Rick Clark, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995. Highlights included "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers," "Precious & Grace," and the two-some "Waitin' for the Bus," and "Jesus Just Left Chicago." * * * * His riffs and chordal voicings were also more memorable. By this album, Billy Gibbons had practically perfected his distinctively dirty electric-guitar sound. Best cuts: "Waitin' For The Bus," "Masters Of Sparks," "Hot, Blue And Righteous."Ĭonstant touring and favorable radio exposure made Tres Hombres ZZ's first hit album, thanks in no small part to "La Grange" (number 41), an ode to a whorehouse. There is some nice gentle three-part harmonies from Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Rube Beard which add another dimension to their music. The blues solos have a soaring flavor, but then for contrast they wait gently when the tempos get down easy. This trio represents one facet of contemporary rock where the vocals and the guitar solos are billed equally. It's nice to hear a vocal clearly with the supporting instruments playing laid back in proper perspective. This Texas band plays with a confidence and assuredness which is ingratiating. The vocals are raw and edgy the guitar breaks blaze with energy and there is often an Indian insistence in the repetitive breaks of the drums. The act is gaining attention around the country this summer while on the concert trail. If you're in the market for some, then you ought to try this band. Top, though, and I am quite taken with "Jesus Just Left Chicago" because I still like to hear a good blues. There is nothing worse than a bad white (or black) blues band and nothing more difficult to praise without dismissing than a good one - it really does hold true that if you've heard one you've pretty much heard them all. But without individual brilliance in musicianship (such as Eric Clapton possesses) or the ability to alter the blues form (as Clapton did), white blues can very rapidly go stale. Blues are a lot of fun to sing and play, and great stuff for dancing to. Top is a good Texas blues band, but there have been an awful lot of whit blues bands over the last ten years and the musical form is, I think, nearly exhausted. I do wonder when the audiences will get tired of hearing the same."Poot yawl hans together" patter. ZZ Top seem to be at least one of the most inventive of the three-piece rockers but they are only one of several competent Southern rocking bands. Vocally, ZZ have an advantage over most white rockers in that these Southerners sound black anyway with lines like."You don't have to worry, 'cause takin' care of business is his name" - sung by Gibbons in a drawl so thick he would do Leadbelly justice. "Waiting for the Bus" is a mean muddled track reminiscent of early Canned Heat complete with the usual repetitive three-chord lick. Minimal echo and lots of live-sounding jamming. Tres Hombres was recorded with their live performances in mind. Billy Gibbons plays a tasty Duane Allman lead with Dusty Hill and Frank Beard pounding out the funky bottom. Their second album, Rio Grande Mud, had an English feel in the production end with Rolling Stones-type tunes such as "Chevrolet" and the Brown Sugarish "Francene." ZZ Top have shown in all three of their recordings the dynamic rhythms that only the finest of the three-piece bands can cook up. Tres Hombres is a definite step back to their white blues roots. ZZ Top makes no bones about being cowboys who used to be in the psychedelic music scene and who have recently discovered the joys of guzzling beer and driving their cars and bikes at 110 miles an hour. The whole Southern rock & roll sound seems to be catching on as fast as a swig of potato liquor reaching the brain. Besides spawning two incredible albino rock & blues brothers and one late first lady of the boogie, Texas is becoming one hell of a place to say you're from.
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