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ZZ Top

ZZ Top is a rock band, most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s, from Houston, Texas. The band members are Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar, of Moving Sidewalks), Dusty Hill (bass, of The American Blues) and Frank Beard (drums, of The Cellar Dwellers, The Hustlers, and The American Blues).

As well as a distinctive guitar sound and hard-driving, innuendo-laced lyrics (many of which are about places and events in their home state of Texas), the band is probably best known for its distinctive look. Gibbons and Hill are always pictured wearing sunglasses, trenchcoats and their trademark waist-length beards. (Frank Beard, interestingly, does not wear a beard.) In 1984, the Gillette company offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million apiece to shave their beards for a commercial, but they declined.

The band first gained wide attention with their "Tres Hombres" album, which contained the classic song "La Grange", referencing the same bordello that is the subject of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." They reached new heights of popularity with the 1983 album Eliminator, boosted to prominence by music videos for the tracks "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs" and "Sharp Dressed Man" each of which featured a small bright red vintage coupe called The Eliminator and a mysterious trio of beautiful women who travel around helping various people in the videos.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted ZZ Top in on March 15, 2004.


Contents

Discography

Singles

  • "Cheap Sunglasses"
  • "La Grange"
  • "Nationwide"
  • "Tush"
  • "Velcro Fly"
  • also, the songs listed under "Music Videos" below

Music videos

  • "Gimme All Your Lovin'" (1983)
  • "Sharp Dressed Man" (1983)
  • "Legs" (1984)
  • "Sleeping Bag"
  • "Viva Las Vegas"
  • "Rough Boy"
  • "Burger Man"
  • "TV Dinners"

DVDs

Books

  • "ZZ Top: Bad and Worldwide" (1985)
  • "ZZ Top" by Mitchell Craven (July 1, 1985)
  • "ZZ Top" by Philip Kamin (March 3, 1986)
  • "ZZ Top" by Robert Draper (July 1, 1989)
  • "Elimination: The ZZ Top Story" (December 1, 1991)
  • "Sharp-Dressed Men: Zz Top Behind the Scenes from Blues to Boogie to Beards" (May 1, 1994)
  • "ZZ Top: Elimination" (June 1, 1998)
  • "ZZ Top Greatest Hits" (July 1, 1999)
  • "The New Best of Zz Top for Guitar (Easy Tab Deluxe)" (July 1, 1999)
  • "ZZ Top / XXX (Authentic Guitar-Tab)" (March 1, 2000)
  • "ZZ Top - Guitar Anthology" (February 1, 2003)
  • "Essential ZZ Top" (April 2003)
  • "The Very Best of ZZ Top" (April 1, 2003)
  • "The Best of Zz Top: A Step-By-Step Breakdown of the Guitar Styles and Techniques of Billy Gibbons" (September 1, 2003)
  • "ZZ Top: Fearless Boogie - The Full 30-Year Story of the Great Texas Trio" (Author: Hugh Gregory. Publisher: Backbeat Books. Floating rumor's have stated that this book was cancelled. It was scheduled for an Oct. '04 release but it never surfaced anywhere. Keep a look out, it might show up.)

NOTE: Most of these books (plus many others) were located at: Amazon.com. Publishing dates were acquired from Amazon.com.

Interesting trivia

External links

Last updated: 05-07-2005 17:43:10
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04