What to listen to this weekend?

Lately the blog has become more about upcoming events and attractions in the land of ZZ, and this aspect will surely ramp up as the release date for the new album approaches. Sometimes its good to stick to the original blog formula. With that in mind, in the interim between now and that no doubt fantastic new record we do have 14 albums of great ZZ music to choose from. What should we pick?

I really am pretty obvious when it comes to my two favorite records, those being "Rhythmeen" and "Tejas". They simply are phenomenal collections of intricate, authentic Southern blues and rock that ZZ emulates so well. Having been recorded in two different periods of the bands career, the collections have some things in common.

The 1976 classic showcases a group that could record any type of music it wanted to, at the slightest notice, and make it amazing. The band's ability to write songs during this period, lyrically and musically, is perhaps unmatched in the time that has transpired since. Markedly this is, in my opinion, the last album where the band took themselves seriously, where they are clawing to make a name for themselves and show they have what it takes. "Deguello" would begin to showcase a group becoming more interested in having fun and being "entertainers" vs. musicians. There were two roads to choose from, the continued pursuit of great music, or the pursuit of great times. I don't know if ZZ made the wrong choice, and the albums that have been put out since are certainly great in their own way - still I wonder what would have happened had the other route been selected. I could do without "Pearl Necklace" and "Tube Steak Boogie", but I suppose many could not.

Twenty years later ZZ Top once again were clawing out, this time to reestablish credibility and musicianship within the industry, both with critics and fans alike. And for a second time the band's ability to almost spontaneously record a monster of a musically and lyrically fluent album came to fruition. "Rhythmeen", from the very, very first guitar chord and bass note of the title track through to the final cymbal crash of "Isn't Love Amazing", simply amazes. Tragically the record was too late, but it was not too little. Those in the know, like you and me, have no doubt this record could stand up to the best not only of ZZ's catalogue, but the blues/rock genre as a whole. It's good to have these gems to crank.

To do list:
Saturday - "Tejas"
Sunday - "Rhythmeen"

Sirius - ZZ Top live / Tribute from Friends

Tonight at 10:30 EST ZZ's live performance from the first annual La Grange Fest will be broadcast live on Sirius XM. Pretty cool arrangement if you ask me. If time allows make sure to have a sit down, hook your computer up to your stereo speakers, pour a little Southern Comfort (to make a southern man feel comfortable) and enjoy the show. You'll save approx $60, can close your eyes and you're basically there.

For those who don't have Sirius (myself included) you can register for a free 7 day trial and enjoy the concert committment free. Details are on Sirius' website.

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Thanks to a kind friend I received a copy of the tribute album. Have only had a chance to listen to about half the songs. Definitely a unique mix of styles and takes - check out Wyclef Jean's version of "Rough Boy". And it appears the "supergroup" M.O.B., which covers "Sharp Dressed Man" may go on to work on some new material in the future. If you've never heard Chickenfoot's LP make sure to check it out, pretty good stuff.

Guest Post - "A Proposed Model for the Next ZZ Top Tour"

Here is what's on Senor Volto's mind this week:

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Wouldn’t it be nice if ZZ followed this example?


A friend of mine was discussing a concert he recently attended by the band Primus. Primus is a rock band whose music falls over several genres (alternative, funk, progressive, experimental). The tour is called the Green Naugahyde tour and supports the album of the same name which was released in September 2011. Green Naugahyde is the first Primus studio album in 11 years. The playlist on the current tour has two sets and an encore. The first set on this tour is a constantly changing playlist of the band’s older hits and fan favorites as well as other obscure tunes. The second set is the entire Green Naugahyde album – the album is 13 songs in 51 minutes. The encore is usually two songs – usually both songs are fan favorites, sometimes it’s one hit and one obscure nugget.

Primus was on fairly exhaustive tour schedule from July to December of 2010 (sound familiar?). After about a two month break, they resumed touring and premiered the first two songs from the yet unreleased album at the end of February. This group of shows lasted about a month. Primus resumed touring in May of this year and salted in six more new unreleased songs during May and early June. This leg of the tour went until early August. When Primus started playing live again on 23 September, it was for the Green Naugahyde tour. Again, the entire new album is played as the second set.

