The URL for this web page has changed, please make a note of it as the old URL will cease to function shortly. The new URL is: http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~pzurich/zztop.html

The Little Ol' Web Page from Texas

Billy Gibbons Dusty Hill Frank Beard


Click on the album cover for a larger image or on the album title for lyrics. The band's history begins here, or you can fast-forward directly to the Eliminator era. Guitar tabs, pictures, sound files, and much more are located at the bottom of the page.

ZZ Top was formed in 1970 in and around Houston from rival bands, the Moving Sidewalks (Gibbons) and the American Blues (Hill and Beard). ZZ's first two albums reflected the strong blues roots and Texas humor of the band.

ZZ Top's First Album (1970), ZZ Top's debut album on London Records, featuring "Shaking Your Tree" and "Brown Sugar," as well as "Back Door Love Affair," which would later be featured as part of a live concert recording on Fandango! (1975).

Rio Grande Mud (1972), featuring ZZ's first hit single, "Francine," as well as "Just Got Paid." Other highlights include "Bar-B-Q," "Down Brownie" and "Mushmouth Shoutin'." A review is available.
By their next album, Billy Gibbons had practically perfected his distinctively dirty electric guitar sound. The self-described "Little Ol' Band from Texas" had begun to attract national attention with Tres Hombres, thanks in part to constant touring and favorable radio exposure.
Tres Hombres (1973), ZZ Top's first gold album, featuring "La Grange," a signature riff tune and their first Top 40 hit, as well as the twosome "Waitin' For The Bus" and "Jesus Just Left Chicago." A review is available.
The band's success continued unabated throughout the 70s, culminating with the year and a half-long Worldwide Texas Tour, which drew record-breaking crowds and featured a stage set with live buffalo, a long-horn steer, rattlesnakes, and buzzards.
Fandango! (1975), a half-studio, half-live album, featuring ZZ's future long-term live encore, "Tush," which hit the Top 20, as well as "Heard it on the X," a tribute to the pirate radio stations whose sound lent early influence to the band.

Tejas (1976), featuring "Arrested for Driving While Blind" and "El Diablo." A review is available from Rolling Stone, and a larger article about the album is available from Circus Magazine.

Best of ZZ Top (1977), the best representation of ZZ's early work, containing classic riff-heavy blues rockers like "Jesus Just Left Chicago," "Heard it on the X," "Tush" and "La Grange."
Exhausted from the overwhelming workload, the band took a three-year break, then switched labels and returned to form with Deguello and El Loco, both harbingers of what was to come.
Deguello (1979), ZZ Top's first new album on Warner Bros., featuring "I Thank You," "Cheap Sunglasses" and concert favorite "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide."

El Loco (1981), featuring "Party on the Patio," "Pearl Necklace" and "Tube Snake Boogie." A press release is available.
By the band's next album, Eliminator, and its followup, Afterburner, ZZ Top had successfully harnessed the potential of synthesizers, combining them with the band's patented blues groove to give their material a more contemporary edge while still retaining its Texas style.
Eliminator (1983), a multiplatinum smash which remained on the charts for 135 weeks and featured the hit trio "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs." A review is available.

Afterburner (1985), another worldwide smash album which featured the Top 10 hit "Sleeping Bag," as well as "Velcro Fly" and "Rough Boy."
Sporting long beards and boiler suits, ZZ Top met the emerging video age head-on. Becoming even more popular, the band continued to move with the times while simultaneously bucking every trend that crossed its path. Gibbons has become one of America's finest blues guitarists, while Hill and Beard continue to provide the ultimate rhythm section support.
Recycler (1990), featuring "Doubleback," a theme song created for Back to the Future III, and "My Head's in Mississippi," a gritty synthesis of ZZ's early blues-rock and later high-tech gloss. A review is available.

Greatest Hits (1992), featuring classic hits and two new singles, "Gun Love" and "Viva Las Vegas"
The first album under a new label, Antenna marks ZZ Top's look back to the sounds that influenced them in their early days. Abandoning the synthesizers, ZZ delivers an album full of memorable riffs and highly reminiscent of Tres Hombres' sweaty blues-rock.
Antenna (1994), ZZ Top's debut RCA disc, featuring "Pincushion," "Antenna Head" and "World of Swirl." Reviews are available from Newsweek and Time.

One Foot In The Blues (1994), a compendium of seventeen classic ZZ Top blues originals. A press release is available.

Picturezz

Promo Sound Filezz

From Tres Hombres, ZZ Top's first 'gold' album:

Guitar Tablaturezz

Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers, Burger Man, Cheap Sunglasses, Gimme All Your Lovin, Give it Up, Got Me Under Pressure, I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide, La Grange, Legs, My Head's in Mississippi, Rough Boy, Sharp Dressed Man, Stages, Tube Snake Boogie, Tush (new version), TV Dinners

More About ZZ Top

What's new? Starting to add interpretive notes to the end of each of the lyrics files. Also work on improving overall quality of lyrics files; I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide, Give it Up, Stages, Tube Snake Boogie, Tush, and Gimme All Your Lovin' guitar tabs; information on books about ZZ Top. Soon to come: More guitar tabs and pictures of ZZ Top's cars. Also perhaps a "gallery" of a few of the rarer ZZ Top (and pre-ZZ Top?) releases. This page has been visited by people in every state in the US and over 40 countries around the world!
If you get a file access error, try again later as one of the servers is overloaded. If you have other problems with this page, or if you can contribute something, please contact me! Also send me your suggestions on how I can make this page better... my email address is below. Thanks to AR, JHS, UW, CS, AH, and MH for their generous contributions and to Lone-Wolf Management for their support of this effort. Portions of the commentary in this page were taken from excerpts of the All-Music Guide. Images, lyrics, and names are copyright and trademark of their respective owner.
Peter Zurich - All rights reserved.
pzurich@uiuc.edu