Fandango!

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This article is about the ZZ Top album. For other uses, see Fandango (disambiguation).
Fandango!
ZZ Top - Fandango.jpg
Studio album / Live album by
ZZ Top
ReleasedApril 18, 1975[citation needed]
RecordedApril 12, 1974 (tracks 1–3) December 30, 1974 – March 23, 1975
GenreTexas blues, boogie rock, blues rock, hard rock
Length33:33
LabelLondon
ProducerBill Ham
ZZ Top chronology
Tres Hombres
(1973) 		Fandango!
(1975) 		Tejas
(1976)
Singles from Fandango!
  1. "Tush"
    Released: May 1975
  2. "Heard It on the X"
    Released: 1978 (Japan)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic3.5/5 stars[1]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide2.5/5 stars[3]

Fandango! is the fourth album by the American blues rock band ZZ Top, released in 1975. The album's first side consists of selections from live shows, with the second side being new studio recordings. A remastered and expanded edition of this album was released on February 28, 2006.

Album title[]

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

Background[]

Frontman Billy Gibbons said of the album:

The live capture wound up being in the can first. We had enough live material to make up one side of the disc, so we decided to go with the unusual move of making the album half live, half studio. It turned out to be a winning combination for us.[4]

In the late 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 the drums. (However, in the case of this album, only the studio side was remixed.) 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. The album was re-released in 2009 on 180 gram vinyl using the original master tapes. It appears exactly the same except that it had a 180 gram vinyl LP sticker, by Back to Vinyl records.

Singles[]

The only single released from the album was "Tush". The single peaked at #20 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it the band's first top 40 single. "Heard It On The X" (about the influence of Mexican border blaster radio stations, so-called "X Stations", on Texas and other parts of the United States,[5] namechecking "Dr. B" alias John R. Brinkley[6]) though not an official single, the song is in heavy rotation for many Classic Rock Radio stations worldwide.

Track listing[]

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

Side one

  1. "Thunderbird" (Live) – 4:10
  2. "Jailhouse Rock" (Live) (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 2:01
  3. "Backdoor Medley" (Live) – 9:45
    • "Backdoor Love Affair" (Gibbons, Bill Ham) – 0:40
    • "Mellow Down Easy" (Willie Dixon) – 4:03
    • "Backdoor Love Affair No. 2" (Gibbons) – 2:00
    • "Long Distance Boogie" (John Lee Hooker) – 3:02

Side two

  1. "Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings" – 2:37
  2. "Blue Jean Blues" – 4:42
  3. "Balinese" – 2:37
  4. "Mexican Blackbird" – 3:04
  5. "Heard It on the X" – 2:23
  6. "Tush" – 2:14

2006 remastered version bonus tracks[]

  1. "Heard it on the X" (Live) - 2:36
  2. "Jailhouse Rock" (Live) (Leiber, Stoller) - 1:52
  3. "Tush" (Live) - 3:42

Tracks 1-3 (side A of the original LP) were recorded live at The Warehouse in New Orleans on April 12, 1974, "captured as it came down - hot, spontaneous and presented to you honestly, without the assistance of studio gimmicks". Tracks 4-9 (side B) were new studio recordings.

Tracks 10-12 (of the expanded 2006 version) were recorded live at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on August 30, 1980.

"Thunderbird"[]

"Thunderbird" was originally written and performed by The Nightcaps, a band formed in the 1950s when the members were teenagers.[7] The Nightcaps performed the song and distributed it on their album Wine, Wine, Wine but never applied for copyright.[7] ZZ Top began performing its version of the song in 1975, and has conceded that its version is lyrically and musically identical to the Nightcaps' song.[8] The Nightcaps sued ZZ Top for copyright infringement but their claims were dismissed as ZZ Top had registered a copyright on the song in 1975.[9]

Note: although the reference states that ZZ Top began performing Thunderbird in 1975, the recording date of side 1, April 12, 1974, demonstrates that the band were playing it earlier than 1975.

Personnel[]

  • Billy Gibbons – guitar, vocals
  • Dusty Hill – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Jailhouse Rock", "Balinese", and "Tush", co-lead vocals on "Backdoor Medley" and "Heard It on the X"
  • Frank Beard – drums, percussion

Production[]

  • Producer – Bill Ham
  • Engineers – Jim Reeves, John L. Venable, and, Norman Mershon for Record Plant Truck. Robin Brians, Terry Kane, Bob Ludwig (mastering), Terry Manning
  • Album concept – Bill Ham
  • Design – Bill Narum
  • Photography – John Dekalb

Charts[]

Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 61
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) 60
United States (Billboard 200) 10

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[11] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[12] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[]

  1. ^ Fandango! at AllMusic
  2. ^ Rollingstone
  3. ^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "ZZ Top". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 907-8. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ^ "Billy Gibbons talks ZZ Top: The Complete Studio Albums (1970-1990)". 3 June 2013.
  5. ^ LLC, SPIN Media (February 1986). SPIN. SPIN Media LLC.
  6. ^ June 14, Matthew WilkeningPublished; 2011. "ZZ Top 'Heard It on the X' – Lyrics Uncovered". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2021-08-17.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Dabou/sb v. Gibbons, 42 F.3d 285, 287 (5th Cir. 1995).
  8. ^ Dabou/sb v. Gibbons at 287 and 287 n.1.
  9. ^ Dabou/sb v. Gibbons at 291.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 348. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ "Canadian album certifications – ZZ Top – Fandango". Music Canada. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  12. ^ "American album certifications – ZZ Top – Fandango". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

External links[]

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