Friday Night Videos

ZZ Top's Dusty Hill has died. He'd been sidelined from the band's recent shows with a reported "hip issue" but obviously his health problems were far worse than let on. Despite the "Little Ole Band From Texas" being a staple of live shows around here, and their close association with the Chicken Ranch, I never saw them live. That always seems like something I'd get around to in the future. That's looking iffy at this point. ZZ Top fans know that guitarist Billy Gibbons was the lead vocalist on most of the band's songs, but Hill occasionally got behind the mic as well. Probably their best-known song with Hill on lead vocals is "Tush." Here's a live version dating back to 1975, when the band was growing in popularity, but was nowhere near the stratospheric fame that awaited in the 80s. Oh, to have taken in some of these classic shows!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Laura Brannigan.

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Time for a blues break. A dirty, gritty, old school blues break from ZZ Top: "Fool For Your Stockings."

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Whitehorse.

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No subject has ever made such a popular subject for song as love. As long as humans have been making music, love’s far and away the top choice of lyricists to write about. Writing and discussing Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch, however, got me to thinking. Amid all that blissful romance, the darker flipside beckoned, and prostitution served as the inspiration for more than a few memorable songs. The Greeks and Romans sang about prostitutes, and minstrels in the middle-ages were more than a little bawdy. Cowboys of the American West favored songs so scandalous they could strip the needles from a cactus. It’s no wonder, then, that popular music of the modern era has produced countless songs about prostitution as well.

What follows in the coming weeks is a countdown of the top 10 songs (as compiled by yours truly) about prostitution of the modern era that were not inspired by the infamous Chicken Ranch brothel of La Grange, Texas. Between The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack and ZZ Top’s “La Grange” (not to mention works by Willis Alan Ramsey, Billy Joe Shaver, the Austin Lounge Lizards and numerous others), the Chicken Ranch would simply have an unfair advantage.

6. “Mexican Blackbird” – ZZ Top
Even though ZZ Top’s iconic “La Grange” is disqualified from this list because it’s about the Chicken Ranch, that doesn’t mean the little ol’ band from Houston is shut out of the list. That’s because the band reveled in singing about society’s seedy underbelly. “Mexican Blackbird” is as crude and politically incorrect as they come, about a popular mix-raced prostitute in Ciudad Acuña on the Texas-Mexico border. Despite her purported popularity, nobody knows her name so instead refer to her with an offensive and demeaning term. Presented from the perspective of a good ol’ boy just looking for some fun, the song highlights the dehumanizing effects of prostitution along the border.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Ruth Brown.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is now available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Remiss

Forgive me, loyal readers, I have been remiss. In this week of anniversaries, I missed a significant one. Forty years ago yesterday, that Little Ole Band from Texas, otherwise known as ZZ Top, released its third album, Tres Hombres. This was a career-defining album for the group, a wicked blues/rock fusion that became a top 10 hit and launched them to stardom. More germane to our purposes, the lead (and only) single from the album, "La Grange," took a classic John Lee Hooker blues riff and wrapped it with growling lyrics about a certain famed brothel on the outskirts of town. It's a little-known fact that "La Grange" was release--and garnered extensive airplay--well before the album came out. Which means all of America (or at least those tuned to FM rock stations) was listening to "La Grange" in late June and all of July, well before Marvin Zindler launched his TV crusade against the Chicken Ranch. That's why the Chicken Ranch wasn't the worst-kept secret in Texas--to be a secret (even a worst-kept one) people at least have to pretend it's a secret in the first place.

As far as the album is concerned, Radio.com has a nice little writeup about it with comments from Billy Gibbons.

And as tomorrow's major milestone continues rushing at us in breakneck pace, folks here and there are starting to take notice. The Fayette County Record has two stories on the Chicken Ranch in this week's edition, which is worth noting. The stories aren't available for reading online without a subscription, but if you're passing through Fayette County this week, it might be worthwhile to stop in at Hruska's in Ellinger and gab a couple of kolaches to go with a copy of the paper.

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Folks, it looks like I have some fairly significant news to share later today. Not saying what it is, but I'll let the boys from ZZ Top give you a little hint.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Dave Hill.

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Friday Night Videos

Not that I normally do requests, but since Scott asked so nicely last week, I figured I'd humor him. Don't want to disappoint the regulars, you know. So here it is, ZZ Top performing "La Grange" on the Tonight Show.



Previously on Friday Night Videos... The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

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Goodness! I've been doing these Friday Night Videos for a couple of years now, and just realized that I've been remiss in not featuring a single video from that li'l ol' band from Texas. Well, no longer. Here's ZZ Top with "Legs," one of my favorites and a classic bit of cinematic musical presentation. And really, how can you not love a video featuring the Eliminator? Gotta love them suicide doors!



Previously on Friday Night Videos... M/A/R/R/S.

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