Sleeping bag

The single was recorded in 1985 during work on the Afterburner album. On this album, the group reached its climax in its approach to pop rock: the abundant use of synthesizers, the “plastic” sound of a drum machine, dance tunes. The song Sleeping Bag , which opens the album, was still somewhat different from the rest of the material on the album: critics believed that this rumbling song with a strongly syncopated intro was almost the only one in which you can guess ZZ Top ^[1] . Texas bluesman Lance Lopez, calling this song among his favorites, said that “What I like the most is how much it was truly innovative, and more importantly, how much the end of the song set the standard for techno music . It's so awesome to hear Gibbons playing the blues on top of synthesizers and the quarter- drummer ^{[comment 1]}

The song continues the ZZ Top series of songs about everyday things. In this case, Gibbons sings about a modern sleeping bag, small and narrow, in which a person resembles a mummy (for example, the line “sleep among the pharaohs and moving sands” appeared in the lyrics, and the single cover is also based on the line), as opposed to the large and the heavy bags that Gibbons had in his youth.

A video clip was released for the song, which was actively rotated on MTV.

In 1992, Tonya Harding performed at the US Championships in figure skating for this song; and the song subsequently became part of the soundtrack of the film Tonya against all ^[2]

On the single, the second side was occupied by the song from the previous album Party on the Patio ( 12 ” maxi-single contained an extended version of the Sleeping Bag ) ^[3]

1. ↑ It’s about the fact that the song uses an even four-part size of 4/4, played as recorded in notes, which is typical for pop music. In contrast, in blues and jazz, the length of the stakes is not equal. See swing

• Billy Gibbons - guitar , vocals
• Dusty Hill - Bass
• Frank Beard - drums , percussion

Technical composition

• Bill Ham - Producer