou- albums: going cmzy with the gear they found
bleenrendres. Youdon t haveto bea lit major in Ardent'sstoragerooms.
to catchthe phallic referencesin "TubeSnake 'nvhen we went back into Ardent after our
Boogieand_lfs SoHard. 'l WannaDrile hiatus,the storagevault for gearhad increased
YouHome,"couldbe an answersongto "She threefold,"Billy recalls.'i{nd the uncharted
LovesMy Automobile."And "PearlNecklace" roomshad all this weird new stuff: new amps,
is their famouspoericeuphemism for fellario.studio gearand things with keyboards,but they
had lnobs on them. LiLe,'That looks like a
pianq but it sure ain't no piano!' Sothere was a
IIEU|ARI|ERYE
nS,P[SE trmely,unplannedand unexpectedcoupling of
IWO(1983-199D:
ifiYS il0St this unknown world of new geai u.ith what we
knew.What we focusedon was making good,
tD0ts
ulturEtY solid tempo the new champion ofthe groove."
The reinventionofZZ Top reallykicked Meanwhile,Billy'sown vintageampcollection
into high gearon zz Top'sthird WarnerBros. had incleasedexponentiall)'."l begancollect-
release,Elirnin.tfor(1983).The band'smost lngtneZj\lUlenoerDUalPrOleSSlOntu(. WenaO
successfulalbumever,it is alsotheir most foundabunchofthem.Theywere18-wattamps,
controversialrecordi[g.Sone longtimefans and like all vintagegear parlicularly tube amps
werehorriliedby theirembrace ofsynthesizer liom the Fifties-eachoneI foundwasa little bit
rnd d-um mrchinetechnology. nol (o men(ion differenttonally.we alsojustlovedthe sound
their ascendancy on MTV the then-brand- of FenderCbamps,H yards,Pdncetons, Pros,
new mediumthat had becomethe domainof Bassmans,Trcmoluxes...And we said,nvhy re-
DuranDuran,MichaelJackso[and Mado[na. stricrit rojusto c?We ma1finda combirrarJon
To this day Billy is loatheto talk aboutthe of a few ofthese ampsthat works.' "
electronicelem€ntsof Elimindtor."My guitar- However,this proveda logisticalnightmare
collecting,screw counti[g buddiesdon'twant when it cameto mikingso many amps.Thus,
anythingbuttube ampsand PearlyGates,"he Billy's infamous"amp cabin"cameinto being.
says,r'isiblysquirmingin his chair "Insteadofliningup 10or 15amplifierswith
But the controversyoverthe instrumenta- a mic on eachone,"Billyexplains,"or having
tiononElininalortendsto overloola mor( to movea mic eechtime we wantedto try a
importantpoint the albumcontainssome diiferenramp.we hui)ta iquareof amp!r..
ofthe bestsongsthe bandhaseverwritten facingjnward,with one microphonein the
"GimmieAll Your Lovin' " is perhapsthe middle.And we put a secold stackofamps on
hookiest,most infectioustlil,Ig irl the entire top of those-al1different ones.The ideawas,
ZZ Topcanon.Ir'snor that far removed. lyri Let's put everytype ofamp on there.As for
caliyor melodically,from "It's Only Love,"a the third row ofamps,we didn't i('antthem to
highlight ofthe cowboyhat period.And, like get too far from the mic, so they were put on
it or noqrliminator classicslike "cimmie top, aimingdown.And sonebodysaid,'Looks
AllYour Lovin,'" "Legs"and "SharpDressed like a little ol'cabin,'sowe namedit the amp
Man" had an enormousimpacton the popular cabin.We had one ofeveryodd, previously
culture ofthe early Eightiesand are the songs unusedamp in this structure,just to seewhat
for which ZZ Top will mostlik€ly be remem- would happen.This wasan extremeexample
beredin lo0 years. ofZZ Top learninghow to experimentwith
" 'Legs'wouldn't be 'Legs'unlessit had that differentthings."
drivingsynth bass,"DustyHill points out. "we But itwasn't all smallcomboampson
wrote the songwith that in mird. We warted tliminator"."one of the greattonal combina
it to be a big part ofthe song." tions,"Billy says,"is a 100-u'attMarshall,
"I! was a brand-newday,in termsofhow either singlecabinetor a strck of two, and a
recordswere made,"Billy adds.'Andguess sol:d-.rrre\o\ SuperBertle.The SuperBFarle
what?we were listeningto and likingrecords doessomethingthat the Marshalldidn't, al1d
madeusingthis new technolog).. Takeolle of viceversa.But conbined,the soundis really
my favolireband'ar rhe(ime.Depeche Mode: rich.I m pre(tysurefhal Cinmie Al- You-
they were producingsomeofthe heavieststuff Lovin' ' and 'SharpDressedMan' enjoyedthat
I ev€rheard.Somepeopledidn'tget it, but I combination.
tlinkthatwas a perceptualthillg. Youlool 'Another oddballamp we had wasa Legend
onstageand seea g1lysinging.And behind 50,a so-watt 2x12combonTadeby a company
him there'sthreeguyswith blackboxes.But cdled LegendAmps.Ithad a raw wood cabi'
where'sthe drums?Where'sthe guitarsand netwith a canegrill. Thatbecamea corner
amps?Therewasan assumptionon the paft of stole amp onElimindfo,".That was part ofthe
somethat the musiccouldn'tbeheaw without formula.Itconsistentlysounded good."
drur\ or guirJ-s.Burn_an. youcrank\om( As for guitars,Billy says,"Pearlywasalways
early DepecheMode on abigsound system present,and there was a Dean guitar that
with somegiant subwoofers,and it's someof workedconsistently.Itwasa weird halfExplor-
the heavieststuff ever" er,halfFlyingV Dean,but with a smallbody-It
Thosewho focusundulyon the presence wasa tuningnightmare.Hours at a time.But
