CAN’T STOP ROCKIN’
After four decades, ZZ Top still on a ‘bona fide wild ride’
Going strong after more than 40 years is not something ZZ Top anticipated in the band’s beginning. “In the beginning, we considered it somewhat unbelievable to still be going after 40 minutes!,” ZZ Top guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Billy Gibbons said. “We just got together and it worked out to keep on playing, and apparently, it’s still works. We think the phrase is, ‘against all expectations.’”
Playing what they want has kept ZZ Top successful.
“We continue to play what we want to hear ,and it’s evident that there are quite a few like-minded souls who like what we’re doing,” Gibbons said. “We’ve been enjoying a good time for a very long time and have remained on the party train all the while. It’s a bona fide wild ride.”
The band recently released “Live: Greatest Hits From Around the World.” The album features 13 songs recorded live in 13 cities on three continents.
“The initial interest in releasing a provocative recording began with the unusual starter piece, ‘16 Tons’ with Jeff Beck, which wound up providing the impetus to come up with a cross section of some raucous and rowdy favorites for our friends, fans, and fanatical followers,” Gibbons said. “It’s a real fun collection.”
“Live: Greatest Hits From Around The World,” which was released earlier this month, coincides with the 45th anniversary of the band’s first studio album, appropriately titled, “ZZ Top’s First Album,” which was released in 1971.
“Actually, this being our first ever, official full-length live album brought that aptly titled, ‘First Album’ forward and full circle, from studio, to stage, to satisfaction!,” Gibbons explained.
The process of selecting 13 songs for the new album was a somewhat grueling but a satisfying for the band.
“Two words: time consuming,” Gibbons said of the experience. “Yet, the excursion provided some tantalizing time travel back through numerous tours du jour around the globe. The grand discoveries were lurking deep and provided a lengthy measure of listening with some lavish loudness.”
Gibbons had this to say as to what the band would like to achieve in its lifetime.
“For this band, it’s simply down to getting to do it and do it again,” he said. We’ve accumulated lifetime after lifetime through this aggregation which goes hand in hand with enjoying the excursions from moment to moment. That’s also the unspoken manner behind the lifetimes of loudness. Rock on!”