Many people are familiar with ZZ Top from their commercially successful 'Eliminator' album. But their earlier work as per this piece, really shows their incredible raw and dynamic blues. Backtrack more you guys, they're a music treat!
70's era ZZ Top rules! From what I understand, "Waitin' For The Bus" and "Jesus Just Left Chicago" were supposed to be separate songs but a production mistake made along the way to releasing the album left the two songs back to back and the band liked the transition so much they kept the mistake in place. When you're ready for more from them, check out "La Grange", "Tush", "Just Got Paid", "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide", "I Thank You", and "Heard It On The X" which tells a story about listening to rock-n-roll, blues, and other "forbidden" music during the segregated 50's on border radio stations broadcast out of Mexico at 50,000+ watts so that their signals reached well over a hundred miles across the border into Texas.
Beer Drinkers, and Hell Raisers I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide La Grange Just Got Paid Blue Jeans Blues These are a few more songs by ZZ Top that you should check out.
I think you guys are listening to the remastered version that added more reverb, so, good ear that picked up the difference in sound. The original vinyl is the best way to go!
Yes. You're right. They remixed these albums back in the 90s and added all this echo shit. Broke my Texan heart. I loved the originals. Sounded like you were in the room.
Yes! Why did they do that?! To me that is the equivalent of some idiot deciding to do a little touch-up work on some Rembrandts and Picassos. Totally agree with you!
I was upset with the remastered versions. They took out all the natural sounds, like the squeeks of the guitar strings, and added an echo, yuck. Vinyl is the best.
When Billy Gibbons and his first band The Moving Sidewalks opened for Jimi Hendrix on his first official US tour in 1968, Jimi called him the best guitarist he'd ever heard and gifted him a pink stratocaster (Billy played it in concert recently). Billy revealed that he thought Jimi's greatest innovation in guitar playing was “Jimi took the three-way toggle switch into five-way... He’s the one that discovered the in-between positions, and in order for that not to pop out of place, he showed me how to take off the back scratch plate and remove the spring within the toggle switch, so it would more or less stay in place! And that sound had this extra chimeyness to it."
Jesus Just Left Chicago, is inspired by picking up a Chicago radio station. I’m from a tow an hour away from Memphis., and in the 70s, at night, we could listen to WLS Chicago. It was great times!
I'm generally in the minority but I think "Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell" and "Brown Sugar" are 2 of their most powerful songs, off their first 2 albums. Check them out some time.
I just came across "Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell." One of ZZ Top's best songs hands down. I keep coming across so many deep cuts from them. 70's era ZZ Top is by far their best.
Originally from 1973, this version is a 1980s mix with a bunch of added reverb on the drums and some compression on the lead guitar. The -73 original sound has super-crsip, tight drum sound and an overall less processed ambience. It's a matter of taste but we old head ZZ Top fans love that crisp blues rock from the first few albums.
My friends, “till I Cadillac” means until one dies. That last ride…in the hearse…that is often a Cadillac, or maybe a Lincoln…to one’s grave. It’s the working man’s blues. Great reaction- Cheers!
Personally I have an obsession with ZZ Top’s album XXX. A lot of fans who only like their old stuff either hate it or have never listened to it. But, it has some of the most insane mixing & layering of guitar, bass, & drum tones, possibly ever. The lyrics are surreal & weird, & the technology to implement samples had evolved enough to finally catch up with ZZ Top. It’s like a cosmic, heavy, blues rock on acid fever dream, from another dimension. I don’t know how it sounds like they put hot deep fried gristle in a pair of maracas & made it an integral part of the mix next to fuzzed out guitars, but by god they did it. The drum tones on “It should be made into a movie” are out of this world. Lyrics about poke chop sandwiches & thunderbirds & ladies… 12/10 for me. It would be awesome to see the album get some exposure on RU-vid reactions.
Here in Houston, we had a radio station for 34 years with the call letters KLOL. You could count on them to play Top every couple of hours, and with their portfolio you never got tired of it!