of synthsand drum machinesontliminator it soundedrea1lygood.Besidesthat, therewas
are alsooverlookingsomeof the most inven- alwaysa FenderEsquire at hand. I've got two
tive and downright nastyglitar work Billy F. favorites, a'51with a blackpickguardanda'56
rurrrrlErErDs
67Nt
with a white grard and biggerneck."
The titleElimindtor comes from drag r-ac-
ing. It's a tern for the winningcar in a race,
thc one that eliminates the competition. The
Elimilator is so the nane ofan actual cat a
heavily custonized earlyThirries coupe that
Billy had created in tandem with a smallarmy
ofautomotive chop artists. His passion for
rvildll' customized gr,ritarsis equaled onl]. by
his fascination with tweaked-out autolnotive
customjobs. The Eliminator coupe is depicted
on the covel oftheEliminator album and it be
came a mrin protagonist in the se es ofvideo
clips that the band created for the Elininator
singles: "cimmie All Your Lovin'," "Sharp
Dressed Man" and "Legs."
It was the early days ofMTV The channel
had been cr€ated in l98t around the concept
ofsho*,ingnusic videos nonstop, all day long.
There was a shortagc ofmaterial in those early
years, and the clichds ofrock video hadn't
beer irvented yet. ZZ Top were initially
unsure ifthey should even enter this new lne,
dium. As Billy has pointed out, they're hardly
fa.hinn nodels But he haJ rI idel. Rrrher
than mak€ the group the focus ofthe videc,
clips, he decided to fillthem with the things
he loves most: hot cars, bizarre custom guitars
and sexv chicks-the main components ofthe
male American dream.
It r srn.c. l\e ZZ Top ! ideo. a|e all Ma.-
cuffins. They're lilled with e,ve-catching
d i s tr r c t i o r . t h a t d l a r r l r e r r i o n : l $ r v i r o n
the three aging rock and rollels rvho actualJy
c r e a l c JI h r r n u \ i c .l r r h r r r e g a r d . l h e )d o t h e
opposite ofwhat a music video is supposed to
do: spotlight the artist. Ironically enough, it
proved to be a wildly successful formula.
"We decided,'why dont we letthe story
t e L li t s e l f ? " ' s a y s D u s t y H i l l . ' A n d l e t ' s h a \ . e
some girls in there to look at. we'llbe more
observers and advice-givers or whatever.'l he
girls were a real easy decision to nake. I didn't
hear a ho'vote rn},.where,"
And so three grizzied sidewindefs who had
been around sirce the drys oflo\€ beads and
Nehru shirts found thernsclves prominent
members ofthe new, Eighties pop pantheon,
sharingthe limelight with prefty boy synth
bands and singing, dalcingdisco divas. In
keeping with the eternal generosity o f th e
fieak circus called rock, the beafded misfits
were acceptcd l\,ith open arms. tliminator
went I0 tines Platinum.
The t/imindror coupe morphed into a hot
rod spacecraft on the c ovet of,lfterburner
(1985). The sound offers the same blend of
Eighties s_vnthsparkle rnd vintage midcenturtr
guitu tone. Perhaps the trio was doing a lot
ofcamping at the time. This was the atbum
that gave the u'orld "SleepingBag," "Woke
Up with Wood" ard "V€lcro Fl]'." It also con
tained the onll' power ballad in the ZZ Top
caron, "Rolrgh Boy." With cavemous, digitall_v
detuned drums and layers ofvelvety synth
chording, it was another huge hit for then: a
slou' drnce fave, but also somehow believaore.
Ho*, elsc can guy who hasn't shaved in eight
) e a r \ \ e J u c er l J d \ r h J n h ) o r f e r i n g h i n r s e l f u p
as a "Rough Bo,v."
"I don'tthinkwe lost arymale fans with that
one," Hill sa).s,"but I lhink we gotalot more
female fans. Women really liked'Rough Boy."'
Xecycler is the third and last ir the series
that Billy calls ZZ Top's "-er" albums. Rccycler
is perhaps too aptlv named. Synth-pop was
dead as a doornail b1'1990,when the disc was
released, and thetlimindtor formula, so fresh
at 6rst, was startingto sound might_vstale.
The band seemed to realize it- R€cJc/cr'snost
successful track, "My Head's in Mississippi,"
harks back to the bluesygrind ofZZ Top's
earlier days,lvhile also hinting at what was to
come. The glitar track features another Billy
custom $ritar, la Warpa, a surrealisticrlly
contoured cross between an Explorer and a
Strat, equipped with a single humbucker
B i l l y h e a d h a d i n J e e db e c n i n \ 4 i s s i s : i p p i
"
duringthat period.In 1988,he'd collaborated
$ i r h P ! f a m i d C u i l c r 5t o c r e r r e t h e M u d d ) -
wood, a guitar constructed from a rooftimber
trken fromthe cabin in Mississippi where
blu€s great Mudd),Watels hadbeen born.
Once completed, the guitarwas presented b_v
ZZ Top to the Delta Blues Museum in Clarks,
dale, Mississippi, ar institution dedicated to
the preservation ofblues traditions that the
band had helped establish and contirue tr)
support. At the dawn ofthe Nineties, there was
every indication that the synth thingwas over.
ZZ Top were ready to return to their roots.
THERGA/BiIG
YEARS
(1992-present):
BEFUGE
lt IllE
[0ilE0FEtuts
In1992, ZZ Top signed a new record deal
*'ith RCA forwhatwas reported in the trade
press to be a whoppir'great chunk ofmone]',
a phenomenal deal even for those wild, craz,v.
h i g l r f l 1 i n. B i l l C l i n t o u .d o r . c o mb u o b l r N i n e -
