ZZ Top
ZZ Top is a
rock band, most prominent in the
1970s and
1980s, from
Texas. The band members are Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar, of
Moving Sidewalks), Dusty Hill (guitar, of The American Blues) and Frank Beard (drums, of The Cellar Dwellers, The Hustlers, and The American Blues).
As well as a distinctive guitar sound and hard-driving,
innuendo-laced lyrics, the band is probably best known for its distinctive look. Gibbons and Hill are always pictured wearing sunglasses, trenchcoats and their trademark waist-length beards. (Frank Beard, interestingly, does not wear a beard.) In
1984, the Gillette company offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million apiece to shave their beards for a commercial, but they declined.
Their biggest hit was the
1983 album
Eliminator, boosted to prominence by music videos for the tracks "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs" and "Sharp Dressed Man" each of which featured a small bright red
roadster called
The Eliminator and a mysterious trio of beautiful women who travel around helping various people in the videos.
The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted ZZ Top in on
March 15,
2004.
Discography
\n* ZZ Top's First Album (1970)\n* Rio Grande Mud (1972)\n* Tres Hombres (1973)\n* Fandango (1975)\n* Tejas (1976)\n* Best of ZZ Top (1977)\n* Degüello (1979)\n* El Loco (1981)\n* Eliminator (1983)\n* Afterburner (1985)\n* Recycler (1990)\n* ZZ Top's Greatest Hits (1992)\n* Antenna (1994)\n* One Foot in the Blues (1994)\n* Rhythmeen (1996)\n* XXX (1999)\n* Mescalero (2003)\n* Chrome, Smoke & BBQ (2003)\n* Rancho Texicano (2004)
Singles
\n* "Cheap Sunglasses"\n* "La Grange"\n* "Nationwide"\n* "Tush"\n* "Velcro Fly"\n* also, the songs listed under "Music Videos" below
Music videos
\n* "Gimme All Your Lovin'" (1983)\n* "Sharp Dressed Man" (1983)\n* "Legs" (1984)\n* "Sleeping Bag"\n* "Viva Las Vegas"\n* "Rough Boy"
DVD's
\n* "ZZ Top's Greatest's Hits" (2004)
Interesting trivia
\n* Billy Gibbons has often been referred to as The Reverend Willy G. In 2002, he made that title official and was ordained so he could perform a Dallas wedding.\n* In December 1984, Dusty Hill accidentally set off a Derringer he kept in his boot and shot himself in the stomach. He fully recovered.\n* "La Grange" is a song about a brothel. The real name of the brothel is "Gracie's Chicken Farm". This brothel is also the subject of the film The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.\n* The band appeared in the film Back to the Future Part III.\n* ZZ Top is a sponsor of the Delta Blues Museum.
External sites
\n*The Little ol' Web Page from Texas - Peter Zurich's fan site\n*The Offical ZZ Top Website\n*Live Concert Archive & Library - Gregory K. Deeter's fan site\n*ZZ Top - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - Direct link to ZZ Top's page on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame website.
