ZZ TOP – FANDANGO LP – Nr MINT BLUES ROCK

ZZ Top – Fandango
(Warner Brothers Records  K56604)
Matrix No’s: A3/B3

Sleeve in Excellent+/Nr MINT condition
– some slight wear to edges & tiny sticker mark in top right corner
Inner Sleeve & Insert in  Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas, by vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons. For 51 years, the band comprised Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill’s death in 2021. Rooted in blues, ZZ Top developed a signature sound based on Gibbons’ blues guitar style and Hill and Beard’s rhythm section. Popular for its live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the similar appearances of Gibbons and Hill—who were rarely seen without their long beards, sunglasses, and hats—the group has staged several elaborate tours.

ZZ Top formed after the demise of Moving Sidewalks, Gibbons’ previous band. Within a year, the members signed with London Records and released ZZ Top’s First Album (1971). Subsequent releases, such as Tres Hombres (1973) and Fandango! (1975), and those albums’ singles “La Grange” and “Tush”, gained extensive radio airplay. By the mid-1970s the band became renowned in North America for its live act, highlighted by its performances during the Worldwide Texas Tour from 1976 to 1977, which was a critical and commercial success.

After a hiatus, ZZ Top returned in 1979 with a new musical direction and image, with Gibbons and Hill wearing sunglasses and matching chest-length beards. With the albums Degüello (1979) and El Loco (1981), they experimented with instruments including clavinets, saxophones, and synthesizers. They established a more mainstream sound and gained international favor with Eliminator (1983) and Afterburner (1985), which integrated influences from new wave, punk, and dance-rock. The popularity of these albums’ music videos, including those for “Gimme All Your Lovin'”, “Sharp Dressed Man”, and “Legs”, helped propel them onto the television channel MTV and made the band one of the more prominent artists in 1980s pop culture. The Afterburner Tour set records for the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour of 1986. After gaining additional acclaim with the release of their tenth album Recycler (1990) and its accompanying tour, the group’s experimentation continued with mixed success on the albums Antenna (1994), Rhythmeen (1996), XXX (1999), and Mescalero (2003). They most recently released La Futura (2012) and Goin’ 50 (2019), the latter of which is a compilation album commemorating the band’s 50th anniversary. After Hill’s death on July 27, 2021, Gibbons announced that, per his wishes, ZZ Top would continue with Hill’s longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis on bass. It is the band’s first lineup change in 51 years.

ZZ Top has released 15 studio albums and sold an estimated 50 million albums worldwide. The group has won three MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2004, the members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stoneranked Gibbons number 32 on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. Throughout their career, the band and its individual members have supported several campaigns and charities, including Childline, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and a fundraiser for the Delta Blues Museum.

Fandango! is the fourth album by American blues rock band ZZ Top, released in 1975. Half the cuts are selections from live shows, the other half are new songs from the studio. A remastered and expanded edition of this album was released on February 28, 2006.

Fandango, from which the album gets its name, is a type of dance similar to flamenco.

During the height of ZZ Top’s success in the early 1980s a digitally remixed version of the recording was released on CD and the original 1975 mix version was discontinued. The remix version created controversy among fans because it significantly changed the sound of the instruments, especially drums. The remix version was used on all early CD copies and was the only version available for over 20 years. A remastered and expanded edition of the album was released on February 28, 2006, containing three bonus live tracks. The 2006 edition is the first CD version to use Terry Manning’s original 1975 mix.

Track listing

All songs by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard except where noted.

Side A

1. “Thunderbird” (Live) – 4:08
2. “Jailhouse Rock” (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) (Live) – 1:57
3. “Backdoor Medley” (Live) – 9:25
   • “Backdoor Love Affair” (Gibbons, Bill Ham) – 1:10
   • “Mellow Down Easy” (Willie Dixon) – 3:39
   • “Backdoor Love Affair No. 2” (Gibbons) – 2:05
   • “Long Distance Boogie” – 2:32

Side B

4. “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings” – 2:42
5. “Blue Jean Blues” – 4:43
6. “Balinese” – 2:39
7. “Mexican Blackbird” – 3:07
8. “Heard it on the X” – 2:24
9. “Tush” – 2:15

Personnel

• Billy Gibbons – guitar, vocals
• Dusty Hill – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Frank Beard – drums, percussion

Production

• Producer – Bill Ham
• Engineers – Jim Reeves, Robin Brians, Terry Kane, Bob Ludwig (mastering), Terry Manning
• Album concept – Bill Ham
• Design – Bill Narum
• Photography – John Dekalb