Billy F Gibbons - Billy F Gibbons

ROCK + ROLL
GEARHEAD

by
BILLY F GIBBONS

WITH TOM VICKERS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID PERRY
and Blain Clausen, Alex Maldonado & Andrew Stuart

Its been a while since the original version of this work first appeared. A lot has changed in that time, but some things remain the same ZZ Top is still headlining arenas and concert halls and, yes, the same three guys are still playing the same three chords for FIFTY years now!

Quite the unexpected accomplishment in the ephemeral world of Rock n Roll, and something we still be jangin on as we celebrate the 50th anniversary along with youour true friends, fans, and followers whove kept us going through it all.

Sho nuff! And theres lots of getting back to the basics about them cars and git-tars theyve been lifelong passions since first spankin the plank way back when. Around the same time as we discovered what the electric guitar could do, we were intent on spending whatever hours of the night remained to put loads of listening into the lure of loud sounds from the record machine and the rumble of hot rods and custom cars. It must be said, the influence of the bluesmen and the exploits of the early customizers were all leading the charge George Barris, Howlin Wolf, Ed Big Daddy Roth, Muddy Waters, Dean Jeffries, Jimmy Reed, andof courseB. B. King and Von Dutch all left a stunning mark on the psyche of yours truly.

All that chrome, smoke, and barbecue grew into whats included here a refreshed upgrade of Rock + Roll Gearhead including a few more sparkly guitars and shiny custom cars that make up the package we all seem to continue gravitating toward. So feast your eyes on these goodies and enjoy. Each page provides a luscious look, from those humble beginnings of the drawing board right on out to the stage and into the street.

Muchas Gracias, mis Amigos!

Billy F Gibbons

This tale of Billy F Gibbons just might as well begin right here we go down deep back into Houston, Texas and down deep it goes in Houston High Society and thru the shotgun shack neighborhood known as Houstons Fourth Ward. For its a tale of some of Mr. Gs most important beginnings Family and the stuff called Rock n Roll. Here tiz

WELL, LETS SEE THAT TEXAS THING REMAINS THE BIG PICTURE, always a place to call home. In addition to the familysister Pam, the Mom, and the Dadthis life remains cast with a host of characters, some famous, some yet to become famous.

Along with the family, friends, and this everlasting cast of characters, Big Stella Matthews, caretaker of the chillun and affectionate educator in the unexpected wild world of Blues, Gospel, and Rock n Roll, enters the early picture, teachin a crash course in good, good times. Bigs oldest daughter, Little Stella, barely 18, liked to take us for a night stroll round the nightclubs after we were supposedly tucked-in for the night. But down the street and round the corner on West Gray laid some of the most amazing joints around, you knowThe El Conquistador, Matt Garners Place, The Right Spot Lounge, along with a few neighbors housesjust where the nighttime good times were jumpin. And, as you might guess, we were most assuredly thrillin and downright mesmerized by these unexpected surprises.

Little sister Pam and I stayed two or three nights a week down in Fourth Ward with Stella. She looked after us and we learned the art of kinda fittin in. It was different from our folks house, but we liked itparticularly when Little Stella would slip us out!

Seein what we saw, hearing what we heard, you knew that something was right here, right now. Passion to the marrow, even as young uns. What follows is what was about to happen.

As mentioned, the local live show scene Man! So mind-blowing, each night an experience with loud music, another notch in the axe handle. Radiating! And, to add fuel to the fire, vinyl records, the mighty platter of wax, appeared. Most importantly, the experiences expanded: seeing live performers in person, then reliving em and replaying em thru the mystery of that spinning vinyl disc.

Needless to say, these were cornerstones of what I wanted, inspiring me to begin playing and learning the kind of music I wanted to hear.

Next move? Christmas Day in 63, that first guitar showed ELECTRIC GUITAR at that! Within about half an hour, I had Whatd I Say, Ray Charles famous one, and a couple of Jimmy Reeds tunes down good.

As soon as I picked up that primitive Gibson Melody Maker, single cutaway, single pickup, sunburst finish, and a Fender amp, you just couldnt stop me. Still got one, still remember my first few licks on it, still remember puttin the amp in the window, aimed down the street!

Indeed, call it a lightning bolt or whatever it struck brightly then and keeps on striking. Sometime in the same place, sometime in the same manner, and when guitars in hand, look out! Its off and runnin! Hard focus and vision, I guessI just know it started, dont exactly know when its to be complete, its simply a driving force that keeps me going. Its those early influences and elements still woven thru the fabric, from the get-go to the present.

Willie Davis, yardman and slam man. As Willie said, I can show ya but you got to go ya.

Two guitars and drums, plain and simple turn 15 and turn it up! The Coachmen, left to right: V. E. Harris, BFG, and V. E.s brother, Virgil.

THIS TEXAS THANG

Now then Texas. Texas is a most unusual place. Right smack in the middle of everthing, both the flashiest top and the funkiest bottomlike a groove funnel. The range and variety, from C&W, to deep, dark down-and-dirty Blues, thru the shifting sands of, you know, Tejano and Mexican border music, all kinds of music, itll getcha every time. Its well overwhelming. Way much coming atcha all the time. Try it sometime. Get in the car, turn the radio up, and youll probably find a little anything and a lot of everything. Its 24 hours a day, a nonstop barrage of delight.