ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard are my guests here In the Studio to document “Gimme All Your Lovin’ “,”Got Me Under Pressure”,”Sharp Dressed Man”,”Legs”, “TV Dinners”, the smoldering blues “I Need You Tonight”, and of course I will share my archival interview with the late rave-up singing bass player, Dusty Hill, in tribute. – Redbeard (Backstage Grand Prairie TX November 2007 front row L-R Billy Gibbons, Redbeard, Frank Beard, the late Dusty Hill ) But the songwriting, musicianship, modern arranging, and state-of-the-art recording on Eliminator which I heard forty years ago was truly extraordinary. And yes, the series of clever, campy videos on the upstart MTV video channel in America undoubtedly had much to do with that staggering level of popularity (truly ironic, since manager Ham had steadfastly kept ZZ Top off of U.S. Music Videos Gimme All Your Lovin Exclusive Videos (4) Interviews (4) Live Videos (2) Music Videos (10) Backstage w/ ZZ Top at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame + Museum. In just a few weeks the rest of the world would soon discover what I had experienced that day, responding by purchasing over 15,000,000 copies of Eliminator worldwide. And just when I begged “Have mercy!” to break from the intensity of Billy Gibbons’ feedback-soaked “squanking” guitar, the late Dusty Hill’s propulsive bottom end, and Frank Beard’s in-the-pocket drumming, the song sequence shifted to the cascading midnight blues of “Need You Tonight” the Dusty raunchy rave up “I Got the Six”, the international hit “Legs”, and the grinding smoldering groove of “TV Dinners”. It was just too good to absorb the sonic banquet that ZZ Top was serving up. What happened next absolutely blew me away: “Gimme All Your Lovin’ “, followed in rapid succession by “Got Me Under Pressure” and “Sharp Dressed Man” played at about rock concert sound level, left me in sensory boogie overload. When I mentioned this fact to ZZ Top’s veteran recording engineer Terry Manning, he replied,”Before you go ‘live’ to broadcast with your new studio, would you allow me to play the master mix of the unreleased ZZ Top album in there?” I could not believe my good fortune! Terry arrived with two large metal reels of tape, loaded them onto the pristine new Studer reel machines, and pushed the “play” button. So ZZ Top proceeded to make every subsequent album there with ace Ardent recording engineer Terry Manning, with titles en Espanol including Fandango, Tejas, DeGuello, and El Loco.īy February 1983, ROCK 103’s owner decided to reinvest some of the record revenues back into the facility with a major control room studio update, complete with new broadcast console, electronics, and JBL monitors. As it turned out, one of my personal favorite bands, Houston-based ZZ Top, had discovered the high caliber, low key facility as early as their 1973 breakthrough album Tres Hombres, and in typical Bill Ham style ( the band’s colorful longtime manager and producer who passed away in 2016), “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The stylish clip showed the band as magical arbiters of cool who offer the keys to the car (and to scoring with a trio of hot babes) to a handsome young man.Įliminator peaked at Number Nine on the Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for more than three-and-a-half years, and it's sold well over 10 million copies.Up to ZZ Top’s March 1983 release Eliminator, one of my secret weapons at making ROCK 103 the top-rated radio station in Memphis from 1980 through 1983 was the friendship that developed with the late legendary studio owner John Fry and his wonderfully talented staff at the world-renowned Ardent Studios nearby. Gibbons, singer-bassist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard MTV stars. However, it's become a fan favorite, and the video made singer-guitarist Reverend Billy F. “Gimme All Your Lovin'” only spent three weeks in the Top 40, peaking at Number 37. It has been dubbed The Eliminator and is a genuine race-ready hot rod. The car featured in the video for “Gimme All Your Lovin'” - and several subsequent videos, including “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs” - is a modified 1933 Ford three-window coupe. It was the first track recorded for the Eliminator album, the first single released from the album, and their first video. “Gimme All Your Lovin”' marked a number of firsts for ZZ Top. Writers: Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard
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