With classic songs such as Sharp Dressed Man, Legs and Gimme Me All Your Lovin, ZZ Top have been at it for well over half a century, delivering their brand of boogie blues rock to the music loving masses.
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As distinctive as their sound, ZZ Top are also virtually synonymous with beards, hot rod cars and spinning guitars.
The group kick off their Australian tour next week, which will see the band headlining the Red Hot Summer tour as well as their own side shows.
Australians first witnessed the group live on their first Australian tour in 1987.
“It was hot and the crowds were huge,” ZZ Top guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons told me last week.
“We felt as though we had discovered another version of Texas on the other side of the world because we were actually welcomed as if we were returning heroes.
“Unforgettable.”
For the upcoming live shows, fans can expect to hear some of the group’s earlier material.
“We’re going back to some very early catalogue numbers from our first album that was so cleverly titled ZZ Top’s First Album,” Gibbons said.
“Beyond that, we’re going to get out there and turn it up and rock out, meaning, we’ll do what we do.”
Gibbons’ deep love of the blues permeates ZZ Top’s music and his guitar playing. He believes that without the blues we would not have had the development of rock and roll.
“It’s central not only to music — maybe not grand opera but there are probably some exceptions — but to sustaining life,” he said.
“It’s the most organic and human expression out there.
“The blues is that art form that’s become sustainable.
“And, with that, we’ll keep on keeping on.”
With ZZ Top’s 1983 album Eliminator, the group embraced the use of synthesizers, which opened the doors to a wider audience, and commercial success on a grand scale.
“Over the years we went hard into embracing sonic tech,” Gibbons said.
“If you think about it, our forebears did the same.
“When Muddy Waters moved from Mississippi to Chicago it can be said that he ‘discovered’ electricity.
“He plugged in because he could and that changed things and that kind of change is constant.
“When we walked into Ardent Studios in Memphis and were confronted by synths, sequencers and wildly weird sound contraptions, we were intrigued and went on a voyage of discovery.
“New tech didn’t obviate the blues; it enhanced the blues.
“We’re still true to that ethos.”
The last studio album by the group was 2012’s La Futura.
Can we expect another album at some point?
“Ideally, we can be both a recording and performing entity,” Gibbons said.
“We always felt one begat the other and now, as we get back in the studio, we’ll ignite the works to crank it out.
“We’ll continue appropriating session time to get the most of the good grind.”
For more ZZ Top and tour dates, go to zztop.com
Music news
After The Who drummer Zak Starkey issued a statement last week that he had parted company with the group, guitarist Pete Townshend, has clarified Starkey’s status with the band.
Zak is “not being asked to step down from The Who”, Townshend posted on Instagram on Saturday, alongside a photo of him hugging Starkey on a stage.
“There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily,” Townshend said.
Now that Madonna and Elton John have buried the hatchet after years of feuding, speculation is rife that a duet from the pair is in the works.
The original remaining members of the Alice Cooper Band are set to release a full new studio album together for the first time in 50 years with the release of The Revenge of Alice Cooper on July 25.
Clem Burke tribute
The music world recently lost one of the most respected and influential drummers of all time, Clem Burke, who drummed for pop-rock group Blondie since their inception in 1974.
Blondie emerged out of New York’s new wave and punk explosion in the 1970s, with Australia playing a major role in the band’s fortunes when it gave Blondie their first ever hit single anywhere in the world in 1977 with In The Flesh.
While my readers may recall my interview with Clem for my Musical Musings page back in March of last year, I had first met Clem in August 2003 when Blondie were in town to perform some shows and undertake promotional duties for their upcoming new album.
As they were all staying at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, I had been scheduled to interview both Clem and Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri.
Having arrived at the casino’s reception area, I was kept waiting for quite a while as interviews with the group were all running behind schedule.
Suddenly the band’s publicist turned up to announce that Debbie Harry had just received a phone call earlier that day informing her of the death of a family member.
And so, because of this event, everything, from interviews to the tour, was up in the air.
While the band eventually decided to continue with the tour, when it came to continuing with the scheduled press interviews, all interviews were now going to be with just one band member; Jimmy Destri and the allocated interview time cut back.
Which for me meant I was now only going to interview Jimmy, as Clem was no longer available.
But after my interview with Jimmy, I did manage to finally meet Clem, who apologised for not being available last minute, but I said that hopefully we would get a chance some other time.
That other time was last year; 21 years later!
Clem’s drumming was integral to Blondie’s sound, and his drum work inspired many others to take up drumming.
He will be sadly missed by not only Blondie fans, but by all in the music industry.
He has left an indelible mark on the music world.
This week’s No.1 albums
AUS: The Moon (The Light Side) — Bliss n Eso
USA: Music — Playboi Carti
UK: God Shaped Hole — Those Damn Crows
Fun fact
Cyndi Lauper’s chart-topping 1980s female anthem Girls Just Want to Have Fun was actually written by a male.
American rock musician Robert Hazard originally wrote and recorded the original version four years before Cyndi Lauper recorded it and turned it into a hit.
Joe Matera is a local singer-songwriter, recording artist, guitarist and music journalist providing readers with all the latest music news.
Musical Musings columnist