I first saw them on this tour, back in 1973, they were the opener for Uriah Heep and blew the crowd away with heavy blues the likes of which was new and exciting. Been a fan ever since. Try Just Got Paid next, another of their classics from back in the day. Enjoy! 🎵🎸🎤🎸🎶
In 1973, the recording and effects techniques were very different to later in the 70's, and early 80's. I think that, and the vocal reverb were what you were hearing. The dynamics of early ZZ Top were easily more noticeable with the stripped down recording techniques. They were a 3 piece band, and the sound of that is more obvious in their early recordings. Their later recordings had a lot of over dubs, and multitracked guitars to fill in the sound.
ZZ Top is probably the only band I've seen play in four different decades. 70s 80s 90s and early 2000s. If you grew up in Texas (I did) they were always around. That little O'band from Texas ain't no lie.
These are great tracks, no doubt. Some other excellent ones are: Nasty dogs and funky kings Heard it on the X Manic Mechanic My Head's in Mississippi Balinese 2000 Blues I Thank You
Billy Gibbons had the most efficient sense of timing. If aliens came down and said, "Pick one person to play one note at the absolute perfect time or we blow up the world," he is my choice. Phenomenal guitarist.
Their sound is tight.. ... The sound was tight in the 70's..... I'm so glad that y'all recognize. These boys out of Houston. I want the same high School the two of them went to...👊❤️😎
I prefer ZZ's Texas boogie to their blues, that is to say, I'll take Waitin for the Bus over Jesus Just Left Chicago any day. Other bands can do blues as well or better, but nobody else can do Texas boogie. ZZ was my first album and first concert growing up in H-town. Don't sleep on (I'm Bad I'm) Nationwide. Probably my favorite song of theirs. You guys will dig the vibe (also another Cadillac reference). By the way, one time I was driving to the beach to Galveston with some friends early on a Saturday morning. On the freeway in Houston, who should pass us on the right, but Dusty Hill, ZZ Top's bassist, top-down in a brand new 1983 or 1984 Cadillac Eldorado convertible with all gold trim instead of chrome, and a 6 foot wide set of Texas longhorns for a hood ornament. His beard was blowing in the wind and he had a blonde groupie in the passenger seat. So they weren't just singing about the lifestyle.
Bill Ham was a great producer and gave them that unique sound on record. It is very 'present' with little to no reverb or delay. Love this little medley.
Right songs, wrong pressing. This is from the 1st remaster of the original. Mid eq and compression are noticeably increased, and Billy,s intro vocal on “Jesus Just Left Chicago” was changed. (It’s awful by comparison) Go back and try the first press at you leisure, it’s a treat. Stay with the first 6 albums. They still remain the best primer for a trip into blues/rock. Here’s three go too’s. 1)Sure Got Cold After The Rain Fell 2) Blue Jean Blues, and a short smokin up tempo beast, 3) Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings. 👈 Top is all about having a good time and their music delivers. 🤘You guys did too, regards.
Now that I'm messing around with the guitar, Billy Gibbons has really caught my attention. I've seen them live, but didn't really appreciate them like I do now.
Billy and the boys were from Houston. They could stop in and listen to Lightning Hopkins, Albert Collins or Johnny Winter live anytime. They soaked it up.
It's pretty amazing that you guys also picked up on the sonic and/or engineering differences in this track. You are actually listening to a more modern remastering of the song probably from the 1990s. The original 1973 vinyl had a much more dry & muscular right in your face punch to the sound. A few vinyl versions have been previously uploaded to RU-vid to hear the difference. At some point during the 1990s when album remastering started to become the norm, someone decided "badly" in my opinion how to remix early Z Z Top records which included an almost cavernous reverb applied mostly to the drum tracks only and sometimes added to the whole mix. When you hear the original, there is no comparison. The original mix is rough, tough, dry & dirty sounding. The 90s remixed version sounds "overproduced" and loses much of its snarling "in yo face" attitude. Another great Z Z Top track that features a much better dry to wet sound using reverb on the guitar from the time of recording and original mixing is to listen to "Blue Jean Blues" off their 1975 album "Fandango". The song features a similar dry, up close & personal tone. By the middle of the song during the entry of the 2nd guitar solo, more reverb is added giving the impression of a deeper listening space and distance of the guitar as if it has gone up a mountain to be heard for miles. When used judiciously, sound effects can be really tastefully effective. 😎🎸🎶
Jesus just Left Chicago, is an homage to blues music. The places he mentions are all areas with a blues history. Chicago, New Orleans, Mississippi. I think that the implication, is that, Jesus goes where the Blues is!
