ZZ Top is one of the oldest active rock bands in the United States. The musicians created their music in the blues-rock style. This unique combination of melodic blues and hard rock turned into an incendiary, but lyrical music that interested people far beyond America.
The appearance of the group ZZ Top
Billy Gibbons is the creator of the group, who owns its main idea and concept. Interestingly, the ZZ Top team was not the first team that he created. Prior to that, he had already launched a very successful project, The Moving Sidewalks. Together with the group, Billy managed to record several tracks, from which a full-fledged album was later created and released.
However, the project broke up in mid-1969. At the end of the year, Gibbons had already managed to create a new group and release the first single, Salt Lick. Interestingly, the song was very successful. She got into rotation on Texas radio, many locals began to listen to her.
The single gave the musicians the opportunity to organize their first joint tour. However, this composition was not destined to hold out for too long - two musicians were drafted into the army, and Billy had to look for their replacements.
The composition of the team ZZ Top
But the new composition has become a cult and still remains virtually unchanged. In particular, the main vocalist is Joe Hill, Frank Beard played percussion instruments, and Billy took a confident place behind the guitar.
The group also got its own producer - Bill Hem, who played an important role in the formation of the team. In particular, he recommended that the guys pay attention to hard rock (in his opinion, this style could become in demand, especially in combination with the external images of musicians).
The combination of hard rock and blues has become the calling card of ZZ Top. The band already had enough songs to release an album. But he did not arouse the interest of American producers. But the London studio London Records offered a very lucrative contract.
Another advantage to the musicians' decision was that the legendary band The Rolling Stones released their songs on the same label. The first release came out in early 1971. One of the songs even hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but this did not increase its popularity. So far, the group has been inconspicuous among the diversity of the music market in Europe and America.
First recognition
The situation improved with the release of the second disc. Rio Grande Mud came out a year later and turned out to be much more professional. In general, the style remained the same - soul and rock. Now the attention was focused on hard rock, which was a good decision.
The release, unlike the previous one, did not go unnoticed. On the contrary, critics praised the work, and the group finally found its audience and got the opportunity to tour.
There was only one problem. Despite the fact that the disc was included in Billboard, and the group was known outside the United States, there was no opportunity to perform outside of their native Texas and surrounding territories. Simply put, the guys were already real stars in their homeland. But there were no concert offers from other states. And this despite the fact that at their concerts "at home" they could gather almost 40 thousand listeners.
The long-awaited success of the group ZZ Top
What was needed was a breakthrough album that would get everyone talking about the band. Tres Hombres, released in 1973, became such an album. The album was certified platinum and sold over 1 million discs. The songs from the release hit the Billboard, as did the album itself.
It was exactly the success that the musicians needed so much. The team has become very popular in the United States. Now they were expected in all cities. The concerts took place in huge stadium halls that can accommodate 50 people.
As Gibbons later said, the third album is one of the most significant in the history of the band. Thanks to the collection, the group was not only very popular in America, but he also set the right direction for its development, developed the right style and found the right sound. Meanwhile, the sound was back to hard rock.
Now the blues was an easy recognizable feature of the guys, but not the basis of their music. On the contrary, it was based on heavy rhythms and aggressive bass lines.
A new stage in creativity
After the success of the third disc, it was decided to take a minor break, so nothing happened in 1974. Later, this was explained by the fact that the release of the new album could surpass the sales of the old one, which showed excellent numbers. Therefore, the new two-sided LP Fandango! came out only in 1975.
The first side was live recordings, the second side was new tracks. Success, from the point of view of critics, was divided exactly in the ratio of 50 to 50. Most critics called the concert part terrible. At the same time, they praised the new studio material. Either way, the album sold well and cemented the band's position.
Tejas' next record was experimental. It contained no hits that could have made it to the charts. But the group was already known, so excellent sales were ensured even without the release of high-profile singles.
After a two-year hiatus, the band landed on the Warner Bros. label. Music and acquired the image of a "long beard". As it turned out by chance, the two leaders of the group let go of their beards in two years, and when they saw each other, they decided to make it their "trick".
Album release
After a long break, the guys worked on recording new material. Since then, they have released an album every year and a half. The warm-up album after the break was El Loco. With this collection, the musicians reminded of themselves, although the album was not a hit.
But in the Eliminator album, they made up for the years of their absence from the stage. Four singles were successful on the US charts. They were played on the radio and broadcast on television, musicians were invited to television shows and all kinds of festivals.
The final among a series of deafening albums was Afterburner. After releasing it, Gibbons again announced a short hiatus that lasted almost five years. In 1990, a collaboration with Warner Bros. ended with the release of the next disc, which was called Recycler. This album was an attempt to keep the "golden mean".
On the one hand, I wanted to extend the commercial success for a longer time. On the other hand, the musicians were interested in the blues music characteristic of their very first release. In general, everything went well - we managed to keep new fans and please the old ones.
Four years later, a contract was signed with the RCA label and another successful Antenna release was released. Despite another attempt to "break" with the mass media and mainstream sound, the album was commercially successful.
The group today
Album XXX marked a decrease in the band's popularity. The collection was recognized as the worst in the discography by both critics and listeners. Since then, the band has rarely released new records, giving even more preference to performing at concerts, followed by recording and releasing live albums. The last release of EP Goin' 50 came out in 2019.
