ZZ Top..." That Little Ol' Band From Texas" !!

 ZZ Top, better known as " That Little Ol' Band From Texas " , was formed in 1969. The band consisted of Billy Gibbons on guitar, Dusty Hill on bass and Frank Beard on drums.

Prior to the formation of ZZ Top, guitarist Billy Gibbons was playing in a band called ' The Moving Sidewalks ' where he met his future manager Bill Ham backstage at a Doors concert.  Soon after the Moving Sidewalks local hit " 99th Floor " in 1967, the band went on tour opening for The Doors on their Texas tour. Then later they opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. After an appearance on " The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson" , Jimi Hendrix named Billy Gibbons as his favorite guitarist. Shortly after, the Moving Sidewalks broke up.

After the breakup of the Moving Sidewalks, Gibbons and Ham contracted to form a new band called ZZ Top in 1969. The name ZZ Top came from two brands of rolling paper, Zig-Zag and Top.

 ZZ Top, with Gibbons playing guitar, Dusty Hill playing bass and Frank Beard playing drums, spent its first few years playing mostly local gigs. Then in 1970, manager Billy Ham's bosses, Houston record producer Pappy Daily and his family, cut a deal with Ham to finance " ZZ Tops First Album " in 1970 under the London Records label. This would be the first of five ZZ Top albums released under the London Records label.

The band followed up in 1972 with the album " Rio Grande Mud". Then in 1973, ZZ Top released " Tres Hombres " which brought them national attention with the hit song ' La Grange ', which was about a house of ill repute and allegedly based on Johnny Lee Hooker's song ' Boogie Chillen ". This song is still ZZ Top's signature riff tune. The song ' Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers' was also one of the classic songs from that album. The album " Fandango " would follow in 1975, to be followed with the album " Tejas " in 1977, which was the last  ZZ Top album to be released under the London Records label.

The band later signed with Warner Brothers, and released their first album under the Warner Brothers label, " Deguello "  in 1979. They would follow up with their second album under the Warner Brothers label, " El Loco " in 1981.

 Then in 1983, the band escaped from their R & B and Blues based sound when they released the album " Eliminator " which featured musically controversial electronic instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines. Despite the musical controversy, this album spawned ZZ Top's biggest hits ' Legs ' and ' Sharp Dressed Man ' .

The band followed up with the album " Afterburner " in 1985 which became a worldwide smash hit. ZZ Top followed up with the album " Recycler " in 1990, which was the last album that they would release under the Warner Brothers label.

 ZZ Top later signed with RCA, and they released the album " Antenna" during 1994. The band followed that up with the album " Rhythmeen " in 1996. This album was considered to be one of the band's best. Gibbons called it the " first pure trio record of our career" because only the three of them played on it. That pure and raw sound continued on their album "XXX " which was released in 1999.

At the turn of the century, ZZ Top was the only Rock band with all of its original members after three decades.

In 2004, ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

So there you have it. ZZ Top. One of the most prolific Rock bands of all time. Their music has spanned three decades and influenced countless fans of multiple generations.

Music fans, now it's your turn to chime in. Which ZZ Top song is your favortite of all time?