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<\/a><\/p>\nZZ TOP a\/k\/a \u201cThat Little Ol\u2019 Band From Texas,\u201d lay undisputed claim to being the longest running major rock band with original personnel intact and, in 2004, the Texas trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Of course, there are only three of them \u2013 Billy F Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard — but it\u2019s still a remarkable achievement that they\u2019re still very much together after almost 45 years of rock, blues, and boogie on the road and in the studio. \u201cYeah,\u201d says Billy, guitarist extraordinaire, \u201cwe\u2019re the same three guys, bashing out the same three chords.\u201d With the release of each of their albums the band has explored new ground in terms of both their sonic approach and the material they\u2019ve recorded. ZZ TOP is the same but always changing.<\/p>\n
It was in Houston in the waning days of 1969 that ZZ TOP coalesced from the core of two rival bands, Billy\u2019s Moving Sidewalks and Frank and Dusty\u2019s American Blues. The new group went on to record the appropriately titled ZZ Top\u2019s First Album and Rio Grande Mud that reflected their strong blues roots. Their third, 1973\u2019s Tres Hombres, catapulted them to national attention with the hit \u201cLa Grange,\u201d still one of the band\u2019s signature pieces today. The song is unabashed elemental boogie, celebrating the institution that came to be known as \u201cthe best little whorehouse in Texas.\u201d Their next hit was \u201cTush,\u201d a song about, well, let\u2019s just say the pursuit of \u201cthe good life\u201d that was featured on their Fandango! album, released in 1975. The band\u2019s momentum and success built during its first decade, culminating in the legendary \u201cWorld Wide Texas Tour,\u201d a production that included a longhorn steer, a buffalo, buzzards, rattlesnakes and a Texas-shaped stage. As a touring unit, they\u2019ve been without peer over the years, having performed before millions of fans through North America on numerous epochal tours as well as overseas where they\u2019ve enthralled audiences from Slovenia to Argentina, from Australia to Sweden, from Russia to Japan and most points in between. Their iconography \u2013 beards, cars, girls and that magic keychain \u2013 seems to transcend all bounds of geography and language.<\/p>\n
Following a lengthy hiatus during which the individual members of the band traveled the world, they switched labels (from British Decca\u2019s London label to Warner Bros.) and returned with two amazingly provocative albums, Deguello and El Loco. Their next release, Eliminator, was something of a paradigm shift for ZZ TOP. Their roots blues skew was intact but added to the mix were tech-age trappings that soon found a visual outlet with the nascent MTV. Suddenly, Billy, Dusty and Frank were video icons, playing a kind of Greek chorus in videos that highlighted the album\u2019s three smash singles: \u201cGimme All Your Lovin\u2019, \u201cSharp Dressed Man\u201d and \u201cLegs.\u201d The melding of grungy guitar-based blues with synth-pop was seamless and continued with the follow-up album Afterburner as they continued their chart juggernaut. ZZ TOP had accomplished the impossible; they had moved with the times while simultaneously bucking ephemeral trends that crossed their path. They had become more popular and more iconic without ever having to be \u201cflavor of the week.\u201d They had become a certified rock institution, contemporary in every way, yet still completely connected to the founding fathers of the genre.<\/p>\n
They stayed with Warner for one more album, Recycler, released in 1990 and switched to RCA where they debuted with Antenna and followed with Rhythmeen, XXX and Mescalero. Beyond that, both a lavish four CD box set compilation, Chrome, Smoke & B.B.Q. and a two-CD distillation of that package, Rancho Texicano, were released by Warner prior to The Complete Studio Albums set. <\/p>\n
In 2012, ZZ TOP unveiled LA FUTURA, their first studio album in nine years. Produced by Rick Rubin and Billy F Gibbons, and released on American Recordings, it reflected the solid blues inspiration that has powered the band since the very beginning with a contemporary approach that underscored the group\u2019s inclination to experiment and explore new sonic vistas. The album included the widely lauded \u201cI Gotsta Get Paid\u201d that has become both a video and in-concert sensation. ZZ Top\u2019s rich history became the subject of a box set release the following year. ZZ Top: The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990 offered no fewer than 10 of the band\u2019s most lauded albums all with the original mixes restored. <\/p>\n
ZZ TOP\u2019s brand new career retrospective The Very Baddest spans the entire course of their London, Warner Bros. and RCA years. Listeners can follow the evolution of the band\u2019s sound from the early 70s into the 00s on either a 40 track double CD or a 20 track single CD. Live at Montreux 2013, just released on Eagle Rock Entertainment on both Blu-ray and DVD formats, showcases their live act, leaving no doubt as to why they have been such a huge concert draw for the last several decades. When it comes to the live experience, they\u2019ve still got it.<\/p>\n
