Greatest Hits - ZZ Top

ZZ Top

ZZ Top, ‘the little ol’ band from Texas’, were formed by guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons in 1969. A guitar/bass/drums trio from day one, the other two members were replaced in 1970 by Rusty Hill (bass) and Frank Beard (drums), and the line-up has remained unchanged ever since. They are readily distinguishable from a distance by their ultra-long beards – well, ironically not Beard, but the other two are generously adorned.

For the first twelve years or so they were renowned as a blues and boogie-based power trio – think Canned Heat crossed with 1970/71-ish Status Quo. After that they effectively reinvented themselves as a remarkably finger-on-the-pulse unit that combined basic infectious rock with electro-beats and sequencers.

The music

Released in 1992, this 18-track set, with 72 minutes playing time, serves up six tracks from four of the albums from their earlier phase, recorded between 1973 and 1981. The remaining twelve come from 1983 onwards. Let’s forget the track listing sequence, and take them more or less chronologically. Much as I love the band, not even their most devoted fan would claim that they’re the most musically varied or lyrically ambitious act in the world, so 500-word analyses of all 18 tracks in turn would be a tad superfluous.

The oldest song, ‘La Grange’, from 1973, is based on a chugging boogie riff that’s easily traced back to veteran bluesman John Lee Hooker and others. (Apparently Hooker tried to sue them – as if there really was any copyright in a blues riff). About two minutes in, there’s a few seconds of tempo change, and what sounds like the guitar intro from Cream’s version of ‘I’m So Glad’, before the last two minutes takes flight on a one-chord backed guitar passage. Go on guys, steal from everyone while you’re at it – everyone else did. By the way, La Grange is not only the name of a district on the outskirts of Texas, but also a famous bordello there.

‘Tush’, from 1975, is a minor variation on 12-bar blues sung for a change by Hill. A minor US hit for them at the time, it has been covered by several others including Girlschool, Nazareth, and Iron Maiden, while Motorhead borrowed the riff for their subsequent hit ‘No Class’. It’s barely a pinch over two minutes long, and I’d have happily done with another minute. Talking of Motorhead, it only struck me recently that both Billy and Lemmy have that similar dirty rasping vocal. While neither of them might ever be invited to present a Masterclass on singing on TV, it suits the music perfectly.

Four years later, and they’re telling us ‘I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide’, another brisk blues, as well as offering the more funky but rather forgettable ‘Cheap Sunglasses’. Move on another two years, and they offer up ‘Tube Snake Boogie’ and ‘Pearl Necklace’, which offer slight variations on the 12- bar theme, with a little more emphasis here and there on the bass and drums. But obviously, after a few albums there’s a limited amount with variations on the formula open to a three-piece band.

So somebody had the right idea when they came to record the ‘Eliminator’ album, released in 1983. According to one source I read recently, Hill and Beard were present on very few of the sessions, and it was largely put together by Gibbons with producer Terry Manning, using drum machines, synthesizers, sequencers and all the digital armoury at their disposal. A shrewd way of updating their sound and keeping up with contemporary pop trends, or selling out to the kids who were more into the Human League and watching MTV? You decide.

Whatever your verdict, there’s no denying that the effortlessly simple yet powerful ‘Gimme All Your Lovin’’ was without doubt one of the most effective and infectious singles of the mid-1980s. Interestingly it was only a minor hit when first issued in Britain, and it took a shrewd promotion campaign including the screening of several of their videos on BBC TV a year later to launch it properly, push the album into the Top 10 after selling modestly for over a year, and make the band a household name. The track opens this compilation, and still packs just as much a punch as it ever did. I have fond memories of spinning the platters at a weekly DJ residency around then, at which this one never failed to pack the dancefloor out.

Also from ‘Eliminator’ come the two follow-up singles, the scarcely less powerful ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and ‘Legs’. The latter had both feet in disco territory, though raunchy guitar still stamped the ZZ Top brand indelibly into the grooves. Admittedly they were a bit sexist if you listened hard to the lyrics (which I doubt many people did) and thought about the video, but I don’t think the Rolling Stones or AC/DC lost a lot of fans for sexism. Let’s not open that particular can of worms, eh?

Having broadened their appeal, they stuck with the formula for the 1985 album ‘Afterburner’. ‘Sleeping Bag’ begins with a whole battery of electro-trickery and sampled sounds before the bluesy rock stuff kicks in, and ‘Planet Of Women’ (which seems a slightly odd choice on this record as it was never a single) does much the same. Perhaps the biggest surprise comes with ‘Rough Boy’ which is – wait for it – a ballad. A chilling, echoey synth introduction paves the way for a song which really throws their formula out of the window with both hands, and Gibbons’ rasping vocal is very effective. Moreover, the guitar solo is wonderful as well.

From then on, they repeated the formula by and large, with slightly diminishing returns. What do you do when you’ve done it all before, and it keeps selling? More of the same. The ironically-titled album ‘Recycler’ from 1990 offered minor variations with ‘Doubleback’, and ‘Give It Up’, although there’s more of the old blues and boogie on ‘My Head’s In Missisippi’. The last also boasts what must be one of the weirdest lyrics in their canon - ’Last night I saw a naked cowgirl, she was floating across the ceiling.’ Take it with water next time, Billy.

That leaves just two tracks which had not already appeared on album, the rather unexceptional ‘Gun Love’, and a rare cover version, of Elvis Presley’s ‘Viva Las Vegas’. The latter was a second UK Top 10 hit in 1992, and I’m in two minds about it. As a disco track it works well and has an undeniable infectious charm about it, but it sounds rather like a transparent copy of ‘Legs’, with all those digital sounds grafted on for the sake of it. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I think – ho hum.

Packaging

A four-way foldout including a four-page note about the band and the tracks, a picture of the beards, the sunglasses and matching jackets, one page devoted to thumbnails of the previous albums (in other words, go and buy the rest – and the video collection, while you’re there). And they send themselves up (I think) with a couple of shots showing them surrounded by video cameras being operated by leggy young ladies with plunging necklines.

Overall

It’s a tad samey in places, perhaps, but that’s something that can be levelled at almost anybody’s greatest hits. If you like the band, there are enough goodies to make this well worth the £4 or so asking price.