Back in 1967 Jimi Hendrix saw Billy Gibbons and ZZ Topp and offered them the warm-up Band job on his first tour as "The Jimi Hendrix Experience," in Europe. Jimi and Billy got along famously from the very beginning.
Billy Gibbons was in a band called "The Moving Sidewalks", NOT ZZ Top. ZZ Top didnt exist in 1967 but formed in 1969. Billy Gibbons was looking for a bass player and Dusty auditioned. Dusty asked what billy wanted to play and Billy answered "Bules shuffle in "C". They played for an hour, never stopping and worked off each other.
From New Orleans, to Austin, to San Francisco, to the Philippines then back to Memphis... these guys anchored me. Paused in there to get a hat at Texas Hatters.
I believe this is a remastered version of the song. A legit version, tho...I believe it was released in the 90s when CDs were en vogue. The original is a just a wee bit muddier. But there's no question they re-remastered some of these tracks in the 90s and they are a lot "crisper" than the original LP versions. These dudes were my idols growing up in Texas. Finally got to see them in '81 (aged 17). Saw them again in '82 (twice), '99, and '04 (pretty much front row for that show at the beautiful Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington. They always tore the roof off the place.
This was from the 1981 remaster of their first 5 albums (+ El Loco) as the ZZ Top 6-pack. They used gated reverb on the drums to give the music "more modern sound." That release is generally hated for the unnatural sounding drums.
@@WMalven I'll buy 1991. "Mexican Blackbird" sounds like they used some alternate vocal tracks, as well. Not sure what all they did, but yeah, I had the 6-pack after growing up on the albums, and noted numerous differences.
You got to remember guys that durning the 70’s and 80’s technology in the music industry was changing drastically by the month - not yearly but monthly!!!!! By leaps and bounds!!!! Just saying!!!! So says Austin Tx!!!!!! 🤩🤩🤩😎🍸
Back in the '90s, maybe early 2000s, I found a compilation CD of theirs titled 'One Foot In The Blues'. It's their more blues-ey stuff obviously. It's ALL phenomenal. My favorite period of their music though was the '70s for sure.
The best little band fromTexas. There is a line from their song "Heard it on the X" which says " country Jesus and hillbilly blues is where I learned my licks" which is a perfect example of their sound.
ZZ Tops sound is distinct. As the story goes, the guys were looking for their own sound ans the manager had his vision. They were in the studio and trying different things but their manager kept budding in. So they him out for food at place that was at least an hour one way. Shall we say 'the rest is history'. Their sound was born.
The top local band when I was in high school on Texas Gulf Coast. Back up into the FIRST ALBUM for their early blues sound. First regional hit: Neighbor, Neighbor.
Ive had a lifetimme of study on this regarding blues and come to conclude billy gibbons a master class blues man! Ive studied long and hard on this! And Reverend Billy Gibbons is the undisputed MASTERCLASS BLUES ARTIST OF ALL TIME! NOBODY ELSE COMES CLOSE. TO THERES SOME HOT HANDS OUT THERE HOWEVER NOT ONE CREATED A MUSICAL BLUES SCORE UNIQUELY AS GIBBONS ACCOMPLISHED. NOBODY PLAYS LIKE HIM.JIMI HENDRIX AGREED FROM THE GRAVE!!?
You guys are definitely hitting on all my favorite ZZ hits. I wasn't even a fan until some friends invited me to attend a concert. I've seen dozens of bands in concert and ZZ Top is the funnest time. Had so much fun we drove to a 2nd show just a couple of days later. Lifelong fan now.
