ZZ Top
Formed in Houston, Texas, USA, in 1970, ZZ Top evolved out of the city's psychedelic scene and consist of Billy Gibbons (b. 16 December 1949, Houston, Texas, USA; guitar; ex-Moving Sidewalks), Dusty Hill (b. Joe Hill, 19 May, 1949, Dallas, Texas, USA; bass/vocals; ex-American Blues) and Frank Beard (b. 11 June, 1949, Dallas, Texas, USA; drums; ex-American Blues). ZZ Top's original line-up of Gibbons, Lanier Greig (bass) and Dan Mitchell (drums), was also the final version of the Moving Sidewalks. This initial trio completed ZZ Top's debut single, Salt Lick, before Greig was fired. He was replaced by Bill Ethridge. Mitchell was then replaced by Frank Beard while Dusty Hill subsequently joined in place of Ethridge. Initially ZZ Top joined a growing swell of southern boogie bands and started a constant round of touring, building up a strong following. Their debut album, while betraying a healthy interest in blues, was firmly within this genre, but RIO GRANDE MUD indicated a greater flexibility. It included the rousing Francine which, although indebted to the Rolling Stones, gave the trio their first hit and introduced them to a much wider audience. Their third album TRES HOMBRES was a powerful, exciting set which drew from delta music and high energy rock. It featured the band's first national hit with La Grange (number 41) and was their first platinum album. The group's natural ease was highly affecting and Gibbons' startling guitar work was rarely bettered during these times. However, successive releases failed to attain the same high standard and ZZ Top took an extended vacation following their expansive 1976-1977 tour. The reasons, however, were not solely artistic, as the group now wished to secure a more beneficial recording deal. They resumed their career in 1979 with the superb DEGUELLO. Revitalized by their break, the trio offered a series of pulsating original songs as well as inspired recreations of Sam & Dave's I Thank You and Elmore James' Dust My Broom. The transitional EL LOCO followed in 1981 and although it lacked the punch of its predecessor, preferring the surreal to the celebratory, the set introduced the growing love of technology which marked the group's subsequent releases. ELIMINATOR deservedly became ZZ Top's best-selling album. Fuelled by a series of memorable, tongue-in-cheek videos, it provided several international hit singles, including the million-selling Gimme All Your Lovin'. Sharp Dressed Man and Legs were also gloriously simple yet enormously infectious songs. The group skilfully wedded computer-age technology to their barrelhouse R&B to create a truly memorable set which established them as one of the world's leading live attractions. The follow-up, AFTERBURNER, was a comparative disappointment, although it did feature some excellent individual moments in Sleeping Bag and Rough Boy, and the cleverly titled Velcro Fly. After another worldwide tour, ZZ Top undertook another lengthy break before returning with the impressive RECYCLER. Other notable appearances in 1990 included a cameo, playing themselves, in Back To The Future 3. One of rock's maverick attractions, Gibbons, Hill and Beard have retained their eccentric, colourful image, dark glasses and stetson hats, complete with an almost casual musical dexterity which has won over hardened cynics and carping critics. In addition to having produced a fine (but sparse) canon of work, they will stay in the record books as having the longest beards in musical history (although one member, Frank Beard, is clean-shaven).