From: Jon Hinchliffe Source Kerrang! No.3 September 1981 price 50p THESE MEN ARE NOT AS DAFT AS THEY LOOK THE RELEASE of 'El Loco', the new album by 'that little ol' band from Texas,' hasn't come a moment too Soon. It's been twenty long months since the release of their last block-buster, 'Deguello', but now one of the most popular and enduring of all American rock and roll bands is back with their most ambitious and accomplished offering to date. "El Loco's ten tunes are each certifiable ZZ classics - fast, furious and funky rock and roll that finds the trio stretching in all sorts of new musical directions - from 'Leila' a beautiful ballad, to the sinuous groove of 'Tube Snake Boogie', to the hair-pin curves of 'Pearl Necklace' Along the way they deliver some of the sharpest lyrics ever set to a backbeat - 'Groovy Little Hippie Pad', 'Ten Foot Pole', 'Heaven, Hell or Houston', titles like these say it all. ZZ Top's origins stretch back to two seminal Texas outfits; Houston's Moving Sidewalks, featuring a young guitarist named Billy Gibbons and, from Dallas, a band called American Blues (formerly The Warlocks) sporting bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard. Both bands had cut some sides in the late '60s - Moving Sidewalk's '99th Floor' was a regional hit -- but it was after American Blues split up that destiny laid its heavy hand on the door knocker. Frank was the first to make contact with Billy in Houston, later calling down Dusty with the idea of forming a trio. ZZ Top was birthed in February of 1969, with the same line-up it retains to this day. "It's always been the same," remarks Billy Gibbons, "The only difference is we had smaller amps." The infant band played in Houston area for a short time before releasing their first single, 'Salt Lick' b&w 'Miller's Farm', on their manager Bill Ham's Scat label. Their first LP was cut shortly afterwards and was soon snapped up by London Records and released as "ZZ Top's First Album" in 1971. What followed was a period of intensive touring as an opening act for countless bands ranging from Alice Cooper to Ten Years after to The Rolling Stones. "That was back when a Texas band was Considered really hick," recalls Dusty: "A lot of People thought we were a country group." It wasn't an impression that lasted long. Following 'Rio Grande Mud', their second LP (released in 1972), the band hit paydirt with 'Tres Hombres,' the platinum selling 1973 release featuring their first smash single 'La Grange', an ode to an infamous Texas whorehouse. It was followed in '75 by 'Fandango,' another platinum seller, containing their second mega-hit 'Tush'. ZZ Top had arrived, and in case anyone still doubted the fact, the band embarked on their legendary World Wide Texas Tour in 1976 and early '77 in support of their third platinum album, 'Tejas.' |t is a tour still spoken of in revenant tones in rock circles - an event measured in triple digits: 1.2 million tickets sold, 1.1 million dollars gross, 1,440 man hours needed to erect the stage (which included $140,000 worth of native Texas animals and livestock), capacity crowds and broken attendance records everywhere. The highlight of the World Wide Texas Tour was a 4th of July concert in Philadelphia. THEN As quickly as they had burst into international prominence, they disappeared. "We didn't break up." explains Frank, "We just needed a break. When it happened, we had no idea how long it would last." It lasted three years. Rumours abounded - the band had been killed in a plane crash, were jamming in a Houston R&B club, had been converted to Tibetan Buddhism. Cryptic messages were received sporadically from around the world. The truth was no less strange. Frank set of for a "Weeks cruise in the Caribbean and just didn't come back. Part of the time he lived like a hermit', the rest of the time like an international playboy. Dusty tried scuba diving off the Cayman Islands and sailing around the Pacific. Bill Lived for a time in a Paris art colony and on the Island of Madagascar. What filled the rest of those three years will forever be shrouded in the band's Mythology. "It was good for us all, Personally and Musically," asserts Billy. "It was a great time of individual understanding and doing what we needed to." In September of 1978, the band broke its long, self-imposed exile by signing an exclusive contract to Warner Bros., and entering the studio to cut 'Deguello'. Excited to be back in the saddle, they set out on an extensive concert tour to back the album, before taking time off in January of '81 for more r&r. This time Billy ended up on the Indian sub-continent, on a 200 mile walk through Tibet in search of the Abominable Snowman. "I had an encounter with something up there," he remarks mysteriously. "I don't know what it was, but I wrote a song about it called "(I Wouldn't Touch it With a) Ten Foot Pole." ZZ Top returned to the studio earlier this year to cut El Loco before changing back to the stage for their current 1981 North American concert swing. With a great new album and SRO crowds at every stop, ZZ Top is readying to take the '80s by storm. FROM UP on stage it's hard to tell how big the place is - It could be a basketball court, a football stadium or the Grand Canyon. Is that steam rising from the packed mass of shouting fans or just a trick of the orbs? It's hard to tell from behind these blazing spots, but the audience seems to be forming into one huge entity, hungry for thick slabs of boogie, roaring out their need for another shot of rhythm and blues, staving for a rock and roll feast. Shirts are off and waving, nubiles hoisted on their boyfriend's shoulders sway like tress in the wind, and the stiff, sweet scent of herb clots the air. Sounds familiar? It's a scene enacted a thousand times each season in the arena ritual of big-time rock and roll. Any of the top five concert bands today might generate the same kind of fervent footstomping enthusiasm witnessed here in the Municipal / County /Civic / Auditorium / Coliseum . Sports Centre of Anyburg. USA. So what's so different about tonight? Well the band for one thing. No perms, Satin trousers or photo-ready poses here. Just three guys in some