Change is inevitable, yet the ethos behind ZZ Top’s unimpeachable career hasn’t budged in 55 years.
The Houston trio, whose blues-based guitar rock unexpectedly took MTV by storm in the ‘80s with cheeky videos brimming with big ol’ beards, a cherry red ‘33 Ford coupe driven by a gaggle of beautiful women and fuzz-covered guitars, still believes in the simplicity of their mission: “ZZ Top is about having a good time.”
At 74, founding member Billy Gibbons sees the spell cast on tour when his guitar revs up on 1973’s “La Grange” or he hands off the punchline of “Sharp Dressed Man” from 1983’s “Eliminator” album to the multigenerational crowd to sing in unison.
“It’s really a treat to maintain this enthusiasm and it’s front and center each night,” Gibbons says over the phone from San Diego on Halloween — the one day of the year he admits he can maneuver in public relatively unnoticed despite his trademark “chin whiskers” and Bamileke beanie.
“We played (California’s) The Grove last night and lo and behold strolling through the front aisle was a proud pappa holding his youngster with a set of earphones on — both grinning from ear to ear. It was pretty rewarding,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer says.
This response keeps him braving the “rigors of the road” for most of the year with ZZ Top, which headlines the Hard Rock Casino in Gary, Indiana, on Nov. 15, and his solo outfit, the BFGs. It’s also why Gibbons and drummer Frank Beard decided to keep up with the taxing schedule with longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis filling in after original bassist Dusty Hill died in 2021.
“Dusty issued the edict,” Gibbons explains. “’Look, the show must go on. If I’m late getting to rehearsal,’ he said, ‘just let Elwood take it.’ I said, ‘Great!’ Never realizing that sooner than later, that’s actually how it unfolded.”
Fan favorites keep the setlist pretty tight — imagine not hearing “Legs” or “Gimme All Your Lovin’” — but with a discography stretching back to the Nixon administration, the band keeps a few slots open to resurrect a deep cut chosen by coin toss. “It keeps us on our toes,” Gibbons admits. Still, things can go awry even in a group as locked in as the “little ol’ band from Texas.”
Gibbons realized three bars into a recent performance of “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” that everybody was going in a different direction and required a dreaded do-over. “We call it ‘going to the Bahamas,’” he explains. “Getting to the ‘Bahamas’ is easy, getting back out of the ‘Bahamas’ is the challenge. But the realism of these challenges is what we enjoy.”
So how does a rock star who maintains notable collections of souped-up cars, guitars and African art and calls the likes of Keith Richards and Slash friends and collaborators keep it real? Try reading poetry to a bunch of second-graders. Gibbons visited the Dallas classroom of his godson to recite some selections from Shel Silverstein’s oeuvre and plans to do it again this month. When he opened the floor for questions, one student asked if he knew Abraham Lincoln. “She said, ‘I like his beard too,’” Gibbons says, cackling at the memory.
Detours — musical or otherwise — dot the landscape of Gibbons’ life. He’s dabbled in TV as a reoccurring character on “Bones,” which aired on Fox for 12 seasons, lent his distinctive voice tom animated series “King of the Hill” and appeared as a dinner guest on reality competition cooking show “Hell’s Kitchen.”
He most recently wrote a song (“Living It Up Down In Texas”) for “Landman,” Taylor Sheridan’s new series rooted in Texas oil lore starring Billy Bob Thornton (“It should be noted he has a great backing band — when he steps out from in front of the camera, he can just as easily step on stage”) and premiering on Paramount+ on Nov. 17.
“There’s a thread of creativity that seems to unfold with these different excursions,” Gibbons specifies when describing why he’s tickled by branching out into other spheres. “It’s gratifying.”
A business partnership with country singer Tim Montana that began with a mutual love of zesty condiments has expanded into co-ownership of a storied bar in Montana called the Wise River Club. The venture will feature two things Gibbons is passionate about: loud music and the pair’s Whisker Bomb line of hot sauces, barbecue sauces and salsas.
The quest for the perfect hot sauce looms so large that it’s not Chicago’s robust blues history that comes to Gibbons’ mind when searching for an anecdote about the city, but a fateful night eating at one of the restaurants inside the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel.
“I can go to the mat and challenge just about anyone on recipes for hot sauce, but we met a flavor profile that was so enticing,” he remembers. “(It) had just enough spice to get your attention, didn’t leave you running for the water fountain, but was really good.”
Maybe recognizing a competitor in their midst, the dining establishment offered up as much as Gibbons could carry — even by the bucketful — but would not divulge the recipe, much to the expert taster’s chagrin.
“There are still some spicy secrets left out there,” he muses.
ZZ Top at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, 5400 W. 29th Ave., Gary, Indiana; tickets from $69.50 at ticketmaster.com
Janine Schaults is a freelance writer.