We went tonight to the premiere at the Cinerama Dome of Banger Films new ZZ Top documentary That Little Ol’ Band From Texas. Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill were there as well for a Q & A after the documentary was over. Frank Beard was not there and reportedly was at home recovering from a bout of pneumonia. The documentary covered the early years of all three band members before they found each other. It then chronicled the evolution of the band, which has spanned an amazing 50 years.
I thought the documentary was great. It gave a real glimpse into the worlds of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard and I came away feeling as if I had more of real sense of who these three guys are. I found that I liked all three of them as people. They all seemed honest, earnest and completely devoted to their love of music and playing together.
We saw ZZ Top a few years back at the House of Blues here in LA. They put on a first-class show and then at the end, Slash and John Mayer came on stage and played with them. Slash was Slash, focused and all-business, and John Mayer revealed himself to be an exceptional blues guitarist. Not as good as Billy Gibbons, perhaps, but right up there.
If you are a ZZ Top fan, I would highly recommend this documentary. It is packed with information about ZZ Top’s rise to the top and has lots of musical footage as well. Mainly, I think you’ll be amazed at how grounded these three guys are and how hard they have worked to keep playing the music they love for almost half a century.
Here’s a photo I took tonight:
Here’s the trailer:
I’ll be checking back in tomorrow. Until then, enjoy a little music!
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