Billy Gibbons had formed the band Moving Sidewalks in Houston in 1966 with Dan Mitchell on drums, Tom Moore on keyboards, and Don Summers on bass, earning the group local recognition when '99th Floor' single became a local hit. After opening for various popular groups such as the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and the 13th Floor Elevators, Moving Sidewalks eventually released the album 'Flash' in 1969, but by this point both Moore and Summers had been drafted into the US Army to fight in the Vietnam War, and Gibbons and Mitchell subsequently recruited bassist-keyboardist Lanier Greig, thus forming the first incarnation of ZZ Top. With new manager by Bill Ham on board, the band released their first single, 'Salt Lick', in 1969, backed with 'Miller's Farm', both of which were credited to Gibbons as the composer. Shortly after the recording of 'Salt Lick', Greig was replaced by bassist Billy Ethridge, a bandmate of Stevie Ray Vaughan's, and Mitchell was replaced by Frank Beard of American Blues. Due to lack of interest from the major American record companies, ZZ Top accepted a record deal from London Records, the American affiliate of the British Decca Records label, but as he was unwilling to sign a recording contract, Ethridge quit the band and Dusty Hill, Frank Beard's American Blues bandmate, became his replacement in late 1969. With Gibbons assuming the role as the band's leader, their debut album 'ZZ Top's First Album' was released in 1971, consisting of "barrelhouse" rhythms, distorted guitars, double entendres, and innuendo, all reflecting the group blues influences.
'Rio Grande Mud' followed in 1972, and their first charting single 'Francine' was extracted from it. In 1973 they released their third album 'Tres Hombres', which reached number eight on the Billboard 200 albums chart by early 1974, and which included the boogie-driven 'La Grange', written about the Chicken Ranch, a notorious brothel in La Grange, Texas, that also inspired the musical 'The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas'. On the subsequent tour, the band performed sold-out concerts in the U.S., during which they recorded the live tracks that would fill one side of their 1975 album, 'Fandango!', which also contained one side of new studio songs, and the single 'Tush' peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. 'Tejas' was recorded during a break in the tour and was released in November 1976, and was the final ZZ Top album under their contract with London Records. It was not as successful or as positively received as their previous two efforts, but still reached number 17 on the Billboard 200, although the singles taken from it both failed to crack the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1978, after almost seven years of touring and a string of successful albums, ZZ Top went on hiatus while Beard dealt with addiction problems. Gibbons travelled to Europe, Beard went to Jamaica, and Hill went to Mexico, later spending three months working at DFW Airport, saying he wanted to "feel normal" and "ground himself".
In 1979, ZZ Top signed with Warner Bros. Records, and with Gibbons and Hill now sporting chest-length beards, they set about recording a new album, 'Degüello', which was released in late 1979. While 'Degüello' went platinum, it only reached number 24 on the Billboard chart, bit it did produce two popular singles in 'I Thank You', a cover of the Sam & Dave hit, and the band original 'Cheap Sunglasses'. In April 1980, ZZ Top made their first appearances in Europe, including sharing the bill with English electronic group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark on an episode of the UK music show The Old Grey Whistle Test, and inspired by OMD, ZZ Top introduced a jerky dancing style to their live show, and began to experiment with synthesizers, which featured prominently on the October 1981 album 'El Loco'. The album peaked at number 17 on the Billboard chart, and from this point on their music showed a more modern sound, with Gibbons pushing the band in this direction for their next album 'Eliminator', which appeared in March 1983. Featuring two top-40 singles in 'Gimme All Your Lovin'' and 'Legs', it became a critical and commercial success, selling more than 10 million copies and reaching number 9 in the U.S. Billboard pop charts. 'Eliminator' retained Gibbons' signature guitar style, while adding elements of new wave music, with the electronic band Depeche Mode being cited as an influence.
Despite selling fewer copies than 'Eliminator', 1985's 'Afterburner' became ZZ Top's highest-charting album, reaching number four on the U.S. Billboard chart, and all of the singles from it were top-40 hits. 'Recycler' was released in 1990, and was the band's final studio album with Warner Records, and the last of a distinct sonic trilogy in their catalogue, marking a return towards a simpler guitar-driven blues sound with less synthesizer and pop bounce than their previous two albums, and this move did not entirely suit the fan base that 'Eliminator' and 'Afterburner' had built up, failing to match the sales of those albums. However, the single 'My Head's In Mississippi' reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart that year. In 1992, Warner released 'ZZ Top's Greatest Hits', including one new Rolling Stones-style cut, 'Gun Love', and an Elvis-inflected video for 'Viva Las Vegas'. In 1994, the band signed a $35 million deal with RCA Records, releasing the million-selling 'Antenna', and although subsequent RCA albums, 'Rhythmeen' in 1996 and 'XXX' in 1999, sold well, they never reached the levels enjoyed previously.
In 2003, ZZ Top released a final RCA album, 'Mescalero', an album thick with harsh Gibbons guitar, and featuring as a hidden track a cover version of 'As Time Goes By'. After a long hiatus, ZZ Top released their next studio album, the Rick Rubin-produced 'La Futura', in 2012, with the first single, 'I Gotsta Get Paid', featuring in an advertising campaign for Jeremiah Weed Whiskey. In 2016 they released 'Tonite At Midnight: Live Greatest Hits From Around The World', which preceded their 2017 Tonnage Tour, but they had to cancel the last few dates due to Hill's declining health, and following a hip injury in July 2021, which forced him to leave the band's current tour, Hill died on 28 July, aged 72. At Hill's request, ZZ Top continued with Elwood Francis on bass, and in August Gibbons confirmed that Hill had recorded bass and vocals for the band's upcoming sixteenth studio album prior to his death. 'Raw' was released in July 2022, being the soundtrack for the band's 2019 documentary 'That Little Ol' Band From Texas', and they band then embarked on an extensive tour, which finally ended in November 2025. During their long career, ZZ Top didn't hold back much of their music for release on the b-sides of singles, but there are enough rare tracks to make up a single album of b-sides, hidden and bonus tracks, and rare singles from this much-loved band.
Track listing
01 Salt Lick (single 1969)
02 Miller's Farm (b-side of 'Salt Lick')
03 Reverberation (Doubt) (from the Roky Erickson tribute 'Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye' 1990)
04 Viva Las Vegas (single 1992)
05 Gun Love (exclusive track from 'Greatest Hits' 1992)
06 Everything (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'Antenna' 1994)
07 Mary's (b-side of 'Breakaway' 1994)
08 Isn't Love Amazing (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'Rhythmeen' 1996)
09 Ninja Shack (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'XXX' 1999)
10 Sanctify (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'Mescalero' 2003)
11 As Time Goes By (bonus track from US edition of 'Mescalero' 2003)
12 Flyin' High (extended version from 'La Futura' pre-release promo 2011)
13 Threshold Of A Breakdown (bonus track from Russian edition of 'La Futura' 2012)
14 Drive By Love (bonus track from Russian edition of 'La Futura' 2012)
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