ties. Abonus for Dusty Hill was that RCA had
been the label ofhis lumber-one rock and roll
hero, Elvis Presley.
"Yeah, that was the reason we si8ied wrth
RaA.Ir had norhin rodo wirhrhemoneJ.
Hilljoked at the time.
ZZ Top's 6rst album for their new labelwas
Antennd (I993), a stripped,down, lean-and-
nasty restatement ofthe core ZZ Top values:
gl itt| blues and the sound ofsteel strings am,
plified through vintag€ tubes. The title ofthe
album paid homage to the lawless Texas radio
stetiors that had inspired cibbons, Hill and
Beard when they u,ere kids.
R,riyfftmeen(1996) came next- Ittoo is a raw
andbluesy outing,but as always, ail]y had a ferv
t$,ists to add to the plot. "Duringthe record-
ing of Rhythmcen," he explains, "broddcerl
Rick Rubin had turned me on to one ofhis acrs
called Barkmarket. Wow Justa scarvband.
And the gr t players' favorite tuningwas
do*.n to Cs ard B, so we began experimenting
with really low tullings. R,l]thmcen is probably
the best example ofZZ Top's foriyinto the
superJow frequencies.It notonly changesthe
u o 1 r o u p l a l h r r t r h e r { d v a n i n s t r u m c n lb e g i r .
r o \ o u n d . T h e r e s a : r r n d r r d t u n i n g .b u r I h
saysso? It's whateveryou cone up with."
Billy's fascinrtion with collecting Afiican
artifactsbegar around the time ofRfiyffimeen.
This, too, is rellected on the disc: several tracks
feature African t bal percussior instruments
from Billy's collection, including massive log
druns. Some ofthese currently reside in the
'rort rard of thr guit.r'i.r, Holh-u
ood |e.i
dence, beautiful larvn sculptures that,like most
African objefs dhrt, are ftrnctional as well-
"when we were ill the studio recording
thc log drums," Billy says, "the engineer kept
comingon thc talkback saying,'Is something
broken in there? I keep hearingthis rrttle.'we
checked the drum kit, the guitars al,Idamps,
h u r f i n al l y u t | e : l i z e d r h e - o u n d w r . c o r n i D g
from lhe logdruns. lnside we folrnd these bits
ofrubber, shapeless chunks right from a rub-
ber trec. Apparently they'd been put in there
deliberatell', to create this buzz when you hit
the drum. So those African tribesmen, they
knew about distortion, lnanl"
ZZ Top celebrated their 3Oth Anniversary
in 1999 with XXX, another fine collection
o f D e l ( a m u s ; r r g .a n d d o u b l e e n t e n d r e s .r h i s
time rvith a hip hop influence thrown into the
m i \ . T h e b r n d \ m o s r r e c e D rr c l . J r e i s M c r -
cdlero (20o3), a potent distillation ofall that
is inroxicrting rbuur ZZ Top. Again.ra grain!
backdrop ofdity guitars, Billy sings in a se-
pulchral croak that could peel the paint offof
Tom Waits'barn. There's even a leering, leatll
er-lungeJDLsl) Iunrbef. _Piece.Thedisc
brings the boys back to La tr ronter:r-there's
the occasional dash of marimba, concertina
al1dlyrics en Espafrol-and the cover art rc-
plays the "ElimiDator" video as a Mexican
Day ofthe Dead cartoon. Though drunk and
longdeceased, the guy gets the girl and roars
off dou-n the highway. On the roadside, three
b o n y h a n d s f l a s hrl r e r i c t o r ) 5 i g r . L o . T r e s
Hombres rock on,
P0STSGBIPI:
BIGPtAllS
MBIIIETUIURE
A t r h e r i m eo f r h i s $ f i t i n g .B i l \ d i b h ^ n .
is in the midst ofinstalling a recordingstudio
in the ground level ofhis Holl''wood place. At
r h e r i m e I v i ( i ( e d h i ' n . l h e p r o j e c r r ' o rp e | h a p s
B i l 1 1s n a r r i a g e ) w a . a r a \ r r g e r h i r n e c e \ \ i -
tated that he camp out on thebarren, exposed-
brick ground Jevel ofthe house rather than
sleep in any ofthe beautifully appoit'rted rooms
upstairs. And so a mattress lay in the middic
ofthe floor, with the strange paraphernalia of
Billy's unorthodox lifest'4e stre{,n around it in
every'direction. Therc were vinylrecords, CDs,
high-tech conrputer gear, phone equjpment,
teddy bears, ketchup bottles, mailingtubes,
sundrv stationerv items, cardboard boxes,
boon boxes and, ofcourse, g!itar gear ofevcry
descfiption. lt looked like an adolescentboy's
messy bedroon or some kind ofhippie squat.
Leadingthe wa]' through the rubbl€, Billy
o u t l i n e dh i : p h n s f o r r h e p l a c e .H i s rr r rc nr i , , n
is to configue it identically to Foam Box in
Houston, matchingthe gear and room acous-
tics as closely as possible. Doirgthis will make
it easy for Billyto move his musical projects
from place to place, following the ramblings of
his peripatetic lnode ofexistence. Among the
projects he is planning are a solo album, an EP
with his pal Keith Richards and a disc ofZZ
Top classics as performed b)' the band loday.
will any ofthese recordings cver see the
light ofday? with Bill)' n cibbons, there's no
way oftelling. That's another one ofthe rules.
But it's nice to knou. that his hyperactive,
uniquel,v creative bruin shou.s ro sign ofslorv-
 "Wereviewedthe DaddyMojo 5 string model and
were blown away!lt's red oak neck,funky tuners and
carvedbonenut and saddlesmakeit a true Dieceof
folk art that both playsand soundsamazing".
GuitarOne Magazine,Holiday2006(GuitarOne awardwinner)

