ZZ Top – That Little Ol’ Band From Texas (Official Trailer)

I smiled throughout.

The question is, will classic rock be to Gen Z what the blues were to the boomers?

That’s right, the explosion that arose with the Beatles didn’t come out of a vacuum, all these English bands had influences, the Mississippi bluesmen.

But back then the records were hard to find.

But right now they’re hiding in plain sight.

But today, when you hide in plain sight, no one sees you. Even though all those records exist online, there are not clubs devoted to them, when you go deep you go alone, hoping to ultimately find someone who feels like you do.

Dusty, Frank and Billy felt the same way, they listened to the same Mexican radio stations, they had the same influences.

And they wanted to play music.

Most stars no longer want to play music, they want to be rich and famous. Playing music is different. You do it for the time on stage, and off stage too, hanging with cool people who get it. Yes, musicians used to be cool, a separate club that you could not be a member of unless you played too.

The money was just a byproduct. It was more about attitude, lifestyle. You worked damn hard, but you were your own boss, and your life was based on fun, remember FUN?

Now ZZ Top was on a terrible label, i.e. London Records. All the English acts who released records on that label jumped as soon as they could. But some, like Ten Years After, left too late, the band was already over by time they were on Columbia, the world had changed.

So if you were living on the east coast, ZZ Top was a band you heard about, but rarely heard. They were rare, foreign, the other. And you’d read some of the publicity, but couldn’t relate to it. Like the farm animal tour. HUH? What was the point?

The point was to invest in their career. You’ve got to spend money to make money. And those who knew, knew.

And by the late seventies, “La Grange” and “Tush” were FM staples, then again at that time I was living on the west coast, for all I know the east coast still overlooked the little ol’ band from Texas.

But then I heard “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide.”

Well I was rollin’ down the road in some cold blue steel
I had a bluesman in the back and a beautician at the wheel
We going downtown in the middle of the night
We laughing and I’m jokin’ and we feelin’ all right

THE SENSE OF HUMOR!

Yes, the groove was undeniable, the almost stutter, but the lyrics? THEY CRACKED ME UP!

Come on, just picture it! A bluesman in the back and a beautician at the wheel? I’m laughing just thinking of it, what imagery! Who’d imagine a beautician at the wheel? This ain’t a model, someone internationally famous, just the girl who cuts hair in the neighborhood. And why a bluesman in the back? B.B. King?

I had to buy the album, “Deguello.”

Of course, it started with a killer version of “I Thank You,” which eclipsed Bonnie Raitt’s cover, that gave a twist on the Sam & Dave original…an elixir of guitar and vocal, with a heavy bottom, you dropped the needle and instantly fell in the groove.

And “She Loves My Automobile” was a tear, and such a funny concept, a workingman concept. This is not some rich Wall Street guy drawing the opposite sex based on his wealth, this is a guy who’s never been twenty miles from home.

And also on “Deguello” was “A Fool For Your Stockings,” with its muddy groove, and the classic, “Cheap Sunglasses.” In other words the album was successful musically. as well as financially, after all, ZZ Top were now on Warner Brothers.

But that was 1979.

1981 brought “El Loco” with “Tube Snake Boogie” and “Pearl Necklace,” which were au courant as opposed to rearward-looking like most of the early stuff, but was that a matter of perception, the band now being on Warner Brothers.

Now no act makes it without a manager. And the biggest ones have the best. And it’s easy to criticize in retrospect, but don’t forget Brian Epstein built the Beatles, and he helped invent the business, no rock act had ever been this big, and remember, Capitol didn’t even want to put out the initial material in the U.S., “She Loves You” came out on Swan.

And Bill Ham was against TV, he was into mystery, and this restricted the footprint of the band, but it allowed them to blow away fans who’d only heard them on record, if there. That’s how it used to be, you went to see a great act and they blew you away. You beamed at your buddies in the audience and subsequently told everybody you knew about them.

And then came “Gimme All Your Lovin’.”

You see Frank Beard was watching TV and saw videos so he called up Frank and then Billy tuned in too, and after four hours they were wondering how long this special was gonna last.