Hendrix gave these guys their start. Billy gibbons specifically tho, was playing in a group the moving sidewalks, jimi liked them and had them open for his 69 tour. Jimi lovingly referred to Billy as his favorite guitarist. Not hard to see why. Truly underrated. My parent's first date lmao. And i Saw them live 2007 and it was so incredible. He plays with a 50 cent piece for a pick!!! Lol. So good. 3 pieces are the best. Rip to dusty hill the bassist died this year iirc... Jimi recommendation: machine gun from band of gypsys. Really like your guys channel. And if you come back to the allmans, check out in memory of Elizabeth Reed with Eric clapton and Derek trucks. It's the original drummers son and Eric who had a group with Duane (Derek and the dominos). The original is also great at fillmore east or the album. Album version is really beautiful but Eric goes off so I'm suggesting that. Lol. If anyone actually sees this, I love you, and you're worth it. Be safe ❤️ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fZ7ol5ISxTM.html
I don't remember where I heard it but I heard that Jimmy was asked what it felt like to be the best guitar player in the world. His answer was supposedly "I don't know. You'd have to ask Billy Gibbons "
@mhankehanke there's a few different quotes of his like that. I've heard that one about rory Gallagher. "...According to lore, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jimi Hendrix was asked, “How does it feel to be the greatest guitarist in the world?” He is believed to have answered, “I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher.” Accounts of Hendrix’s reference to the Irish blues-rock guitarist and singer abound but, to be honest, I have not been able to ascertain its veracity. What is patently true, however, is Gallagher’s massive influence on other musicians, particularly British guitarists, including some of his peers..." Hendrix was wonderfully humble. He also referred to Terry Kath as "better than him" when giving praise to Chicago. He said "their horns section is like one set of lungs and their guitarist is better than me!" LoL. Of course, we all know the truth haha. ❤️❤️
First time I heard this I'm a white kid who likes Motown playing hoops. I was certain this was something new out of Motown. I was hooked on ZZ Top until MTV played TV Dinners too much and Rush was filling my head with Hemispheres.
I was at the 1982 Nationwide tour. Hoosier Dome in Indy. Yeah it was amazing, the entire collosium would shake, ZZ Top always had the house shakin' for sure.
ZZTop are a mix of old school 50's rock n roll, blues, country but most importantly they had that Texas swing. Allot of rock bands from there have that same swing, the Winter bros Johnny and Edgar, Pantera, The Fabulous T-birds and most importantly Stevie Ray Vaughn all have that same Texas swing in their styles.
Heard different stories ZzTop played Chicago after Elvis ..and was headed to New Orleans.References the he took a job in Mississippi Elvis' birthplace .The the reference to Taking care of business was the name of his game...TCB was an Elvis trademark that his private jets carried on their tail..and TCB Enterprises also..This story was told in a Memphis restaurant called Molly Gonzalez LA Casita which was frequented when recording at Ardent Srudios
This is a remastered version that came out in the late 80s called The ZZ Top SixPack. The record label remastered their first six albums for a multi disk set release. If you listen to these songs from the original albums, there's a pretty distinct difference. You both called it. It's highly compressed from the original mix. It upset most of the ZZ Top purists, but it's still great!
They did an awful job remastering their entire catalog. I heard Tejas remastered and it was garbage. I’m not a vinyl guy, but I think original vinyl may be the only way to listen to early ZZ Top.
Gotta listen to some Molly Hatchet “ Dreams I’ll never see again “ , “ Gator Country” , “ Flirting with Disaster “ , “ Boogie no more “ , “ Ragtop Deluxe” many more awesome southern rock jams! Thanks, new subscribers.
You guys totally get it, and I very much enjoy your reactions. 1970's ZZ Top is just downright kick-ass. Although it's a relatively short song, I highly recommend "Heard It On The X" Peace Out 😊✌️
Guys, I've seen them 7. Times in Houston. Even before those long beards . Please watch them live,. Zz top ateric Clapton guitar festival,. Live. It's awesome billy, dusty & frank are the best. 🎸🎸🥁🙏🙏🙏🙏. They do this song, ❤️🤩❤️🤩. You will see dusty. Twang them bass strings so dam hard.🥰🥰🥰🥰
"I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide". ZZ anthem for the ages....& everybody listening gets a little (ALOT) badass in their own movies. Saw them OPEN for Aerosmith in 200-?-something. That evening did not suck.
Thanks! You really entertain me reviewing the early ZZ Top. If you want to check out things before eliminator when they became MTV stars, try out manic mechanic, and Heaven, Hell, or Houston. Those are some of their more creative songs, but the one our garage band played all the time was, cheap sunglasses, which the playboy channel featured at one point when we had a giant disk pointed towards the sky which way you could aim to the heavens.🎉
