Monday, March 20, 2017

ZZ TOP - BROWN SUGAR - 1971



Hint: you've got to give this one a minute and a half to get rolling.

For one thing, how terrible is it when you come up with a great song idea and the Rolling Stones release a song with the same title right around that time? (I haven't spent the time to figure out which one came first.)

I love Billy Gibbons as a guitar player, because he's one of those guys for whom the guitar is just a starting point. You get it all plugged in, get everything switched on, and then go nuts. Guys like this don't mind if you completely lose the sound of a guitar in the haze.

Phil Manzanera said in an interview that he always tried to make the guitar sound not like a guitar at all. Billy said one time that if you play loud enough, it's all harmonics, the guitar is gone. I wouldn't recommend that approach to everyone, but it does seem to work for some people.

2 comments:

Harv said...

I'll never forget Hendrix at Steve Paul's "The Scene", in NY. Loud worked very well for him, especially in this small venue. You may have been there too-memory fails on that front. This ZZ Top version is excellent, and for that, I thank you.

fred c said...

I think that I missed the Scene show because I was in boot camp at the time. I did catch a couple of the Cafe au Go Go shows in October, though. Those small venue shows were sure loud, weren't they? Fifteen feet from multiple Marshalls will do that. Jimi seemed to enjoy those small shows, he was more relaxed. Like he was hosting a party at his house! Which, in a way, he was.