It would really cool if ZZ were to debut new a new song or two in concert before the release of the new album. However, the current tour is scheduled until the end of October, and the new album is scheduled for release in March – April 2012, so this probably won’t happen. Perhaps the band will appear (maybe on a TV show?) sometime in between to play a new song or two. It would be very surprising if they followed a plan like Primus – playing a varied list of older songs every night and playing the entire new album. Maybe the different playlist every night is too much to ask, but some unexpected surprises would be cool. Expecting ZZ to play the entire new album as a set is probably unreasonable, but they used to play lots of new songs on the tours supporting new albums up to and including Rhythmeen. Only four songs were played in support of XXX. Only two songs were played live from Mescalero, but that whole album would have been a long set at just over 61 minutes.

I haven’t dug deeper to see if this is how Primus always supports their new music. I do feel that while playing an entire new album as one set is probably very uncommon, we should certainly hope for more than two live tracks from the new ZZ album.

Where are the books?

I have occasionally given some thought to the lack of good books about ZZ Top, either the individual members or the band as a whole. Surely a group that has existed intact for almost 42 years is deserving of some dedication through the written word.

Really I have only found one book, "Sharp Dressed Men" to have a real interpersonal account of the band's beginning through to the ultimate rise to the stratosphere in the early '80's. Unfortunately the author, who was a roadie for the band, resigned after the Eliminator US tour, and, having seemingly provided many years of loyal service, was not encouraged to stay by Messrs Ham and Gibbons.

The only plausible option is to piece together the multitude of magazines from over the years and combine the interviews into a reasonable timeline of the band's position and outlook. This is my no means a cumbersome task, but can prove to be an expensive one. It would truly be nice to have a full exhausted account of the world's longest running trio.

And truly Billy is ripe for an autobiography. Look at the tales from Steven Tyler, Keith Richards and Sammy Hagar - true the subject matter has a favorable spin but it sure would be nice to hear Billy's thoughts besides the usual "same three guys, same three chords" spiel. And I would love just as much to hear Dusty's (I bet that guy has some interesting things to say) or Frank's account - I mean really, advertisement for Frank's book could be sponsored by Tab.

There are a handful of books that were written in the early to mid 1980's, but these were merely meant to capitalize on the group's fame at the moment and are little more than irrelevant fluff. Pity really.

If anyone knows of any good books out there that I am unaware of or that are rare in nature please advise in the comments section accordingly. Thanks!

A Tribute from Friends / Back to the Drawing Board

So the new official ZZ page has been really pushing the upcoming tribute album. I will be honest and say that I have never cared for these types of records, and found even the Zeppelin tribute album "Encomium" to be pretty boring. Its just never as good as the real thing. Maybe this release will be different you never know. And I suppose it is a good thing to pass the time until the new album comes out.

Aside from the tribute things are pretty quiet. The group continues the casino circuit, playing very short shows clocking in just over 70 minutes. "Future Blues" has become the sole "blues" number and things are rather formula driven. The band has got to be tired by now so you can't really blame them, but then again they agree to do these endless tours so...

Anyone else think the band could tremendously benefit from a dedicated and driven manager who is concentrated solely on ZZ Top? A younger, more energetic Bill Ham would do wonders for helping the band focus their energy into only those ideas and activities that benefit; never thought I would complain of over saturation but maybe taking a year off and then going back to the drawing board would be a good thing for band and audience alike. Everyone deserves a day off. Young fans are imperative to the health of an enterprise, which a modern band is, and the endless stream of baby boomers (who the majority of appear to have endless amounts of discretionary income to throw at multiple shows ever year) don't do anything but create a sense of complacency and predictability. Led Zeppelin hasn't existed in 30 years yet has millions of young fans - why not ZZ? Time to hit the drawing board.