Fandango! by ZZ Top
Side A is live. The first track is from memorial stadium in Austin where the Longhorns still play. The introduction with the 80,000 plus fans starting to roar and the MC saying, “Get ready for ZZ Top. Ladies and gentlemen, the fantastic ZZ Top!” is one of my favorite live album non-musical moments up there with Ted Nugent’s intro into
Hibernation on
Double Live Gonzo and Cheap Trick’s “This is the first song on our new album” and slightly under (ok maybe way under) The MC5’s “Brothers and sisters!!!” and Public Enemy’s “Everybody who loves the queen be quiet!”
The live tracks include covers by Elvis, Willie Dixon, and John Lee Hooker.
The first lyrics implore everyone to get high and then later this interlude takes place
He thinks he’s real bad
He thinks he’s badder than Shaft, Superfly, James Bond and Kung Fu
All put together tonight.
But I got news for him
They don’t call me the Texas homewrecker and Heartbreaker for nothing.
Got to mellow down (Repeat over and over)
If you wanna blow your top.
Well, I might not have no top to blow
Then you better blow what you got baby
I got this album shortly after it came out so I think I was around 8 years old maybe older, maybe 10 I’m not sure. But I had this routine where I did the same act and dance moves and recited the lyrics and changed spots for each line and I used to act that out like it was Georgia Championship Wrestling and I used to pretend it was my teachers fighting.
Side B has six studio tracks. All under five minutes and 4 of the tracks clocking in under three minutes. It’s white boy electric blues but very brilliantly they never overstay their welcome. It’s all meat and no filler. Personally I love every track but
Heard It on the X and
Tush are the classic fan favorites. The guitar riffs all through both sides of this album are a furious blast.
This album has been with me my entire life and I still love it.