Alsoavailable
at:Truetonemusic-SantaMonica,CA
Milwaukee'sFinestCuitars-Whitffish Bay,Wl
Mockingbird Music-Mansfield,MA
Archambault musique-Montreal, QC
MainstreetMusiG-AZTEC. NM
CornerMusic-OldSaybrook,CT

I II
\\1\-\\'.( I :l( I ( l\'-nlo.JO.('ol]'t
.;l [.389.3337l.rclusiir l)cak'r'slrilr
\'ail;rlrlc H@
 As fieardon TRES HOMBRES (WARNERBRos.)
Wordsand Music by Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill snd trlark Beard . lldnscribed br JefrPerrin

Gm7 Cm7 Dn7

-Ttn ffi* ffi''.
FH+
TT-TTT] TTT-T] TITTT]
T t1 T 1l T rl
E htro (o:oo)
Fast ,J= 136
Moderately
Gm7 (D5)
clr.3 (elec-vdist.)
I

Gtr.2 (elec.w/disr.)
"'
r,"p*tii*iiii iiii

Gtr. I (elec. w/dist.)

P.M. _ _______

E Verses(0:07,
0:36,
2:02)
r. ll youseemewalkin' down lhc linE wilh my favorite honly lonk in mind Well lll
2. The cro$rdgetsloud whenlhe band getsdghl Sl€el guitar Gryln'through
lhenighl Yean ryin'
3. The ioinl wasiumpin'liloa Gat on hot lin Lord I thougitthell00r was g0nnagivei[
G5
= Rhy.Fis.la (repeat pre|ious two bars)
z

7 2 C U I T A RL E C E N D S
 IIRI]IIGRS
"BEER &HEttRAISERS
be here around supporlims wilh my can 0l dinner anda i[nDh0l lire Ah
lo cover up lhe corner lighl but everylhln0'sc00l 'causethey'siusttight Beer
Sounda lol like a house congressi0nal 'causcwe'reexperimental andprofessi0nal

+ Omn notes ||hen recalled 6 Rh!. Fig. 1o.

** Onit notes en rccd edasRh!. Fie L

tOnit notesvhen rc lle.l6BasFie I

@ Cno.u. \0.22,
0151.
2:17)
O.tbe€r drinkers and hell ratsers yean
(2.)drinkers and hell nisers yean
(3.)Beer ddnkers hell rat8els yean
Cm7 Gm7

GUITARLEGENDS 73
 IIRI]IKERS
"BEER &HELT
RAISERS"
3r.l tine. skip aheadto@Outro cuitdr Solo
uh- huh baby don'l youwannaGomewith me
yean baiy don'l youwannaGomewith me Ah playil boy
uh- huh baby don'l you wannaGomewtlr me
Dm7 cfi/ Gm7 (05)
17 . entl Rhy. Fis. la

Rhy. FiE.2 end Rht. Fig. 2

P.M.

D Guitarsolo 1r:05)
Gm7
Gtr. 2 plays Rb). Fig. I t\|ice (see bar ,
Gtr. 3 plays Rhy. Fig. la twice (seebar 5)
Gtr.4 (elec.w/disl.)

Cm7

74 CUITAR LEGENDS
 IIRI]IIGRS
"BEER & HEttFAISERS
Gm7

' Tap note v/pick-han.l

JinEa
end Rh),.Fis. 3
P.M. _ _ _

Dm7 Cm7
Ctr. I plays Rhy. Fis. 2 6ee bar 17)
Gtr.4

Gm7
Gtr. I plays Rb). Fig. 3 (seebat 21)
37trrrrr3

ing-1 NH P.M
!t!ri

Brerse
Dm7 Cn7 Gm7 (Ds)
Gtr. I plays Rht. Fig. 2 (see bar 17)
-' ----\ a --\ i
49 ",,1

|! Outro Guitar Solo 123])

G5
Ch I Dlavsnrt rdo bar\ otRhv. Ftp. 3 un lfode l,ee bar 2l)
Grr 2 plivifiN rq" bar,6t Rhv.Fii. I until'fa.let\ee bar 5l
Gtr Jplaysli^t rwo bar 6JRly. FtE.ldunlilJarlc6"chor5)

Rassplays BassFi l untilfade (see bar 7)

C U I T A RL E G E N D S7 5
 IIRI]IIGRS
"BEER &HEttRAISERS"
I rtl
57)^) t r^.J r^ J r^.) tr tr t

oor.!d@

T]

besin lode 13.05)