rather work-worn mechanics coverall's bowler and top hats and chest length beards playing some of the most floor rattling wall-of-sound riffs to ever peel a coat of paint. But hold everything! This isn't just volume for the sheer, self-gratifying hell of it. There's something more to the proceedings than the macho bluster and relentless commercial overkill most of those aforementioned top five concert draws. These guys are in control - that wordless camaraderie that speaks of years of staying and playing together. Because it feel good to make music. That's something you can't fake, and the audience knows it. Like the gears in some precision tuned juggernaut, this Bass drum and guitar combo mess, turning out a joyful noise that spreads out across the dark expanse on the waves of euphoria. This is Big Beat the way it was meant to be - no Pretence, no postures, just pure, pulsating good times! And the lyrics! This isn't your average formula filler of the no - one's - listening - to - the - words - anyway tradition. No mock mysticism or proto-Vegas cliches here. Au contraire. These tunes are about the important things in life - 'Cheap Sunglasses' and 'Silk Stocking'; a 'Groovie Little Hippie Pad' and 'Party On The Patio.' Yearning for a new dance sensation? How about the 'Tube Snake Boogie?' Need a quick comeback for that crass come on? Try 'I Wouldn't Touch it With a Ten Foot Pole.' Dare we say it? In the deadly serious game of rock music these guys are Writing . . . funny words. The kids know. They're out of their seats now, pressing against the police lines, shouting out a song title, hugging each other, jumping up and down. In a world where paychecks shrink faster than designer jeans and the only alternative to getting old is dying young, we all need a little ZZ Top. BACKSTAGE, Billy, Dusty and Frank are winding down. It's an arduous process, considering the awesome amperage they collectively generated on-stage a half hour ago. Even after a dressing room shower and a change of clothes, the trio's electrons bounce around the overlit room like a flock of suicidal Ping-Pong balls. Lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Billy Gibbons is the first to lock into earth orbit. Dressed in White tennis shorts, sneakers, a beige twill sports coat and a gold braided baseball cap, Gibbons offers some insight into what it means to play good music to millions. "It fun being a cartoon character up there on stage," he remarks in a soft Texas drawl, "But there's a lot more to us than that. Sometimes I feel like we're two different bands. We're entertainers up there and we do a hell of a job of it, and then we're musicians, pure and simple, There's a lot of integrity to our music. In many ways we're really a musician's band and that's hard to get across live sometimes. "In a stadium - and we've played a mass of them - you've got to try and please everyone" adds bassist Dusty Hill, dressed entirely in white to match his pale, flowing beard. "People want to see the band. We try hard to duplicate what we do on record, but that's not enough. When you're up there, the show's what's important. "If people come to see us and hear straight boogies, that's alright," offers Frank Beard, the band's laconic, slow-eyed drummer. "If they pick up on the other stuff that's happening in the music, that's okay too." "No one will ever pick up on everything we do anyway," Interjects Gibbons with a knowing glint in his eye. "Because a lot it is just between us." The band seems thirsty. Bottles of sparkling water, cans of brew and more than a few swallows of vodka are thrown back with abandon. Outside a limo waits to steer them through the knots of faithful fans waiting at the backstage ramp. Talk turns to the band's latest Warner Bros. Release, 'El Loco,' then seventh LP of their career and their most accomplished offering to date. "We really stretched out on this one," opines Hill "You know we try out a lot of different kinds of styles - a lot - at rehearsals and sound checks and such, and all that's starting to come through now." He isn't kidding. El Loco features the most beautiful ballad ZZ Top has ever committed to plastic, 'Leila' and it's a real surprise - all steel guitars and Beach Boys harmonies. "I Love the Beach Boys," Gibbons admits immediately. "I think Brain Wilson is a genius. Frankly, I tried to sound like Brain on that cut." "It's a complete departure for us," concedes Beard, "But I think ZZ's audience will take to it right away. We want to keep our good thing going, but add to it also." Undoubtedly it is on record - especially 'El loco' - that the sharp double edge of ZZ Top's music is most in evidence. A high level of musicianship combines with some of the smartest wordplay this side of Randy Newman to create songs where hard driving rock and high flying humour get the best of each other. "We do some funny stuff," admits Gibbons, but you can't make people appreciate that. They just have to discover it for themselves." "Back to basics and a real good time, is what we're all about," asserts Hills. The others nod vigorously in agreement. "We're all really hopeful about our prospects this year" Gibbons remarks. "We're in show business and make no bones about the fact." Bill Ham, ZZ Top's long-time manager, announces last call to the next stop on the group's 1981 U.S. Tour swing. On their way to the cavernous underground garage, Gibbons, Hill and Beard offering some thoughts on one of the best and most misunderstood bands ever to break the big time. "It's all coming together," predicts Gibbons, aiming himself towards the limo's open back door. "The entertainment and musicianship of ZZ have never been closer. I think a lot of people, especially critics, are going to be surprised at what they hear coming out of this band." "We've been around a long time," agrees Hill, "and I think folks are finally getting the idea. We're not just another bunch of pretty faces" - the crack elicits muffled laughter from the entourage. "- We're three guys who've been working at what we do longer than a half dozen bands put together." "We're just waiting for people to catch up" grins Beard as the car door shuts and the long black car speeds off.