This was MTV. Not that they knew. America was much more regional back then, you didn’t necessarily know what was going on.

And the videos for “Gimme All Your Lovin'” and “Legs” made ZZ Top international superstars.

Now we saw this documentary paradigm twenty years ago, with VH1’s “Behind The Music.” Which became formulaic. Band makes it, gets hooked on drugs, has no money and then reunites and you can buy tickets for the tour right now!

Today you make the documentary yourself. Technology allows you to do it on the cheap and everybody can get distribution, maybe for free on YouTube instead of money on a pay service, but you can play, the means of production and distribution are in the hands of the proletariat.

Now at first, you think this flick is a deep dive. But then you watch it long enough to realize it’s the same sales pitch as “Behind The Music,” you’ve got to buy a ticket to see the band RIGHT NOW!

But the difference this time is all the classic acts are long in the tooth and this truly might be the end. Yup, if you wanna see the Stones, GO NOW!

ZZ Top is a little younger. And the band is intact, all its members are alive and kicking, a rarity these days.

So the flick starts out in Texas. That’s a big point in this movie, how not only is ZZ Top from the state, but that Texas is its own state of mind, Dusty says you learn about state history before national history.

And they sound like they’re from Texas, all with accents, speaking slowly.

And all three of them started at a young age. And they paid their dues. First Dusty and Frank in Dallas, and then the band coalesced in Houston.

Billy Gibbons was the hot guitar player. Music is a small community, you always know who the gunslingers are. And Frank Beard got up his gumption and asked Billy to play with him. It’s always about the ask, without it you rarely get.

And when they clicked, Frank called Dusty to come on down.

Now some of the footage is mind-blowing. Especially of Billy. He used to be beardless, he looked a bit like an intellectual. And for a very brief moment he dances and you realize he too was infected by the music, just like you.

And they hone the act.

And they play regionally. And there’s one great story of the curtain rising and…

I won’t ruin the tale, but ZZ Top is not interested in making themselves look good here. Hell, they know it was three hot babes and three ugly guys in the videos, they know who they are.

And what I always loved about ZZ Top is they wore the coveralls, the cowboy hats, had the beards, they were not constricted by society, they did whatever they wanted. They talk of opening for the Stones and Keith Richards wearing the same dirty white pants every day. Yup, the acts were scruffy and just didn’t care.

And ZZ Top kills, get an encore but are not mentioned in the reviews.

It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. And it’s not a straight line.

And Frank Beard testifies to spending all his money on drugs and loving them all the while and…

These are not bankers, these are not techies, they’re rock stars. There’s no school that’ll get you there. There’s no prerequisite, you’ve just got to know how to PLAY! And get LUCKY!

And like I said, this flick is really an ad for the tour. But the twist here is the band performs live in the studio throughout, demonstrating their chops. Such a big sound from such a little band. A guitar, a bass and drums was and still is enough in this era where most people fake it, with players behind the curtain or on hard drive.

So if you were there, you’ll remember. All of it. Not that you won’t gain insight, but you’ll marvel at once was.

And if you weren’t, ZZ Top will appear to be a phenomenon, a unique act that seemed to come out of nowhere, that made it all by themselves. And that’s exciting and inspiring.

So how long will it be until bands start playing in the garage, and practice as opposed to promoting on social media. After all, it does come down to music. And people always want a new sound, and sometimes just a slight twist on what came before can open an entire avenue.

So, ZZ Top had soul. And power. And a sense of humor.

AND THEY STILL DO!

Yes, the concert promoter who started with Wetlands, expanded into the Brooklyn Bowl and the Capitol Theatre and…

It doesn’t stop there, Peter put together Fare Thee Well and now has Lock’n.

Find out how an independent promoter innovates, survives and makes a difference!

Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday August 13th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

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Strasburg told me the story on Chair 10.

Used to be a dedicated reader could tell what was going on, a subscription to “Billboard” was enough. Not anymore. There’s no music publication that will hip you to the business. Today you’ve got to know the people, and that’s a damn hard thing to do, because they’re working so damn hard.