-^PMt-

7 6 C U I T A RL E G E N D S
 As hedrdon DEGiiELLo (wARNER BRos.)
Wordsand Mlisic by BlUy F. cibbons, Dustjr Hill and Frank Beard . ?rdnscribedby Je$e cress

uc ttta B5 r5 Bb/D c F ctE trDC FIA

m8fr
TTM
ttr]a
fffffl6fr
FfM
Ltff]1
ftmTh
TTTTT]
E'i
FFFFF
T]IE
FTTTN TTTTN
I:]E
l-t&5H
t Ltt I I
FTFFT1
ii+iri+m8ri
TTTTN
ffi,0r.
TTTTN
13 134 t34 t34 312 lll 312 2l 31i

@ Int o 1o,oo1
ModeratelyJ = 104
Et5 B5
Gtr. I (elec.Mdist.) I
x-x
x-x

Gtr. 2 (elec. w/dist-)

Tempo2 J =80 @ tempot J =104 (oro,2:35)

N.C.(C7)
Gtr.3plarsFi l (seebelow)

-11-11-10/11-11 -11 - 1 0 1 1 1- 1 1 - 1 1 -
-12 -12 -11/12 -12 -12 - t1/12 12 -12 -10
#10

at, J {0:07,0:55,
1:33,2:32,
319)

ct.3. (c7) (F5) (EbO

lacons.) /,\

GUITARLEGENDS 77
"l'lul t't[ ]tATt0ilwlDE"
1. Well I was
3. Well I was

lrepeat previous bar)

@ v"r""" io,zo,o,se,
z,+1
TempolJ=104
(1.) rollin' down lhe road In some cold blue sleel I had a bluesmanon the back and a beau
2. Easln' down the highway ln a new Cadillac I had a fine fox In tront I had
(3.) movin' down lhe road In my V-8 Ford I had a shlne on my boots I had my
Gtr.2
9 pu

lician al lhe wheel We're qoin' downlown in the middleof the night We're
lhreemorein the back They spoftin' short dresses weann' spike-heel shoes They
sideburns lowered Wiihmy NewYork brim ano my gold tooth displayed no-
12 p.v

@ clo.u" (0138,1:16,3:03)
laughin' an' I'm iokin' and we feelin' all rlght Oh I'm bad
smokin' Lucky Sirikesand wearin' nylons rco 'Causewe bad
body give me trouble 'cause
they knowl got it made I'm bad

Atr. t plars Fill2 oae dhtl one halJ tines (see aett pase)
1 5p u

7 8 G U I T A RL E G E N D S
 t'tftilATtoilwtDE
I'm nalionwide Yes lm bad
Wete nalionwlde Yeah we bad
l'm nalionwide Well I'm bad

10\-- - t 2 - t 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 -12 -10

10F10
+-8-8-8-8-88-10

(3r.t tine) *ip ahead b E

Tempo2 J =80
l'm nalionwide
We'renalionwide
bad bad bad bad I'm nalionwide Yeah yean
N.C.(C7) (F5XEbs)
Gt. J plays Fi 1 (see previous page)

@ Coit'. Soto p,m;

T€mpo1 , =104

don t pick: hamner edch n

lel
-------i r,n8r

10_10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10 -10

Gtr. 2

Fjll? (0:38,116,3:03)
Bb/D G C/E
Gtr.I iwhlap- w&ar

F -.lx f .txr:x ./
a

GUITAR LEGENDS 79
 I'MltAll0ltwlltE"
v / p i c ka n . fl r y e r c
_1_3_1_3_t
_1_3_1_3 I
10-(10)-1

ekl Rh!. Fig. 1

let ,iis- -

Gtt.2 plats Rhr. Fi8. I t||ice (see bat25)

ca. l r12es

10-10-1010,10-10-10-10-10-10-1o-

Bas pldt\ Bass Fts I rwrce lsee bot 25)

c5
v2
I

doh l pickt hannereach nore

10 10 -1O -----r1 10 10 _1

12:44)
(/f, Et5 |.5
Gt/.4 plals Rhy. Fill I eiSht tim.s (see nett paSe)
Gtr. I

Bass Fi8. 2

80 CUITAR LEGENDS
 BA I'MltlTloilwiltE"
"I'JTI
c5 Els F5 C5 E'5 F5
Gtr- 2 plafs Rlry. Fig.2fir. titn.s (tee bat 38)

Gtr. I

-:if ro 1:ro iro-s-8-6:8'-6:(6)

u--L.,] Lt I I Yt

BaxspkrysBassFis.2fire times(seebat 37)

Gt.. I
u2 ,-----

Gtr. 2

Tempo2 , =80
N.C.(C7)
Gtr.3plarsri l (seefrstpase)

1 1 1 1 t o l l 1 - 1 1* 1 1 - 1 0 / 1 1 - l l - 1 1 -
-12 -12 -11/12 -12 -12 -tt,tZ -'tZ -tZ -i
#10

Rhr. Fi l (2:04)
F C

(elec.wlight dist.) > >

G U I T A RL E G E N D S8 1
"l'il BAllI'il ltATl0llwiltE"
@ ts,rst @ cuitar Soto1o,zy
Tempo2 J =80 Tempo1 , = 1{X
N.C.(C7) {Fs) N.C.(C5)
-- Gtr. 3 pla$ Fill 1 tsee fift paSe)
cu Gtr I (s/d'sr. and sub cl.ve erfecr) U4

12 -12 12 -11/12 -12 -12 -11/12 -12 -12 -10

#10

w/lighldist.)
tn tD

114
RtffA

-1 -O-1 -2-3 +-3 -2-1 -O-1 -2

|+l t-l-..{-r t-r-r-,r

1 -0-1 -2-3- 1-3 -2 -1 -0 -l -2

l+ l-l-l-l !-l-l

N.C.(C5)
Gtr. 2 plalt Rhr. Fi8. 3 one and ore har tihes (see bar 5l )

