ZZ Top's First Album

By the time of recording, the group in that lineup existed for about a year, and as Billy Gibbons said, “We had three guys, we knew three chords and the future was wide open.” ^[2] . According to Gibbons, the material of the album was basically already by March 1970, but they delayed the release of the album because they wanted to sign a contract with London Records (“... on the same label as The Rolling Stones . I seriously - it was! " ^[3] )

In 1970, the band finally signed a contract with London Records and at the end of the year began recording an album at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler , Texas . The choice of the studio was also related to the fact that the group Fleetwood Mac was recorded on it. Produced by Bill Ham.

January 16, 1971 debut album of the group hit the shelves. The main songwriter was Billy Gibbons, but the co-authors of the songs were all the band members and even the producer. The name of the album came up with Bill Narum, art director of London Records , who believed that it was important to let the public know that the album was followed by new releases of the group. ^[four]

The inscription on the envelope of the album reads ^[5] :

Critic Mark Prindl said about the album: “Boogie blues rock. Lots of guitar solos. Two singers - one with a clean, drawn-out accent , the second hoarse and some kind of strange, as if his mouth is full of beard ... The music doesn’t sound like it took thousands of years to write these riffs, and don’t be surprised if you once ask yourself “God , is there at least one of these songs in which there is more than one chord? "... Most of the lyrics are also in the mainstream problems that the blues raises, in particular adultery, which is discussed in detail in four out of ten songs." The general conclusion of the critic is: " First Album may not be the most brilliant p Eliza ZZ Top, but you can never say that it is not too much for their first child " ^[6]

Under review All Music Guide

Gibbons in 2009 said that he had recently listened to the album for the first time in a long time, and considered that “there was a performance, there was a good pace, and it was all very blues” ^[3]

A single was released for the album: (Somebody Else Been) Shakin 'Your Tree .

In 1987, the album was remixed and released on CD . For a long time there was no re-released original full recording: four songs were released on a 2003 remix of Chrome, Smoke & BBQ and another one on the 1977 compilation The Best of ZZ Top . In 2013, the original recording in high digital resolution was released, and it became part of the release of The Complete Studio Albums (1970-1990) .

Party A

• " (Somebody Else Been) Shakin 'Your Tree " (Gibbons) - 2:32.

(Somebody Else Been) Shakin 'Your Tree ( Rus. Someone else shakes your tree ). The song is performed on behalf of a man who is tired of his girlfriend's betrayal and comes to the conclusion that it’s time for him to plant a new tree from which only he will harvest his crop. Billy Gibbons in this song performs a solo on a pedal slide guitar.

• "Brown Sugar" (Gibbons) - 5:22

Brown Sugar ( Rus. Brown sugar - letters. ). The name of this blues is slang, and in context it can mean both common slang meanings: both heroin and black lover. Mark Prindl especially notes that ZZ Top recorded a song a year before The Rolling Stones made a historical discovery that black women also have a vagina ^[6] (recording their most famous song of the same name )

• "Squank" (Gibbons, Hill, Ham) - 2:46

The name of the song Squank is difficult to translate. A version is expressed that it is a combination of two words: “a squid” and “a skank” ( squid and skunk ) ^[7] . This word can be both a verb and a noun, usually describing a certain substance with an unpleasant odor, for example, it is used as the name of a woman’s discharge ^[8] . In the song, Squank is represented by a kind of monster, which is played up by consonance with the word Squonk , a mythical creature that secretes mucus. But the lyrics are in defense of nature, and Squank means the monster destroying the planet that people raised.

• “Goin 'Down to Mexico” (Gibbons, Hill, Ham) - 3:26

Goin 'Down to Mexico ( Rus. Going to Mexico ). In the south of the USA in 1960–1970, trips to Mexico with its less stringent laws were popular among young people. The reality in the song is intertwined with hallucinations: “I lit a cigarette, brushing dust off my shoes”, after which the author meets fantasmagoric characters, one of whom travels to Oldsmobile 88 .

• "Old Man" (Gibbons, Hill, Bird) - 3:23

Old Man ( Rus. Old man ). The song tells the story of a weak old man, his loneliness and memories. Mark Prindl says that the song is a copy of any slow song by Lynyrd Skynyrd ^[6]

Party B

• "Neighbor, Neighbor" (Gibbons) - 2:18

Neighbor, Neighbor ( rus. Neighbor, neighbor ). The song tells about a neighbor who climbed into the life of the hero of the song, handed it over to his wife and ended up soaked in seawater, apparently not without the participation of the hero of the song.

• "Certified Blues" (Gibbons, Bird, Ham) - 3:25

Certified Blues ( Rus. Officially diagnosed depression ). The name of the song, as part of the band’s style, can also be translated for example as “Certified Blues”. The hero of the song is in the spleen, with a confirmed certificate from the doctor. According to Mark Pryndla, a small touch in the song is a barely audible and non-binding guitar part. ^[6]

• "Bedroom Thang" (Gibbons) - 3:53

Bedroom Thang ( Rus. Trick for the bedroom ). The hero of the song refuses to have sex with a teenager girl, a bedroom thing that ran away from home, arguing that he needs a serious relationship with a serious woman.

• “Just Got Back from Baby's” (Gibbons, Ham) - 4:07

Just Got Back from Baby's ( Rus. Just returned from the baby ). The song tells about the impressions and feelings of a man who only came home after a stormy night, but at the same time worries in the first place because the baby meets not only with him, and secondly, that her husband will ever get it. Mark Prindl notes that in the song you can catch the lounge- jazz in the spirit of Robert Kreus

• “Backdoor Love Affair” (Gibbons, Ham) - 3:20

Backdoor Love Affair ( Rus. Intrigue on the side ). The song is on behalf of a man who likes a girl, and he is sure that someday he will have a little romance with her, and even informed her husband about it. "The cheerful noisy general atmosphere of the song and the bright orange pop code" are called small touches in the song.

Some releases

• CD Warner Bros. Records No. 2-3268, 1987
• CS Warner Bros. Records No. M5-3268, 1987

• Billy Gibbons - guitar , vocals
• Dusty Hill - bass guitar , backing vocals , vocals on "Goin 'Down to Mexico", co-vocals on "Squank"
• Frank Bird (like Rub Bird) - drums , percussion

• Bill Ham - Producer
• Bill Narum - Envelope Design
• Frank Zhabier - Photography

Singles - Billboard ( USA )

• ZZ Top's First Album on Discogs
• ZZ Top's First Album (English) on Rate Your Music