Tejas
Z Z Top
London PS680

By Dan Oppenheimer

	With Tejas, ZZ Top moves ahead slightly from their madcap
boogies to a more sophisticated sound.  "El Diablo" opens with a
simple blues riff that could have come from an old Lightnin' Hopkins
or Robert Johnson record.  After two quick vocal choruses, Billy
Gibbons' terse guitar break sounds more inspired by John McLaughlin
than Hopkins.  Frank Beard's Cobham-inspired double-bass drumming
moves beneath Dusty Hill's laconic bass notes.  This is new stuff
for ZZ, and not predicted by the group's first Tour albums.
	What's going on here?   Certainly not an outright break
from the traditions they draw from -- ZZ's roots are still John Lee
Hooker, B.B. King and Albert Collins, along with rock interpreters
like Johnny Winter and early Steve Miller.  But they're experimenting
more and the playing is growing.
	Expanding the form without disturbing their energy may be
tricky, though.  When they cut "La Grange" on their third album in
1973, the forceful playing, especially by Gibbons, covered the fact
that the tune was a three-chord simpleton dating back 30 years or
more.  Now that they're exploring unfamiliar ground, some of the songs
lose steam.
	"Asleep in the Desert" sounds like a Clint Eastwood sound
track, and the country tune, "She's a Heartbreaker," has woefully thin
lyrics.  But, renewing older styles as they incorporate innovations,
ZZ Top uses their roots not as something to leave behind but as a
solid block to build upon.  Tunes like "El Diablo" and "Arrested for
Driving While Blind" bode well for spreading and elevating the tradition.


(From Rolling Stone, 3/10/77 p.74)