You know I’m not a big fan of music business schools. They teach you how to be middle managers. When the music business is run by entrepreneurs, all unique, all self-starters, they’d be successful at anything they chose to do.

Don Strasburg promoted a Phish show when he went to Colorado College. And by time I met him, before the roll-up of 1996, he was a super-passionate promoter out of Denver. I mean we all know Chuck Morris, but this twentysomething giving me burned CDs of Robert Randolph and…

Strasburg was relentless.

But Don cares. He views a concert as a party, that’s what he tells all his charges to never forget, to see it through the eyes of the attendees.

And Don used to book the Denver Fillmore, but then he, Chuck and Brent moved over to AEG and they didn’t have a venue that size.

Now AEG’s got plenty of venues in Denver. And today Don’s territory is not limited to the Mile High City, but Don wanted to fill this niche…the only issue was money, could he convince the bigwigs to go for it?

And it’s always about money, you can’t afford everything, that money could be used to buy Outside Lands…

Now if you know Don he’s scruffy. He said he wasn’t gonna shave his beard until the Mission opened. He ended up looking like a lumberjack, with a beard maybe eight inches long, but he stuck to his guns.

Now what you’ve got to know about Don is he’s passionate, he cares, he’s not a company man. That’s what’s wrong with the music business today, too many company men (and women!) The basic question is…have you ever risked your own money? The losses hurt. And they still hurt. Don told the story of losing 250k, maybe a little less, on a recent date. He’d been arm-twisted into doing it. During the gig a worker asked if they should let those on the grass down into the seats, Don said no. Because he wanted the act to play to empty seats, to show its representatives that they were wrong.

This is the nitty-gritty, this is not what they teach in school. Every show is a risk. And you don’t always win. The landscape is littered with dead promotion companies, it’s damn hard.

So Don had a vision. He laid it all out on the chair. He called me about it. We spoke about it every time we were together in Vail. Hell, wanna get to know somebody? Ski with them. Of course you can play golf, but that’s competitive, skiing is not. And actually, Don snowboards. He loves to go into the trees, like in WTF. I’ll let you try to decipher what that stands for, let’s just say it’s at the far end of Sun Up Bowl and it used to be off the map. I was recovering from shoulder surgery, I did not want to hit a tree, and the average person would classify WTF as the woods/forest. Then again, Don tore his ACL in the woods at Winter Park and extracted himself and drove home before he had surgery.

So the concept of the Mission Ballroom, the layout…

Let me just say it’s rectangular, but it’s encircled, like the Colosseum in Rome, by bleachers a la Red Rocks. Maybe you haven’t been to Red Rocks, you should go, it’s unique.

(Check out the Mission’s layout here: seating map)

And nothing is ever finished on time. When I asked Don if the August 7th opening was firm, he said ABSOLUTELY!

So we went.

This is not an old building with charm, this is brand new construction, and the vibe is created by the acts on stage.

Now, the side seats, on the second floor, they’re open to the hoi polloi, insiders sit/stand behind them. The Mission Ballroom is egalitarian.

And there are the usual bars, Don and his compatriots have learned a lot about what is needed in their decades of shows.

But first and foremost this is a music venue. And we ain’t got many of those. We’ve got the Forum, the best arena in the country because it’s only about music, there are no sports teams. But many of the other venues are multi-purpose buildings. But in the Mission, the infrastructure is permanent, for the music. The lighting rigs can be moved back and forth, same deal with the stage.

But really, it’s all about the music.

And Denver’s a music town.

You think everything is happening in New York or L.A., but you’re wrong. Hell, the Lumineers moved from New Jersey to Colorado to make it. This is how far we’ve come. In an era of mass communications, we know so much, but we know so little. The truth is, music is more regional than it’s been since the sixties. Maybe not in radio, but live. Unless you’re there, it’s hard to know what’s going on. And Don hears it first, because Denver/Boulder is inundated with college students and Don also runs clubs. He told me about Maggie Rogers nearly a year before most people heard of her, before the press began. And when you go to the show, you get it.

