Fandango

Product Information

Critical acclaim and retrospective releases (2004–2011) [ edit ] ZZ Top at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, on June 26, 2010

But not before providing some amazing photographic evidence for the inner sleeve – in part to help explain their long absence from recording, and in part to inform fans that ZZ's long-awaited return was in fact a a half-live, half-studio proposition. So let's move to Fandango! It's a very odd album. It appears to me that they had to fulfil a contract and had to release an album without enough songs written. So they fill it up with a live recording. Bosso, Joe (June 3, 2013). "Billy Gibbons talks ZZ Top: The Complete Studio Albums (1970-1990)". MusicRadar. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014 . Retrieved October 30, 2020. So: about 18 minutes I don't care for and <20 that I do. It's a hella short album (not a problem in itself) but this is going to be hard to score.

New ZZ Top tour features West Seattle talent". West Seattle Herald. September 7, 2012 . Retrieved February 22, 2015. ZZ Top formed after Gibbons' previous band, Moving Sidewalks, disbanded in 1969. Within a year, they signed with London Records and released ZZ Top's First Album in 1971. Subsequent releases, such as Tres Hombres (1973) and Fandango! (1975), and the singles " La Grange" and " Tush", gained extensive radio airplay. By the mid-1970s, ZZ Top had become renowned in North America for their live act, including the Worldwide Texas Tour (1976–1977), which was a critical and commercial success. For its part, side two of Fandango! introduced no less than six exhilarating new studio cuts, as strong as anything contained on the celebrated Tres Hombres.

In the late 80s, after the colossal successes of Eliminator and Afterburner, Warner Records made the decision to reissue all ZZ Top's London-era albums on CD for the first time. Sounds great, only an immense spanner ended up getting thrown into the works. See, some genius there had the bright idea of also giving those older albums a sonic makeover, adding extra reverb and echo to the drum sound in particular. I guess the thinking was that these 'enhanced' new versions would resonate better with younger fans of the band, only familiar with the then current, synthesised, Eliminator-era Top. In July 2021, Hill was forced to leave a tour after a hip injury. ZZ Top performed without him at the Village Commons in New Lenox, Illinois, with Hill's guitar tech Elwood Francis on bass. [54] Five days later, on July 28, ZZ Top announced that Hill had died at his home in Houston at the age of 72. [55] His wife later reported that he had suffered from chronic bursitis. [56] Per Hill's wishes, ZZ Top continued with Francis on bass. [54] Hill had already recorded bass and vocals for ZZ Top's upcoming album. [57]On December 12, ZZ Top announced a co-headlining tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd for summer 2023, titled The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour. The tour is scheduled to commence July 21, 2023 in West Palm Beach and conclude September 17, 2023 in Camden. While the fandango is generally defined, according to Merriam-Webster, as a “lively Spanish or Spanish-American dance in triple time that is usually performed by a man and a woman to the accompaniment of guitar and castanets,” it can also mean just simple “tomfoolery.” While ZZ Top have never really been known to play anything close to resembling music that would inspire a fandango as defined in the former, they definitely have been known to engage in the latter. The original line-up was formed in Houston and consisted of Gibbons, bassist/organist Lanier Greig, [5] and drummer Dan Mitchell. [5] The name of the band was Gibbons' idea. The band had a small apartment covered with concert posters and he noticed that many performers' names used initials. Gibbons particularly noticed B.B. King and Z. Z. Hill and thought of combining the two into "ZZ King", but considered it too similar to the original name. He then figured that "king is at the top" which gave him the idea of naming the band "ZZ Top". [6] Hlavaty, Craig (February 10, 2020). "ZZ Top played its first show together 50 years ago". houstonchronicle.com . Retrieved May 25, 2022. While Fandango! has a lot going for it, and it's an entertaining and fun listen, in the end, it's just an album with two songs on it, good enough, that I would record them to make a mix tape. So it is like a carnival, It was fun but I forgot most of it.

Greg Schwepe: Fandango!: Is it a live album in need of a longer set? Or is it a studio album in need of more material? 8 out of 10 on this one from the not fully bearded (yet) trio from Texas. I know there are other “1 side live/1 side studio” albums out there (none come to mind at the moment), so it gives you the best of both worlds.

Tracklist

It's not a Tres Hombres or an Eliminator, but it's still a great, fun album. Well worth a listen, but avoid the 80s remixed album where possible. 8/10. The the album contains five strong songs, two average and two totally superfluous songs. It can't compete with Trés Hombre and Rio Grande Mud at all. Because the strong songs are real killers it still get's 7/10. John Edgar: When this initially released I was completely unaware of the first two albums and I had only heard a select few songs from Tres Hombres. Also, a lot of people, even in Texas where I grew up, had not yet had a chance to see ZZ Top play live. Their growing legend was just beginning to get a some real attention, so during the promotional period leading up to the initial release of Fandango! the live side was an anticipated thing, and at the time of release was considered to be a real 'Barn Burner'. I heard Mellow Down Easy at a lot of parties that year. Add to that the fact that Side B is just killer ( Heard It On The X is ridiculously good) and you have what I consider to be one of the best ZZ Top albums.

ZZ Top - Old Grey Whistle Test Session (1980)". BBC Radio 2. April 1980 . Retrieved October 11, 2021. But side 2? Every one a pearl. A classic in the Smoke On The Water list of classics in Tush. Blue Jean Blues will set me off as Rough Boy does perfectly now. This second side built the bridge to Tejas. Matrix / Runout (Scribed in runout A, Variant 4, [STERLING is stamped]): T1 SAHS-1660-1 STERLING RL D In June 2011, various media sources reported that the new song "Flyin' High" would debut in space. Astronaut and friend of ZZ Top Michael Fossum was given the released single to listen to on his trip to the International Space Station. [63] [64]Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning. American album certifications – ZZ Top – Fandango". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved December 9, 2019. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (July 28, 2021). "ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill dies at 72". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 22, 2021. In the late 1980s the album was released on CD with the studio recordings being digitally remixed and the original 1975 mix version was discontinued. The remix version created controversy among fans because it significantly changed the sound of the instruments, especially the drums. [ citation needed] The remix version was used on all early CD copies and was the only version available for over 20 years.