By 1980, ZZ Top had six albums and a decade of experience under their collective belts. Guitarist and singer Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard had successfully taken their raw, stripped-down, house-rockin' boogie-blues sound from the Southern bar circuit to arena stages across the United States, but they had yet to seriously take on European audiences.
Shortly after the 1979 release of the band's album Deguello, ZZ Top was invited to perform on the popular German television program Rockpalast (translates as "Rock Palace"). Although there were several logistical problems to overcome, including the transport and use of the band's unique stage set, which included a drum riser with flaming ZZ Top logo, it was finally figured out and the Texas trio followed England's the Blues Band, Joan Armatrading, and Ian Hunter/Mick Ronson to perform at an ungodly early-morning hour. As Rockpalast was a live program, though, viewers strayed tuned-in until ZZ Top rang its last notes around 5:30 AM, the band's incendiary performance setting the stage for a subsequently sold-out European tour.
ZZ Top's Live In Germany 1980
ZZ Top's Live In Germany 1980 documents that crucial Rockpalast performance, the band delivering a rockin' 16-song set that included much of the Deguello album as well a handful of choice covers and some classic early songs. After the instrumental intro of "El Deguello," the band kicks off the party with a raucous take on the Isaac Hayes/Dave Porter-penned Sam & Dave Stax soul classic "I Thank You." Dusty Hill takes the mic for a soulful reading while Gibbons embroiders the song with subtle, albeit strong guitar lines and gruff background vocals.
The band digs deep into its catalog for the fan faves "Waitin' For The Bus" and "Jesus Just Left Chicago," both from ZZ Top's 1973 breakthrough album Tres Hombres. The former is a low-growl Texas blues tune with muddy vocals, slash-n-burn guitarplay, powerful drumbeats, and a monster bass line, while the former is a plodding, muscular blues-rock bonfire featuring sparse instrumentation, Gibbons' soulful Texas twang, and flamethrower guitar riffs. "Precious And Grace," also from Tres Hombres, is even more pumped-up, with explosive rhythms matched by Gibbons' razor-sharp fretwork and a teetering, up-tempo arrangement that allows a lot of room for the band to stretch out and display their instrumental skills.
Rocking Rockpalast
"Lowdown On The Street" is one of the most underrated songs from Deguello, a smoky roadhouse rocker that nearly buries the song's illustrated lyrics beneath an avalanche of thick bass lines and fluid, funky guitar riffs. Beard's sticks hit the skins like a nuclear-tipped missile, Gibbons' guitar cuts to the bone. The popular "Heard It On The X" is cut from similar cloth, the rocking autobiographical tale delivered here with punkish intensity, Gibbons' machine-gun guitarwork matched almost note-for-note by Beard's punch-drunk drumbeats. The bluesy "Fool For Your Stockings" provides a bit of contrast, the song's slow, deliberate pace underlining Gibbons' growling, howling vocals and shards of white-hot guitar.
The rollicking "Arrested For Driving While Blind," aside from having one of the most imaginative song titles in rock 'n' roll history, is a great tale of alcohol-fueled intensity from the Tejas album, a blueprint boogie-blues with scorched-earth guitar and unrelenting rhythms that threaten to bury the vocals. The rowdy "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" is always a crowd-pleaser, and the German audience eats up the song's blistering guitar riffs and crashing drumbeats. A cover of Elmore James' classic "Dust My Broom" is delivered with rattletrap aplomb, channeling just a little of the original's Chicago blues vibe, remaking the blues standard as a Texas barroom brawl full of piss and vinegar. The band closes with the familiar "Tush," another unabashed rocker that provides more cheap thrills than a ramshackle roller-coaster.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
At the time of this 1980 performance for the Rockpalast TV cameras in Essen, Germany, ZZ Top was on the brink of major league worldwide success. Deguello was a top thirty charting album that yielded two hit singles in "I Thank You" and "Cheap Sunglasses," and after the creative sideways step that was 1981's El Loco (which nevertheless charted top twenty), the blockbuster 1983 release Eliminator would bring the band international stardom.
On the Grugahalle arena stage in April 1980, however, the talented trio was still that "little ol' band from Texas," knocking out an appreciative European TV audience with their high-octane blend of blues, boogie, and rowdy Southern rock sound. Live In Germany 1980 perfectly captures that single moment in time, presenting ZZ Top at the peak of their pre-superstardom notoriety and providing long-time fans with what might be the best live recorded performance of the band's lengthy and storied career. (Eagle Records, released June 21, 2011)
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