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The 1970s gave us some of the greatest musical talents of all time, from rock to metal to folk. It was during this time that a trio of guys from Texas joined up to form the eccentric group that was (and still is) ZZ Top. They’ve given us today’s Tuning song, “Chevrolet.”
Featuring lead vocalist Billy Gibbons, bassist and co-lead Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard, the band got its start with London Records doing blues rock with humorous lyrics. It was in 1973 that the group struck gold with their Tres Hombres album, which won over the masses with its gritty blues and mean growls, courtesy of Gibbons’ guitar.
“La Grange,” off of that same album, turned out to be one of the band’s greatest hits, becoming a highly-played single, and peaking at 41 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up would have to wait another ten years, when their highly-successful Eliminator album debuted in 1983.
Before all this fame and fortune, however, Billy, Dusty, and Frank were just Houstonian no-names who played to half-empty auditoriums around Texas and Arizona. And the song we have for you today, “Chevrolet,” from their early album Rio Grande Mud, was just such a song.
You’ve got some simple electric rock instrumentation, combined with rock & roll and blues. Major keys and dissonant vocal harmony, pretty typical stuff of bands of the day (The Eagles, America, The Byrds).
Nevertheless, Billy and company managed to capture the great feeling. That feeling that comes from just taking an easygoing drive in a “flat ’41”–which is a Ford car; go figure–along the plains, traveling from Houston to Cinco Ranch.
It’s fun and lighthearted, and it’s just the kind of song to listen to when you just feel like driving around to calm your mind and spirit. In fact, I’m gonna go do that after work today.
Thanks for tuning in today, folks.