Bdst plats Rass FiB.3 thr.. tines (see bar 51)

GtL 2 plays RiffA(see bat 51) Gtt.2 plars Rh!. Fis. 3 thrce dad one har ines (see bar 5t )
Gtr. I (q^ub octave ereo

Barsplals EassFis.4 (seebar 54) Bassplals Bas Fis. 3 seveh Iines (see bar 5I)

Gt.4
61

1900)9.1p10 8-1,0 -g 1,010 10-g -1o(1o)

10-8-10+1o
i. L - I
--T- ""--:;;:;-f--

8 2 C U I T A RL E G E N D S
 "l't
Gtr.2 plars RiJfA(see bal 54)
64
--.-^= - ..- .-^.= .-^.= ^ - 11

Rassplals Bass FiE.4 (see b$ 51)

Gtr.2 pLals Rhf- FiE- 3 thrce and one halftines (see bar 51)
Glr. I (w/sDb ocraveeffeco

1t

Bassplals Bass Fi8. 3 seren tines (see bar 51)

12\10 I 't0 8 10 8-
---------1-----|----.1----l-10 --F10

Gtr.2 plars RiJJA(seebar 54)

:T',".^?.;;=-
-.'] -r-.1
IJJ_ i-/
Bas plars Rh!. Fi8- 4 (seeb 51)

Gtr. 2 plats Rh!. FiB. 3 oae aad one hartines (see bar 5I) begin fade (:23)
Gtr.4
tr^..^..^...-

Bassplays Bass Fig.3 three times (see bar 51)

atr 2 ptdls RilJ A (s.. bdt 51) Gr 2 plo\t Rh\. Fis.3 onc ond onehau lihe, t:". bar 5lI
78

BassPlqrs Basr Fiq.4 (tee bat 54) Aassplals Aass Fig. 3 thrce tines (see b 5I)

Gtr. 2 plals Rh!. Fis. 3 one antl one halftines

Ctt. 2 play RiffA (seebar 51)

10 -OO) -8-1O

Bass plats Bass Fig.1(see bar 54) Basspldls Bass FiE. 3 three times (see bar 5l )

ldde out
Gtr. 2 plals Ri.ffA (seebar 51)

1 0- 1 0 '| 1 0- 1 0
'|1

Boss pla\s Bass Fi8..l (see bar 54)

CUITAR LECENDS 83
 ,{s heardon TRES HOMBRES (wARNER BRos.)
Wordsand Music by Billy F. cibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Bear.d . ?)dnscribedby Andy Aledort

ffi ffi3r
trFFF
FFFFF 6i
FFFI+
FFFII] 3fi
FFFFF

@ Iot"o 1o,oo1
ModeratelyFastShum" J = feO t J-l = | t\r
A5
Grr l(ele(. ;
i.""r hdtnqers lel A stttug rihe
"io-" 1r/Pnk

r;r.! --- ---

tr- 4"""- a-----'. :-----f t-

Eht verse lo:09)

Therumor's sFeadin' lound in lhal Texas lown
Justlel me know il youwannago
A5 (c5) (Ds)A5
Srbstitute Rhy.FiU 1 secondtine (seebar9)

'bout thal Snac{ outside LA Grange

to lhal nome 0ul the rcnge
(c5) (05)A5 (c5) (05)A5

-A-4 7-4.-r_<-<

An' youknowwhat
l'mhlkin'about (035)
gota lotta
They nEe girls ah
(c5) (Ds)A5 A5
Ctrs. 1 and 2 (both Vdisr.)
't3

:-:"""-a'T:- 7 1

Bassplars Bass Fig. I fow tines

Aarr aas. 1 (0f5,0i47)

A5

84 GUITAR LECENDS
 "[A GRAIIGE
@ 2nd v"""" 10,+11
Havemercy (2.)Uh heh how how how uh heh
(3.)Uh hor{ how how UhvrellI hear it's line
(c5) (D5)A5 (c5) (D5)A5

18

Bass plats Bass Fi8. I seven and one

hatftines (see previous paee)

il you've got the time and lhe len to qel

uh mosl every night but now I miqht
(c5) (D5)As (c5) {D5)A5
22 nna -- 1 nng ---1

ll' ll2'
yourcelf in uh hmm hmm AndI hear il's tighl
mish*en Uh hmm hmm hmm
(cs)(Ds)A5 (c5) (Ds)A5

26 ina - rina -

E Guitar Solo (1r1)

Have mercy
Clr.3 ^-

Bas ptals Bas Fis. 2fifreea tiaes (see below)

Ctrs. 1 ond 2 play Rhy. Fis. 2 thifteen times (see bar 31)

B a s sF i s . 2 1 1 1 1 )
c5

GUITAR LEGENDS 85
"1AGRAIIGE"

4:l: * * 3* I l,,'.,..,..,^--- I

-r-------:--

86 curTAR LEGENDS
 "[A GRAIIGE
E Interlude(r:ss)
c5 Ebs F5 N.C.(As/G) {D/F*)
61 Gr.3

l . t n n g- - - - - - - --------------. l e ti n g

rtl

LJ ] LJ_____J LJ-----J LJ-----r

(2:11)

Gtr. I (disl. ofi)

pick and frnBers
t e rn n g - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .

1t..2. t: A5 (c5)(Ds)
As
Grs. I and 2 (borbw/disl.)

