The Big Bad Blues - 2018
Billy Gibbons - the guy with the red beard, dark glasses and hat or cap - is one of rock's great veterans. The Texan, born in 1949, formed the first band playing more or less psychedelic rock (acid rock) back in the second half of the sixties (The Moving Sidewalks) and managed to open for Jimi Hendrix and his Experience in 1968. In addition to his musical pursuits, Billy is known for his passion for collecting vintage cars (Cadillac Series 62 (1948), Chevrolet Impala (1962), Ford Coupe (1950), Ford Thunderbird (1958), among others), which he shares with other notable guitarists such as Jeff Beck. He became world famous for forming ZZ Top in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Along with Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, they recorded and released 15 albums and, in addition to selling more than 50 million records, became known for their systematically built image and flamboyant stage show.
This year, Billy F. Gibbons presents a newly released album titled The Big Bad Blues. The album features two tracks by Muddy Waters and one by Bo Diddley (Crackin' Up). Gibbons himself says that the biggest challenge in interpreting Standing Around Crying (Waters) was not to denigrate the legacy of a musical great. In truth, even the opening track is not entirely from the pen of Billy Gibbons. In an interview with Paul Elliott, he admits that more than the inspiration for the opening Missin' Yo' Kissin' were the handwritten notes his wife Gilly Stilwater wrote when Billy was playing the same three chords over and over and couldn't move on. The entire album contains 11 tracks and has an economical running time of 40 minutes. The set list is based on a combination of boogie, rock 'n' roll and blues with calmly led, good sounding guitar. The opening track has a great tempo, the second My Baby She Rocks is quieter and nicely swinging, Second Line has a great chorus and the fifth Let The Left Hand Know is typical in its pleasantly proclamatory lyrics about letting the left hand know where the right hand is going. Somewhat unusual sounding is the version Rollin' and Tumblin', written in 1929 by Hambone Newbern (sometimes attributed to Muddy Waters). It's not easy to do an original take on this song, rearranged thousands of times, but it doesn't feel out of place on The Big Bad Blues. Mo' Slower Blues is indeed a slow raw blues, and Hollywood 151 has a cute guitar shimmy at the beginning and is a classic in the boogie-woogie genre. The roots of this style go back to the 1920s when the piano was the basic instrument for boogie, but on his second solo album Billy F. Gibbons proves that the guitar works equally well in boogie. The Big Bad Blues is a very good record and well worth revisiting after a while. The author's characteristic detachment is symbolized by his reasoning that if it weren't for ZZ Top he'd probably be a pharmacist along with Dusty, but if ZZ Top exist, let people remember them because they enjoy making a big noise.