Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By ZZ Top, Shelter Records/BMG 2022.
Legendary rock band ZZ Top will be releasing their latest album RAW on July 22 and it’s a cracker.
The lead single Brown Sugar featured on their very first album, the aptly titled ZZ Top’s First Album, which was released in 1971.
This song shouldn’t be confused with the Rolling Stones classic of the same name.
The Billy F Gibbons penned song was released three months before the Rolling Stones song and for many decades it’s been a crowd favourite at ZZ Top’s concerts.
RAW was recorded and filmed for the Grammy-nominated Netflix documentary “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” in the famed Texas honky-tonk Gruene Hall, located between Austin and San Antonio.
This historic venue dates from 1878 and it’s been in continuous use as the oldest operating music joint in the State.
RAW is the final album that includes the late Dusty Hill, who passed away last year, in the ZZ Top line-up, thus the film and album are very much a tribute to him.
As the title suggests the album was recorded in a spare, bare bones, way.
As the documentary will reveal, the three musicians, Billy F Gibbons, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill, made sure they were in each-others line of sight which gave the recording a live and organic feel.
The twelve-track album was produced by Billy F Gibbons and will be available in digital, CD and 180-gram vinyl.
It’s sure to be a must have for fans.
There is a teaser of the film on YouTube showing ZZ Top recording Brown Sugar at Gruene Hall.
It’s great.
ZZ Top are about to head out on the 50 date RAW Whisky Tour of North America which is designed to not only promote the album but also their ZZ Top Tres Hombres Whisky offered from Balcones Distilling which was recently released in Texas.
The four-minute film teaser can be accessed at this PS News link.