The elements that keep ZZ TOP fresh, enduring and above the transitory fray can be summed up in the three words of the band\u2019s internal mantra: \u201cTone, Taste and Tenacity.\u201d Of course, the three members of the band have done their utmost to do their part in assuring that ZZ TOP prevails. As genuine roots musicians, the members of the band have few peers. Billy is widely regarded as one of American finest blues guitarists working in the rock idiom. His influences are both the originators of the form \u2013 Muddy Waters, B.B. King, et al \u2013 as well as the British blues rockers who emerged the generation before ZZ\u2019s ascendance. In his early days of playing, no less an idol that Jimi Hendrix singled him out for praise. Part mad scientist, part prankster, he\u2019s a musical innovator of the highest order and a certified \u201cguitar god.\u201d He\u2019s a recurring small screen presence in the hit TV series Bones in which he plays a bearded, gruff, rock guitarist. No type casting problems for Billy. <\/p>\n
Dusty has long had an affinity for rock\u2019s origins; his earliest performances as a child included Elvis songs convincingly performed. Not only is he a bass virtuoso in his own right, his vocal prowess is awe-inspiring. He\u2019s the lead voice you hear on \u201cTush\u201d and his ferocious vocals are heard, to great effect, on his idol Elvis Presley\u2019s \u201cJailhouse Rock,\u201d these days, often a concert encore number and recorded by the band on Fandango! Good natured and diligent, Dusty is the rock solid bottom of ZZ TOP.<\/p>\n
Frank has also been keeping the beat in that great tradition. As both a roots and progressive drummer, he has been acknowledged as key to the band\u2019s powerful on-stage and in-studio presence. He and Dusty, in their early years together, served as Lightnin\u2019 Hopkins\u2019 rhythm section which, as Frank tells it, was a life changing experience. Frank, despite his last name, is the guy in the band without a beard. But when you\u2019re with him, you\u2019re with a Beard. He\u2019s a rockin\u2019 paradox who provides the pulse of ZZ TOP.<\/p>\n
ZZ TOP\u2019s music is always instantly recognizable, eminently powerful, profoundly soulful and 100% Texas American in derivation. The band\u2019s support for the blues is unwavering both as interpreters of the music and preservers of its legacy. It was ZZ TOP that celebrated \u201cfounding father\u201d Muddy Waters by turning a piece of scrap timber than had fallen from his sharecropper\u2019s shack into a beautiful guitar, dubbed the \u201cMuddywood.\u201d This totem was sent on tour as a fundraising focus for The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi, site of Robert Johnson\u2019s famed \u201cCrossroads\u201d encounter with the devil. ZZ TOP\u2019s support and link to the blues remains as rock solid as the music they continue to play. They have sold millions of records over the course of their career, have been officially designated as Heroes of The State of Texas, have been referenced in countless cartoons and sitcoms and are true rock icons but, against all odds, they\u2019re really just doing what they\u2019ve always done. They\u2019re real and they\u2019re surreal and they\u2019re ZZ TOP.<\/p>\n
BIOGRAPHY
\nGregg Allman is one of the most-acclaimed and beloved icons in rock and roll history. As a founding member of the legendary Allman Brothers Band and in his own storied solo career, Allman has long been a gifted natural interpreter of the blues, his soulful and distinctive voice one of the defining sounds in the history of American music.
\nAt the 54thAnnual Grammy Awards in 2012, the ABB was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, in part a celebration of the 40th\u00a0anniversary of the group\u2019s seminal album\u00a0Eat a Peach.\u00a0Gregg himself, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, was also nominated for Best Blues Album for his stellar solo record,\u00a0Low Country Blues.
\nAllman\u2019s critically acclaimed tell-all memoir,\u00a0My Cross To Bear, was a\u00a0New York TimesBestseller for many weeks. The book focuses on his journey as a struggling artist through the formation of the Allman Brothers Band and their ultimate explosion on the music scene, informed by the hindsight of Allman today, the survivor of unimaginable loss, drug and alcohol addiction, as well as a recent liver transplant.
\nWith the Allman Brothers wrapping up their storied forty-five year career last October, Allman is showing no signs of slowing down. In August, Concord Records released\u00a0Gregg Allman Live: Back to Macon, GA,\u00a0a stellar live DVD\/CD package that captures Allman and his eight-piece solo band in a high-energy performance. This emotive show was recorded in January, 2014 at the Grand Opera House in Macon, GA, the Middle Georgia town where it all began for the Allman Brothers Band.\u00a0Gregg Allman Live: Back to Macon, GA\u00a0features sixteen tracks, made up of a nicely-varied selection of songs from the ABB catalog (\u201cStatesboro Blues,\u201d \u201cMelissa,\u201d \u201cWhipping Post\u201d), tunes from Allman\u2019s solo albums (\u201cQueen of Hearts,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m No Angel\u201d) and several dynamic cover songs.
\nIn November, 2014, Allman received the \u201cLiving Legend\u201d award from Classic Rock magazine, and recently was the guest of honor at the 67th\u00a0annual BMI\/NAB Dinner. He is currently making plans for a new solo record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Murphys, CA…Get ready Murphys ZZ Top is heading back to Ironstone Amphitheatre on September 30th. The New Show added to the concert season will feature rock legends ZZ Top & Gregg Allman This will be Friday, September 30th at Ironstone Amphitheatre. Tickets on Sale April 7th! ZZ TOP a\/k\/a \u201cThat Little Ol\u2019 Band From Texas,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20,18,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-featured","category-murphys","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3282016-35333-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}