Bassplars Bass Fig.3 ufltilfa!]e (seenen page)

GUITARLEGENDS 87
"[A GRA]IGE"
E Outro cuitar Solo (2:2s)
{c5) (D5)A5 (C5) {05)A5
Gtrs. 1 dh1l2 pla, Rht. FiS. I until.fade (see bb 19)
P.H. or slisht P-H- rhioughonlDntil bd 114

(D5) A5 (c5) (D5)A5

(c5) (D5)As

DF{
(c5) (D5)A5 (cs) (D5)A5

(c5) (Ds)As (c5) (D5)A5

(D5) A5 (cs) (Ds)As

(c5)

Bdss Fi8.3 \2:22)

A5

88 CUITAR LEcENDS
 "[A GRAIIGE
(c5) (05)45 (c5) {D5)A5
tt ll

begin fade l3:1s)

(c5) (05)A5 (cs) (05)As

no P.H. until bd lr9

(c5) (Ds)As

{c5) (D5)A5 {c5) (Ds)As

(c5) iDs)A5 (cs) (Ds)A5

(cs) {D5)A5 (cs) (05)45

GUITARLEGENDS 89
 As fiedrdon FAIVDAIVGO! (wARNER BRos.)
words and Music by Billy F. cibbons, Dusty Hill and trYank Beard . Trdnscribedby JefiPerrin

All guitars are in open G6 tuning (low to high: D G D G B E).

D9 c{5 D5 D5 G*5 A5 A{5

fFFFF I ft
FFFFF
IIIE
I::E
5ir

ffi.".ffi'" ffi"" fFFII fi ffi':fr ffi,ft

FFFH
fFFFtr6ft mr.r
FFFFF FFI+F
fFFFF 3fI
FFFFF
fiffn

E Intro (o:oo)
Moderately Fast Shume ) =ut <!1 =) j't
Yeah
N.C.(G5) *G5
Gtr. 1(elec. w/dist.) *Ctrs. I dd 2 (elec./dist.)
P.M.,P.M.-P.M. ^,- P,M.

+GtL 2 dotules GtL I sinile thrcuehout.

**Chon1 srnbols t.Jlect overcll hamony

Rhy.Fill 1----
P.M,

ttl

l. I've beenup
Gtr. 3 playt Rhr. Fill I thrce tines (seebar 3)
Gt6. I and 2
P.M. - P.M.

FiU 2 \11341
Ctr.5 whlide

9 0 G U I T A RL E G E N D S
 "TUSH"
@ V*"* (o:10,
o:30,
1:2e)
(1.) I've beendown Takemyword my waylound )
(2.) I've boengood oallas Texas Hollywood I
(3.) waybackhome Not by myselt not alone )
Gtt. 5 plals Fill2 thit.l tih.
and2 Gtr. 3 plays Rh!. Fill l.fou tines (see bat 3)
7 P.M. P.M. ,- P.M. P.M, P.M,

ain'taskin' for much Hmm I saidLord

11 P.M. lighrP.M. P.M. P,M, ^* P.M. P.M.

Jrd tine, skip ahead to @

takeme downtown I'm iusl lookin' for somelush! 2.l'vebeenbad
D9(no3)
Gtr. I substitutes Rhy. FilL 3 thir.l time
(see betow)
Gt. 5 plaw Fill I secon.ltime Gt- 4 plals Rh!. Fill2 (see beloe)

*Note ih par.nt he sis ptale.t dhe onry.

Jirn

14 14 16 16- 12-12-14-14-
10-lo-10-10-

(0:28,0:48,
1:28) FiU I 10:461
E b 9D 9
Gt. I P.M. *

GUITAR LECENDS 9I
"TUSH"
p Goitr.Soto to,sol
GSs A5 A{5
19 vsti.te

Bass plats Bass Fig. I (see bar 7)

t_lJ_J t_l_lJ
Bass substitutes Bass Fill I (see belo||)

c5 c*5 D5

Gl5 A{5
Gtrs. 1,2 aad 3 repeat Rh!. Fie. I sinile (see bat 19)

31 re'nng-----_----------,-

LJ-J LJ I

Bass plars Bass Fig. I (see barT) Bass substitutes Bdss Fi l (see belo||)

aarr l.tll l (0:55,

1r5,1;s8)

92 GUITARLEGENDS
 "TUSH"
so back to @ ve6e
3.Takemeback
D5 c5 cs cs5D5
Gtt.4plars Rh!. Fill2 (see2ndpase)

@ t,,+el E Outro cuitar Solo (i:49)

G5
Gtls.2 anl3 pla! Rhy. FiU I Ctts. ),2 and 3 pla, Rht. Fis. I sinile (see bar 19)

43 Gtr. 5

tstidp par rh. h'Bhe! potnt otthe firyerboad.

Ba\ D!a$ Bass F t 2 tsee beto||,
Bassplats Aass FiB. I tsee bar 7)

Crr. 5 G{5 A5 A{5

47

Boss subslitutes Bdss Fill I (see prcyious pose)

05

54 Glr.5

Rh!. FiU4 llAa)

CUITAR LEGENDS 93
 As hedrdon ELIMINATOR (wARNER BRos.)
Wordsand Music by Billy F. Cibbons, Dusty Hill and Fratrk Beard . ?rdnscribedby Dale Turner and Andy Aledort

Gtrs. 1, 2 and 4 are in standard tuning.

