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11 June 2007
Great CD From The Personfication of Texas Blues
3 of 3 found this helpful Musically, there are groups, individuals and "scenes" that perfectly click at one time or another. Starting in the mid 1970s Austin, Texas was just such a place.
Clifford Antone opened Antone's ("Austin's Home Of The Blues") and promptly installed a group of funky white boys who called themselves the Fabulous Thunderbirds as the house band. The T-Birds featured a slick & cool guitarist named Jimmie Vaughan who personified the "forget the trends, we're gonna do what we like" style of Texas Blues. His spanky, sparkling tone was most distinctive; he did more with a maple-necked Stratocaster and a Fender Super Reverb than anybody before (or after) could imagine.
Meanwhile, his little brother, Stevie Vaughan (he later placed his given middle name "Ray" on adverts and the like) had the unenviable task of following in the prior footsteps laid out by Jimmie. Enduring taunts of "play like your brother!", he responded by becoming wilder, louder and more over-the-top. His tough, pearly and punchy tone has been copied the world over to this day.
By the early eighties, both of the Vaughans had established their own distinctive styles, sounds and bands.
Amazingly, the Vaughan Brothers had never made an album together before this 1990 effort. They had recorded together--Jimmie was featured on SRV's "Couldn't Stand The Weather" & "Live Alive"--but "Family Style" was the first proper album they had made together. It was also a first in another respect; it was the first time most of the world had heard Jimmie sing. Forced into the vocal booth by producer Niles Rogers, he added crooning to his list of accomplishments.
Released shortly after SRV's death, this disc is a must-have for any Texas Blues fanatic. Although smoother and less fiery than the Vaughan Boys' prior (individual) discs, this recording added artistic dimensions not heard or known by most of their fans and observers.
Standout tracks:
"Hard To Be"--as Jimmie's spoken intro says, "Just roll 'til I feel somethin'..."
"White Boots"--Jimmie SINGS! Lazy/laid back lead vocals that sounds like a bluesified-countrified-funkified Texas Rat Pack-er coupled with SRV's tough and toneful lead licks.
"D/FW"--Texas instrumental blues/rock at its' finest, complete with a Leslie Cabinet-effected guitar, Stingin' Stratocaster Stabs (say that three times fast!) and another cool spoken intro, "HOWDY, FOLKS! WELCOME TO D/FW!"
"Hillbillies From Outer Space"--another instrumental; this one an upbeat, vaguely jazzical outing that heavily features a...well, what is that thing? What at first sounds to be a Hammond B-3 organ driving the tune is actually a lap steel guitar being played (by Jimmie!) through either a Leslie cabinet or a speeded-up phase-shifter.
"Long Way From Home" and "Telephone Song"--both could be refugees from a Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble disc, the latter with a heavy dose of wah pedal.
"Tick Tock"--this would have been a great track regardless, but SRV's quiet-but-impassioned vocals telling of a peaceful utopia in the context of his untimely passing makes it all the more poignant.
"Brothers"--the playful interchange of the two distinctly different stylists with admonitions such as, "Now, y'all share!" spoken by their "mama". Reports (myth or reality, you decide) that the boys would unplug the guitar cord and hand it to one another throughout the song abound. The track ends with her words, "I love you both..."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
10 August 2006
Pretty Good Book, But Sour Grapes Make Not Sweet Wine
1 of 1 found this helpful Full Disclosure Time: I am one of the biggest Fanzz of ZZ Top ever. I have all of their official recordings (including compilations, remasters, B-sides & bonus tracks, box sets, etc.), several bootleg live CDs and DVDs (shh! don't tell anyone!), and even the various guest performances by Billy Gibbons on other artists' recordings. I love their sound, style, image, everything. In my opinion, they typify the best in Texas Blues/Rock. Dusty Hill is a great blues shouter as well as a phenomenal bassist, and Frank Beard is in the top five of rock drummers of all time. Billy Gibbons is one of the most creative and eccentric musicians/vocalists ever (that squanky blues-rock sound sends shivers up my spine).
There were some humorous aspects of the book, especially the stories about the ramshackle early days with little or no money, cruddy facilities, near-disasterous gigs, etc. Blayney obviously feels great affection towards Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, and he tells a great deal about the personal relationships that he fostered with them. He didn't pander or kow-tow to them, though, and did point out some of the personal warts (drugs, women) as well. The story was well-written (Blayney's editor/ghost writer did a good job in moving the narrative along). The photos and inside information about the early formation of the group were entertaining, too.
Blayney's book mostly seemed to be trying to "pull back the curtain" on the business side of the band, especially Bill Ham's management. Blayney hammered both Gibbons and Ham ad nauseum, pointing out "unfair" or "inequitible" situations (especially financial) that may or may not have occurred in the twenty-plus years of his association with the band as a roadie/tour manager. One thing that Blayney might have forgotten is the fact that he was involved in show business--"BUSINESS" being the operative word. Unfortunately, any successful venture in ANY industry is going to have some cold, impersonal situations arise.
The story ended with a whimper rather than a bang, especially since there were a few last-minute snipes at Gibbons and Ham. Blayney must be missing something in the interpersonal dynamics of the band, because Beard and Hill have stuck with the group since 1969 (the only band with original recording members to be together for 36+ years!). Neither of them are hurting for money, fame, recognition or creativity--they can do what they want, when they want.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I think there is some merit to it from a fan's viewpoint, but the criticism I levelled at it above makes it hard to give it a higher rating than "Average".
**Other good sources of info on ZZ Top are lowpft.com (Little Ol' Web Page From Texas), Billy Gibbon's "Rock+Roll Gearhead" coffee table tome, and the official website of the group, zztop.com.
27 March 2007
Best Album of the 1990s!
2 of 2 found this helpful RHYTHMEEN was the second album of ZZ Top's RCA era. It is the most criminally overlooked and underrated CD of the band's entire catalog.
This is not the sound that ZZ Top laid down on TRES HOMBRES or ELIMINATOR; it's grunge-y, down-tuned, tuff & nasty blues/rock.
Thematically, the disc feels like a roadtrip from New Orleans to Tijuana, staying on the seedy side of the street all the way.
Great tunes--Great tones--Great Disc!