The people were there for the music.

Now the Lumineers are a hometown act, and they had a big radio hit, but still…this was not your typical arena show, all flash and on hard drive, this breathed.

And “Ho Hey” would not get on Top Forty radio today, no way. But it did back in 2012, SEVEN YEARS AGO! That’s right, there’s a return to musicians, the Lumineers have been doing it since 2005. The major labels promote ever younger “artists” who burn out before they are twenty, and the older people in most cases don’t even need a label, and they have an audience.

Now you have to be over 16 to get into the Mission Ballroom, but most of the people were in their late twenties and thirties. I didn’t feel old being there. But I was envious of the enthusiasm, these were true fans, they sang along.

So maybe it can be about music again. Maybe it all doesn’t have to sound like the Spotify Top 50. Turns out there is an audience older and more sophisticated who will devour different acts, if you make them aware of them.

And if the acts are good, they graduate up the building ladder, and one step on it is the Mission Ballroom, with a capacity of 3,950.

There’s no MTV keeping us all on one track. And sure, there are not only Top Forty radio stations, but we live in an on-demand world, radio does not drive the business like it used to.

It’s about word of mouth, friends, social media. You hear about it and want to check it out.

The only problem is it can be hard to become a member of this chain.

But you can start by checking out who’s playing at the Mission Ballroom.

Mission Ballroom

I was in Denver for the opening of the Mission Ballroom.

But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

The following day, my friend John took me to the Clyfford Still Museum. Actually, I’m the art history major, but he seems to see more art than I do, hell, he’s a member!

You see Clyfford Still said that after he died, all his work should go to a city that built a museum solely to show his work. And that ended up being in Denver, spearheaded by John Hickenlooper when he was mayor.

That’s one of the things wrong with the debates, it’s hard to focus on accomplishments, everybody’s so busy tearing others down. If the Democrats want a centrist, Hick would be great. Biden’s just a faux pas away from blowing himself up, and is ten years older.

But this is not about politics, this is about art.

You’ve seen Clyfford Still’s work. You’d know it if you saw it again.

But this is not about the work per se.

There are two floors in the museum. The second contains Still’s paintings and drawings. The first contains mementos and documents from his life. Still was a pack rat, he kept everything.

In one letter, Still excoriated all the artists imitating him. He said it was all right at first, but then you had to go your own way. And the artists Still listed were and still are household names. You see art is about pushing the envelope, going on your own personal journey. Still was trying to be legendary. And on this journey…

He stopped exhibiting his work. COMPLETELY! Oh, he’d already made a splash in New York, but in the sixties, he sent a letter to his gallerist, and told her it was over, no offense, he just didn’t want to show his work anymore…BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE SUBJECT TO THE BLOWBACK, THE CRITICS…he was worried it would change his art, make him stray from his own vision.

Whew… Nothing could be more prescient in terms of today. You make it, people criticize it, and you’re wounded, or change to suit these people who may not like what you do anyway, and if you give them what they want, they still hate it.

That’s the conundrum.

There are fine artists and commercial artists, and there’s nothing wrong with the latter, but if you’re one of the former…

As Steve Jobs said, you should try to put a dent in the universe.

It’s a lonely pursuit, and oftentimes attention comes and goes, if it comes at all. But you’ve got to keep on trying.

Now in an era of wannabes, you’ve got to know when the experts/insiders first saw Still’s work, they were blown away, he got a show almost immediately. It’s always that way with art, people have a visceral response. And no one is interested in meh.

So, if you’re not getting attention, that does not mean you should stop, it just means if you’re a true artist you’ll keep doing it, irrelevant of whether you get any attention or make any money.

That’s what music is today, about money. Commerce. The focus is not on art, and we’re not getting much.

Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist, of course there are great musicians out there, but the general belief is that you make a hit and then leverage your brand for an entree into clothing, perfume, selling…. We can’t stop hearing that Kylie Kardashian, I think that’s the one, is now a billionaire based on makeup. That’s a business story, that’s not art.

Art is a lonely road.

Clyfford Still Museum