Dusty Hill ZZ Top Bassist Passes at 72

Oldstick

Senior Member
Another thing to note about nearly all their songs, either studio or live recorded. None is intended to send a message or "preach" to you about any subject. It is just 50 years worth of 3 guys who loved the music and loved entertaining people. Almost like a stand-up comedy act with musical instruments. We are just here to try to make you smile, laugh, clap, stomp your feet, play air guitar and dance. Have a good time. :clap:
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Another thing to note about nearly all their songs, either studio or live recorded. None is intended to send a message or "preach" to you about any subject. It is just 50 years worth of 3 guys who loved the music and loved entertaining people. Almost like a stand-up comedy act with musical instruments. We are just here to try to make you smile, laugh, clap, stomp your feet, play air guitar and dance. Have a good time. :clap:
Plus, I stole half my guitar licks from Billy Gibbons. :)
 

marlin

Senior Member
I caught the documentary one night. It was a well done piece on them. Started listening to them in the middle 70’s along with other bands from that time. My last truck had a six disk CD changer. ZZ Top, Skynard and the Eagles always held three of the slots.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
One thing in the documentary that impressed me too was when Frank Beard developed a drug problem. They took like a year off right in the middle of being popular and selling out shows until he got straightened back out, instead of hiring another drummer and keeping on going. They always stuck together from the start.
Another iconic thing that came from that hiatus, according to the documentary:

When they finally got back together to rehearse after Frank got out of rehab, Billy and Dusty noticed that both of them had grown long beards without each other knowing. They decided to go with it. The rest is history.
 

Oldstick

Senior Member
Another iconic thing that came from that hiatus, according to the documentary:

When they finally got back together to rehearse after Frank got out of rehab, Billy and Dusty noticed that both of them had grown long beards without each other knowing. They decided to go with it. The rest is history.

Yep, and Frank had one too around that time but decided it didn't fit him, so he got rid of it for good. :sneaky:

Then the famous MTV videos, thanks to a genius TV producer which I don't remember the name. He came up with the idea of a music video like a real mini-movie, featuring a young gas station attendant approached by the classic car full of hawt women. With ZZ Top and their beards in the background singing and adding support to the guy. They became world wide stars at that point.
 
Last edited:

Oldstick

Senior Member
Like very much, true or not. One of my favorites.
 

Oldstick

Senior Member
They were one of the hits of Mtv when it launched ironically enough...

True. The TV producer they had was one of the pioneers of the idea of making mini-movies with dancers and actors plus featuring the artist in the background or foreground depending. Along with the music playing.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Yep, and Frank had one too around that time but decided it didn't fit him, so he got rid of it for good. :sneaky:
I think Frank also liked the irony of the idea that his name was Beard, but he was the only one that didn't have one. :)
 

oldfella1962

Senior Member
Nobody has mentioned their Deguello album from around 1980 or so - very diverse, (one song, a fast shuffle "She Loves My Automobile" has a horn section) and not a lot of radio hits other than "Cheap Sunglasses", but overall the album is great.
 

Oldstick

Senior Member
Nobody has mentioned their Deguello album from around 1980 or so - very diverse, (one song, a fast shuffle "She Loves My Automobile" has a horn section) and not a lot of radio hits other than "Cheap Sunglasses", but overall the album is great.

Deguello and Tejas are two of my favorite albums. After "Fandango" (which I was lukewarm about at the time but love it now) they took the hiatus that NCHillbilly mentioned above. Then started back in with Tejas, Deguello and maybe another one or two. They were all great, showing their to vision experiment with different sounds, but few chart hits came out of those probably mostly due to the general radio airplay environment going on in the late 70s, early 80s. Blues or Southern style rock was "gone, dead, never coming back" they claimed. Then came another subtle change and the explosion onto the pop charts with Eliminator and the videos on MTV. Still great stuff to this day, but maybe somewhat different from the raw blues "edginess" we older fans were accustomed too.

Like NCH, I like it all, but all my real favorite stuff is before the Eliminator album.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Nobody has mentioned their Deguello album from around 1980 or so - very diverse, (one song, a fast shuffle "She Loves My Automobile" has a horn section) and not a lot of radio hits other than "Cheap Sunglasses", but overall the album is great.
It's one of my favorites. Several of their great iconic songs on there, like I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide, I Thank You, A Fool For Your Stockings, and Manic Mechanic.
 

jiminbogart

TCU Go Frawgs !
I was a senior in high school when Deguello came out. We wore that sucker out.



I ran across this video while watching ZZT videos.

The final tune in Dusty's final show was one of the one's he sang lead on.

I wonder if they always close with Tush or did they know something was up?

Dusty was there for Billy, Frank and the fans. The man sat on an amp(I assume that's an amp, maybe it's a road case.) because of his leg/hip issue.

 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
I was a senior in high school when Deguello came out. We wore that sucker out.



I ran across this video while watching ZZT videos.

The final tune in Dusty's final show was one of the one's he sang lead on.

I wonder if they always close with Tush or did they know something was up?

Dusty was there for Billy, Frank and the fans. The man sat on an amp(I assume that's an amp, maybe it's a road case.) because of his leg/hip issue.

That was cool. You could tell he was in bad shape, but he rocked it. Billy even threw it back over to him for an extra verse encore.
 

Oldstick

Senior Member
It's one of my favorites. Several of their great iconic songs on there, like I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide, I Thank You, A Fool For Your Stockings, and Manic Mechanic.

Was "Party on the Patio" and "Pearl Necklace" also on that album? Loved those two songs as well. And being perfectly honest, I never had any idea what the term "pearl necklace" may or may not have been referring to other than a true pearl necklace, until recently. Over 60 years old when I first heard rumors otherwise. :)
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Was "Party on the Patio" and "Pearl Necklace" also on that album? Loved those two songs as well. And being perfectly honest, I never had any idea what the term "pearl necklace" may or may not have been referring to other than a true pearl necklace, until recently. Over 60 years old when I first heard rumors otherwise. :)
Nope, those were on El Loco. And, nope, it ain't about oyster secretions. :)

"And that's not jewelry she's talkin' about - it really don't cost that much."
 

Oldstick

Senior Member
Ya'll got my curiosity up. We are in the process of cleaning combing through stuff in the house. I remembered I had a very small collection of vinyl albums, stored in the attic and unused for probably 30 years. Look at what I found. Pretty sure I used to have Tres Hombres and Rio Grande Mud too, but don't know where they went, although I do have replacement CDs that I use and make copies of.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0002.JPG
    IMG_0002.JPG
    227.9 KB · Views: 7
  • IMG_0004.JPG
    IMG_0004.JPG
    208.3 KB · Views: 7
  • IMG_0005.JPG
    IMG_0005.JPG
    265.6 KB · Views: 7
  • IMG_0006.JPG
    IMG_0006.JPG
    269.9 KB · Views: 8
Top