If it was about sex I’d think, Boy, I wish I was that guy! HILL When I was younger, I’d listen to a song and take it literally. GW In what way did the blues stimulate your imagination? When I started playing, I couldn’t wait to play something that had that much feeling. I mean, how cold is that? The emotion on those records really captured me. The blues were still called “race records” back then. Their parents wouldn’t let them come back. Then, when they would come over to my house, I’d play them some blues. I’d go over to friends’ houses and ask them to put on some Howlin’ Wolf, and they wouldn’t know what I was talking about. We had Lightnin’ Hopkins as well as Elvis Presley records. ĭUSTY HILL Actually, my mother turned me on to the blues. Plus it was cool because our parents hated it. The two and the four made your head snap. GUITAR WORLD What is it about the blues that attracted you?īILLY GIBBONS The backbeat. As Billy himself sang, “My Head’s in Mississippi”… While it was by no means an acoustic blues album, it was the rootsiest thing Gibbons, Hill and Beard had done in years, the work of men who know the blues-the entertainment, the mystery. ZZ Top and William Bunch would understand each other-that much was made clear by the group’s 1991 album, Recycler. They are a bit like Peetie Wheatstraw, the Devil’s Son-In-Law and High Sheriff from Hell. Nor are they 19th century prospectors, or Hasidic Jews. The beards further blur their identities. The ZZ Top boys are the least-focused personas in the videos-the most mysterious. Perhaps the best indicators of this sensibility in Billy and Dusty were the great videos from the Eliminator album-particularly “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.” Gibbons, Hill and drummer Frank Beard were nothing less than genii in those clips, benign, intangible figures who existed solely to spread thumbs-up encouragement and hot-babe good cheer to deserving, overworked souls worldwide. Unlike so many second-rate, would-be blues players, they share an intuitive feel for the blues on an entirely different level. A news release notes that the tour’s name is a hat tip to both the forthcoming album as well as the recent release of ZZ Top Tres Hombres whisky from Balcones Distilling of Waco TX, a flavorful 100 proof mash bill of roasted blue corn, malted barley and rye.Nevertheless, Gibbons and Hill understand the blues in a manner that transcends their considerable knowledge of the music’s development and instrumental techniques. In addition to the album, ZZ Top announced the RAW Whisky Tour, which began in San Diego on May 27 and is visiting 50 markets across North America. The new record, Raw: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, is dedicated “in righteous memory of Dusty Hill,” the bassist who passed away in July.Ĭlick here to pre-order Raw on CD from our Rock Cellar StoreĬlick here to pre-order Raw on LP from our Rock Cellar Store Billy Gibbons noted, “Even though Dusty, Frank, and I grew up in different part of Texas we listened to the same stations, particularly the “X” stations and, as a result, we gained a lot of the same musical and cultural points of reference.” Stateside stations were maxed out to 50,000 watts of peak power while the Mexican stations were known for their million-watt signals. The song is a faithful chronicle of the famed “border blaster” radio phenomenon from the time when Mexican AM stations held call letters beginning with the letter “X” just south of the border, broadcasting with virtually unlimited wattage. “Heard It On The X” made its debut in 1975 as part of ZZ Top’s fourth album Fandango!, and continues to be one of the band’s most enduring creations. ![]() ![]() ![]() Some more context on this song in particular:
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