ROCK MUSIC ZZ Top mixes it up, still has fun

The band has been around for almost four decades.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
There are really only a few bands out there that truly have a unique sound. That is, one second of any song and you can instantly recognize the outfit without question.
Invariably, this is the case with guitar-rock act ZZ Top. For nearly 40 years, the trio of bassist-singer Dusty Hill, drummer Frank Beard and guitarist-singer Billy Gibbons has been putting out hits -- "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Legs," "Tush," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "La Grange" -- that sound like no other band. So what is it exactly that makes this Texas-based threesome so darn special?
"I don't know," laughed bassist Dusty Hill, calling from Las Vegas. "Our music has a sizzle. There's a little Texas in everything we do. People just seem to enjoy it. We all early in our lives played in different bands, and Frank and I played in a few bands together before we finally clicked with Billy [Beard]). We felt it. And I mean if we played Johnny Mathis' 'Misty,' it would probably still sound like ZZ Top. It's just the way we sound.
"It's been just the same three guys. Like Billy says, the same three guys playing the same three notes, just in a different order."
As simple as that may sound, the results have been anything but trite. In looking back, the band's high-water mark came in 1983 with its platinum release "Eliminator." Not only did the album appeal to those "Cheap Sunglasses"-wearing loyalists from the '70s but the trio found a new crop of youthful fans in the form of the MTV generation.
Calculated? Not really
ZZ Top became an instant hit with videos for "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Legs," and "Sharp Dressed Man" showcasing the band's spinning guitars and 1933 Ford coupe. In hindsight, it seems like a calculated marketing move that paid off in spades. But that's only half right.
"We never calculated anything in our life," Hill said. "Here's what the deal is: If we can have fun with something, usually it works out for us. And since we didn't know what we were doing, we relied heavily on the director [Tim Newman] and just had some ideas, and put them into video and there you go."
It's been a few years since ZZ Top's last album, 2003's "Mescalero," which failed to generate much press; however, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act refuses to rest on its laurels. A new project with dozens of different ideas in the mix is on the horizon. The act is hitting the road for a few spring shows, including its long-awaited return to Youngstown on Friday at the Chevrolet Centre.
"I think we got snowbound in Youngstown years ago for three days," Hill said. "We had a real good time."
That's exactly what the bassist said fans should expect with the group's upcoming show.
"It's going to be a pretty cross-section, with songs like 'Brown Sugar' from the first album and 'Francine,' that's an old one," Hill said. "You'll just enjoy the hell out of the show. So just sit down ... no, don't sit down. You'll want to stand up and enjoy the hell out of it. It's just a good rocking show and we're having a good time."
If Hill seems to be in a festive mood during the show, you can chalk it up to a pre-birthday celebration. On May 19, Hill will be, well, um, 40-something, right? "Yeah," laughed Hill, "somewhere around there."