Gtr. 3 (slide)is in open E tuning (low to high: E B E G$ B E).
c5 Bbs F5 G5 G5 Cm7 Fm7
m
FFFIF
m ffi
m ffi
ffi," ffi-. iffi."

E] Intro (o:oo)
Moderately J = D5
(c5)
\|/pick and fnsen throuEhout

1 PM. P.M.> > P.M_1 PM l* (play 5 times)

,

+Th T} Tt' Th
* Fr.t botton stnn Vt huhb.
e

SubstituteRass FiS. I foufth time (see below)

EVerses (0:23,0:54,2:26)
l. Clean shid New shoes I am goin' to
AndI don'tknowwhere
2. Gold walch Diamonddnq
- I ainl missin'not a single thing
3. Top coat andtop hat AndI don'tworry 'cause
my wallel'slat
c5 Bb5
5 Grr.2

BassFig. 2 end BassFig.2

ttttrtl

94 GUITARLEGENDS
 IIRESSEII
"SHARP ]UIAII"
sitk sull Black tie (Black
tie) I don'l needa rcason why
Cufl links Slick pin I slepout I'm gonna do you in
Whon
Black sna0es White gloves Lookin'sharp and lookin' for love

Bass rcpeats Bass Fis.2 (see

3rd time, skip ahead to E Outro Guitar Solo

come runnin'justas
They laslas theycan 'Cause
every girl's crbzy 'bouls sharp dressed man

GtL 2 substitutes Rh!. Fill I on 3nl Verse (see beto'|) Gtt. 1 plars Fill I on IstVene (see betow)
Gtr- 3 plals Fill2 on hd verse (see beto||)
13 cLrz Gtt. 1 pldls Fill3 on 3d Verse (see beLow)

t. versel
s o b a c Ao @
Gtr. 2 plals Rb,. Fis. I t||ice (see bal 3)

17 ctr.1 (repeat prerious two bars)

Th Th Th
Bass plats Bdst Fig. I (see prcrious paSe)

12.
@ cuit"" soto 1r,rzy
c5
Gtr.2 plals Rh!. Fie.2 flin.t.eh tines (see h.lov)
Gtr. 3
fry.^trte: whtide
21

*repeat prerious chord

Ba\s pla$ Bdtt Fie. 3 nh?t?"n trne: tstt bcluwl

Fill2 11:15)
Ctf. I Ctr. 3 (elec.w/disr.) fneersttle: Vslide

Rh!.Fill 112141)
G5 F5 G5 Bbs C5
Aarr frg. J (117,2:49,3:35,3:sl
4:06)
rake
(c5)

GUITAR LECENDS
 IIRESSEII
"SIIARP MA]I"
tetnnS----1 kt ng------,-_ btnnE _

-11-fi-11-11--- !/

lel
lzt tikg- ----1 rinA, _ G1r. I

Gtr. 2

(1 55)

Ctr. l
let ins
41 tetnng-----------1
1-t-1-1

Ctr. 2

l_l_lJ | | |
96 CUITAR LEGENDS
 IIRESSEII
"SHARP MAII"
G5

't-1-1-1_(

tttttl

l2:11)
3rd time, so backto@ve^e
(c5)
Gtr. 2 plals Rhy- Fig. I four times (see bar 3)
at. I PM ;* (ptar 3 tines)
49 .

Th rh Th Th Th Th Th
Bass plays Bdss Fill I (see below) Bassplats Bass FiB. I secot.l tine (see ln pase)

D outro cuitar Solo (2:4e)

Cm7
Gtr. 2 plars Rht. FiB. I nine and ote halftines (see ba.3) Gtr. 4 plqrs Rhr. FiE. 3 hihe tines (se. belo\|)
Clr. I s l i g h iP . H .- - - - - - , , , , , , , - - - ,

10t12

Rll. rtg. J (253)

Cm7
(c5) Cu 4 (ele. vftChtdisr.)

GUITAR LECENDS 97
 IIRESSEII
"SHARP IIIAII"
Gtr.2 plars Rb). Fill2 (see beto||)

\3:21) FrnT
Ctr. I Gtr.4 plays Rhy. FiB.4a twice (see below)

Bdss tllays Bass FiE.4Jour tines (see below)

Cm7
Gtr. 2 plols Rh!. Fig. 1 one and one h4A iftes (see bar 3): Ct. I pldls Rhy. FiB. 3 twice (see previous pase) Gtt. 2 plars Rht. Fill2 (see belo||)
n Gtr. I

tm/
GtL 2 plals Rhy.Fis.4 (seebar 73):Grr.4 plals Rh!. Fig.4a twice (seebelo||)

Cm7
Gi. 2 plays Rh!. Fig. I one at l one half tines (see bar J): Gtr. I plays Rh!. Fig. 3 rwi.e (see p.erious paSe) GtL 2 plats Rb,. Fill2 (see belo||)

tJ L_I-I-J

besinfade 13:58)

g9 Gtr.2 plqs Rh!. Fis.l (seebar73): Gtr.4 plays Rhy.Fi8.4a t'|ice (seebelo||)

Cm7
Gtr. 2 plays Rhr. FiB. I tuice (see bat3); Gtt.4 plars Rhr. Fie.3 twice (see prerious paee)

Rht. Fill 2 {3t25,3:41,3:56) R h!. F i g. 4a \3:27, 3:43.3158)

,z$ ata. 4 (3:27,3:43,3i58)
c1r.2 (c5) (F5) ctr.4 Fm7 (Fm7)
-
tt------ n
B+,-i-L= --ii
L-]_IJ L-I-LJ

98 GUITAR LEGENDS