RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Correct. Here's what Gornik had to say about the album.
I’m still working on a metal orientated album for a choice to be debated. For my nomination this time round I’ve gone for one of my all time favourite artists - ZZ Top.
It annoys me that these boys are best known for their Eliminator era stuff. Whilst I found this enjoyable it was their earlier music that attracted me. For those blues aficionados I haven’t gone for one of the early albums which are awesome (Tres Hombres, Rio Grande Mud in particular), instead my album of choice is Deguello.
This was the first ZZ Top album I bought, and it was deliberately the first album I bought on CD (so I would always remember my first CD purchase… my second was Brothers In Arms).
Following a two year hiatus when the band famously went on their separate sabbaticals and Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill returned with their now trademark beards - they recorded and released Deguello in 1979.
This is one of those albums I can listen to at anytime, and it never gets old. The opening notes of I Thank You (a cover of an Isaac Hayes and David Porter tune from the late 60s) just puts me into a real happy place.
Compared to their earlier albums there was some experimentation with their sound. Billy Gibbons had some punk exposure whilst travelling in Europe and there was a conscious effort to new technology - Manic Mechanic being an example.
She Loves My Automobile couple with Hi Fi Mama the boys credited with the baritone and alto and tenor sax. To my knowledge sax thankfully did not appear on any of their later albums.
The next two tracks - I’m Bad I’m Nationwide and A Fool For Your Stockings showcase what this trio do when they get it right - awesome tight blues music. Gibbons masterful guitar solos and licks and the driving bass section delivered by Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.
Manic Mechanic as mentioned earlier is of its time and I tolerate it now because it fits into the overall feel of the album, but for me is the weakest track.
Side B starts with an immense cover of Dust My Broom. My original vinyl copy credits this to Elmore James, but later versions credit it correctly to Robert Johnson. Again this is an amazing blues song which is covered impeccably.
Lowdown In The Street whilst not a star track has more incredible licks from Gibbons. His overall playing on the album is just masterful and it is one of the main reasons I love it so much.
Hi Fi Mama - return of the sax! A great tempo to a song which just oozes ZZ Top tightness but with a fun edge. On this album Dusty Hill sings the main vocal and proves he had a great voice.
For me, Cheap Sunglasses is one of my all time favourites by any bad. I think Gibbons has three solos on this which just never get old. I read an interview he did in a guitar magazine many years ago and each solo was recorded with different amp and guitar settings and whilst that sounds a bit technical they just blow me away and it’s one of those tunes I which went on for another few minutes at least.
Esther Be The One in its own way seems the perfect end to the album, the final notes just linger enough to keep you wanting more, so you turn it over and play it again (at least I used to!).
I know there are some not so great tracks on this album. I think it takes me back to a time unlike today, when skipping was awkward unlike a CD or stream, so you embraced the album as whole and I think the fillers are all the better for that. The stand out tracks I’m Bad I’m Nationwide, Fool For Your Stockings and Cheap Sunglasses were live staples for many years.
This is ZZ Top at their peak for me before the MTV hype saw them launch into the public domain. Go backwards from this album into their earlier work and there is plenty to tap your toes to. Being a FOC I very rarely move forward from this point, as it all got too familiar. As much as Billy Gibbons is a master guitarist, Hill and Beard are legends in their own right. It was a sad day when Dusty Hill passed, but in their own way and with Dusty’s blessing the band continues.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I have over the years, if not, I tried my best!