Bubba's Country Store

I present good friend and ZZ fanatic Rebzz's account of his trip to Bubba's Country Store, scene of the Jeremiah Weed / ZZ Top commercial. Enjoy....

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First of all, Austin is a very cool town. I decided to mapquest Buuba's today and to my amazement it was only 15 minutes from my hotel! I took to the road today and found the store very easily. It is south of Austin but not too far out. As I was turning in the parking lot a guy was filling up his car and I asked him to snap a pic of me with my iPad in front of the store. He most graciously obliged. I then made my way into the store and it is just what you would expect a southern country store would be- candy bars on the left and bread and other necessities on the right. The lady behind the counter immediately thought I was lost by the look on my face as I slowly eased in the door. She was very nice! I told her I was a ZZ Top fan and wanted the full story of the video shoot. She was actually there during the entire process.

She took me on into the back part of the store where wine and beer are sold. She said the store shut down for 4 days while the set was constructed.. You will see a a pic of me in front of the wine standing in the exact spot where the band was set up in the video. A fake wall had been built to look like a cooler but it is no longer there. She said that none of the customers were aware of the set up at all. They were all real customers with no idea what was going on. The customers made anywhere from $300 to $4000.00 for being in the video.. After they signed releases they were told that they would be paid based upon the type of reaction and participation. Of course they didn't know this until after they opened the cooler. It took 4 days to complete the video. The band was there for 2 days.

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The near future will bring another adventure story from Rebzz, this one with some real revelations...

Tennessee ZZ Top show review

At late notice I decided to head Over the Hills and Far Away yesterday to see the ZZ in northeastern Tennessee. Opening act took the stage at 7:00 pm....

Dive right in -

- Cadillac Black opened. These guys are hardcore. Long haired pencil necked blue collar sleeveless plaid wearin' 20' somethings. They were actually louder than ZZ. Just three guys....one on keyboards and bass pedals. But they rocked. Seriously rocked. My ears were bleeding but I assumed that was normal. Full of raw energy and very hungry, these guys are pure bred "don't give a damn don't tread on me" stock. Youtube and their albums don't seem to do them justice. Got to see them live....

- Skynyrd sucked. Van Zant's vocals were flat, he must have said Tennessee at least 20 times, patronizing crap. They know the formula and they work it hard. They did play two songs from the new album, which is more than I can say for ZZ. But again it was played out. They over dramatize and are struck in the '70's. ZZ looks like their from the 2000's, Skynyrd doesn't. And Rossington looks like Satan with white hair. D-

- ZZ. At this point the crowd had been drinking for almost three hours. Beer was everywhere. And with nobody checking your bags at the door there were liquor bottles, airplane bottles, and suspicious looking bottles everywhere. The crowd was young, probably a median age of 40 - half below and half above. The younger crowd were busy hot boxing cigarates and trying to suck each other's tongues out of their owners' mouth, in between screaming, pushing and yelling at each other of course. Personally the taste of cigraettes never did it for me, but hormones dull your taste buds I suppose. If you have asthma do not go to concerts in TN, you will pass out. Anyway the beer didn't stop, even though ZZ probably only had 75 minutes of playing to go. They seemed to sense the energy and kept it fired up, with little chit chat between tunes and exaggrated manerisms on stage. Dusty had a problem with his ponytail during "Bus", he walked over to a technician (not Pablo, I didn't see him once, saw Elwood of course) and had his hair did. He then walked back over to Billy, tapped him on the shoulder and shouted "I'm back", then they did some non-Paula Abdul chorographed dance moves. At this point some fans started to pass out, and you had to watch your step for fear of stepping in beer or messing up someone's mullet. Billy advised Elwood there would be no "Vincent Price Blues" - not for this crowd, they weren't in the mood.

- Billy actually plugged "La Futura", advising the crowd during the introduction to "Gotsta Get Paid". As soon as Billy started the chords the crowd cheered - they know this one and they like it. This is the new "Mississippi", this is the new "Pincushion". The first radio friendly rock friendly single they have had in 18 years. Saw La Futura debuted at number 7 on the Billboard charts this past week - the highest on the chart they have been since "Antenna", maybe even "Recycler".

- No "La Futura" shirts for sale. Dumb.

- Tube Snake, La Grange and Tush rounded it out. Based on how much people were struggling to walk up the stairs I decided to literally run to my car, take a right from the parking lot (instead of a left onto the interstate) and ride a TN 2 lane rural highway under the cover of a cloudy dark sky.....scanning the local radio stations I came upon "Sleeping Bag".....that don't happen every day....

Billy, Billy, Billy.....(shakes head)

BFG is a poor historian, I'll tell you that. This man twists and turns more than Chubby Checker.

http://beta.musicradar.com/news/guitars/interview-billy-gibbons-on-zz-tops-nyc-live-setlist-560234/2#!1

***So you gonna play some of those new songs huh? Really? Prove it....

Beacon / La Futura review / Things to Come

Well, the La Futura "coming out party" was last night at the Beacon in New York. Reports are in - ZZ put on a great and energetic show but failed to play any new material aside from "Gotsta Get Paid".
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Chartreuse has been played during soundchecks. They have rehearsed the song but apparently not enough. It is absolutely imperative that ZZ capitalize on the current mometum of good vibes, the good sales and good reviews, and play these new songs. People dig this album, people want to hear these new songs.
PLAY SOME OF THE NEW SONGS DAMMIT!!!

P.S. Thanks to my friend Clay G. for his detailed analysis of last night's show.

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I plan on posting a full review of the album in the next few weeks or so. I think it's important to have a decent amount of time to soak up and notice all the nuiances that make ZZ Top songs unique. I want to have a chance to listen some more before I make my final call.

I also anticipate Senor Volto will be posting his album review in the near future. We'll see where we agree and disagree.

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Never fear, there is more to write about in the world of ZZ Top beyond "La Futura".
Coming soon:
1) An indepth story of one reader's adventure to Bubba's Country Store, scene of the Jeremiah Weed / ZZ Top commercial. Thanks to good buddy Rebzz for this one.
2) A look into the highly suspect "autographed" posters received as part of the VIP ticket package. At this time all I can say is BUYER BEWARE.'
3) Continuing coverage of ZZ's fall live tour in support of "La Futura"
4) A write up on the chops and changes within ZZ from the time Mescalero was released to the present.
5) Some more stuff I come up with.....

The Future

Just kidding...

The Future is now.
Deluxe version with two additional songs, both with slide guitar and one with lead vocals by Dusty, available in stores at Best Buy in the US and on ebay internationally.

With two new songs the album feels more "complete"

Revised album score: "B+" to an "A"

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1

greatest Gibson of all time:

1) Pearly

...

2

greatest producers of ZZ Top albums:

1) Billy Gibbons
2) Bill Ham

...

3

keys to ZZ Top's success:

1) Tone
2) Taste
3) Tenacity

...

4

top tall tales from BFG:

1) Ms. Precious and Ms. Grace

2) Jimi's gift of a pink guitar

3) The "Manic Mechanic" mechanic

4) The new album will be released in 2005, 2006, 2007...

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5

top ZZ songs sung by Dusty:

1) Teddy Bear

2) Ten Dollar Man

3) Loaded

4) Party On the Patio

5) Tush

...........

6

....best selling ZZ Top albums:

1) Eliminator
2) Afterburner
3) Recycler
4) Tres Hombres
5) Antenna
6) Deguello

It's the Final......

7....

best years to be a ZZ Top fan:
1) 1977

2) 1983

3) 1973

4) 2012

5) 1986

6) 1996

7) 2003