ZZ Top - "Fandango!" (1975) - London Records
Hello Friends,
Fandango! is ZZ Top's fourth album. Released in 1975, the first side of the album is a "live" recording from a performance at The Warehouse in New Orleans the previous year. The second side of the record is the new studio stuff, featuring some good old fashioned ZZ Top-style boogie-woogie swamp rock.
Honestly, we're not really in love with Side One. Jacked-up boogie-blues rock. It may have been impressive to see live and in person (especially back in '75), but it just doesn't translate all that well to modern ears.
The opener "Thunderbird" is pretty good, but "Jailhouse Rock" is pretty pedestrian and the "Backdoor Medley" (featuring "Mellow Down Easy" by Willie Dixon & "Long Distance Boogie" by John Lee Hooker") goes on a bit too long for our liking. And, as long as we're being honest, we find Billy Gibbons's vocal acrobatics to be more distracting than good. Leave that shit to Peter Wolfe on those classic J. Geils' records!
Luckily, Side Two kind of saves the day.
Great riffs, tight rhythms and lyrics sleazy enough to make Ted Nugent blush!
"Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings" absolutely shreds. "Blue Jeans Blues" is the most beautifully heartbreaking blues song about a pair of pants since "Bell Bottom Blues". It almost sounds like a hillbilly version of something found on an early Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac record.
"Balinese" pays tribute to The Balinese Room, a legendary Galveston nightclub of days gone by that featured live bands, lots of dancing, stiff drinks, loose women and plenty of gambling. Sinatra, Bob Hope, The Marx Bros and many other would perform there. It became a favorite getaway spot for wealthy Houston oil barons looking to get away and let loose for a few hours, or days.
"Mexican Blackbird" is alright (and slightly racist), but "Heard it On the X" is a real South Texas scorcher. Its a song about rock and roll radio stations that used to be broadcast from Mexico that you could pick up in Texas. Kind of like pirate radio. The call letters for these Mexican stations always began with an "X", hence the song title.
The album ends with ZZ Top's biggest hit to date, the classic rock radio staple, "Tush". Sure its a bit overdone and overplayed, but its still a pretty fun song to have on your car stereo when driving around on a warm Summer Saturday and checking out all the girls in their skimpy summer clothes!
RATING: 3.5 country jesus hillbilly blues thats where I learned my licks out of 5
The opener "Thunderbird" is pretty good, but "Jailhouse Rock" is pretty pedestrian and the "Backdoor Medley" (featuring "Mellow Down Easy" by Willie Dixon & "Long Distance Boogie" by John Lee Hooker") goes on a bit too long for our liking. And, as long as we're being honest, we find Billy Gibbons's vocal acrobatics to be more distracting than good. Leave that shit to Peter Wolfe on those classic J. Geils' records!
Luckily, Side Two kind of saves the day.
Great riffs, tight rhythms and lyrics sleazy enough to make Ted Nugent blush!
"Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings" absolutely shreds. "Blue Jeans Blues" is the most beautifully heartbreaking blues song about a pair of pants since "Bell Bottom Blues". It almost sounds like a hillbilly version of something found on an early Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac record.
"Balinese" pays tribute to The Balinese Room, a legendary Galveston nightclub of days gone by that featured live bands, lots of dancing, stiff drinks, loose women and plenty of gambling. Sinatra, Bob Hope, The Marx Bros and many other would perform there. It became a favorite getaway spot for wealthy Houston oil barons looking to get away and let loose for a few hours, or days.
"Mexican Blackbird" is alright (and slightly racist), but "Heard it On the X" is a real South Texas scorcher. Its a song about rock and roll radio stations that used to be broadcast from Mexico that you could pick up in Texas. Kind of like pirate radio. The call letters for these Mexican stations always began with an "X", hence the song title.
The album ends with ZZ Top's biggest hit to date, the classic rock radio staple, "Tush". Sure its a bit overdone and overplayed, but its still a pretty fun song to have on your car stereo when driving around on a warm Summer Saturday and checking out all the girls in their skimpy summer clothes!
RATING: 3.5 country jesus hillbilly blues thats where I learned my licks out of 5
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