99th Floor - The roots of ZZ Top

(text only version)

[Original version]

[Wrong Way index]

mirrors:

You can also use keys to navigate on this page if your browser allows you;
usually they are initials (L for links, E for email and so on…) with a few exceptions:
Q for FAQ and numbers for the items in the links.

write to Roberto Feruglio

© 1998-2003 Wrong Way Productions

This page is Bobby approved

American Blues

Chronology

1963-1965

After playing with The Starliners and with The Deadbeats at minor circles, Hill Bros., Rocky & Dusty, started The Warlocks with Frank Beard, in Dallas, Texas.
Beard came from Fort Worth: previously he had played with The Hustlers and with The Cellar Dwellers (a single to their credit).
Such as first recording they backed the singer Lady Wilde on a 45rpm that Ara, a small Texan label, released.

1966

The Warlocks recorded two 7inch: one for Ara and one for another still more obscure Paradise.

1967

They changed their name into American Blues so that one mightn't mistake them for other bands of that time. Before the year ended, they went into Robin Hood Brian's studio for recording their first album under Scotty McKay's production.

1968

Is Here! was released through Karma Records on a limited edition. The cover of Tim Hardin's If I Were A Carpenter stood out from among the other tracks… It became their favourite piece: it will be released on a single the next year too. The long-playing turned out particularly successful from the point of view of the performance, mixing all the influences of each member: blues, garage and psychedelia, blended into a hard rock from whose source several Texan groups will draw. Not long after, thanks to clamour stirred up at local spheres, the band signed for UNI, a subsidiary label of MCA, that was in the position to assure them a distribution at home level. In August the trio, accompanied on organ by Doug Davis, was again at studio to record the new album.

1969

Do Their Thing kept on the way drawn by the previous record but it hadn't the same creative inspiration, resulting less genuine and sharp. Failing commercial returns, UNI got rid of them and not succeeding in spreading out their name beyond Texan borders they disbanded. In Houston Dusty and Frank met with Bill Gibbons and joined in his ZZ Top firmly.

Discography

(U.S. unless indicated otherwise)

official releases

The Cellar Dwellers

The Warlocks

American Blues

bootlegs

compilations

Top

Extended notes to American Blues discography

American Blues Is Here!
Album notes
Produced by Scotty McKay at Robin Hood Brian's studio
Personnel
Rocky Hill - guitar
Dusty Hill - bass
Frank Beard - drums
Doug Davis - piano on Mellow
Tracks
If I Were A Carpenter
All I Saw Was You
She'll Be Mine
Fugue For Lady Cheriff
It's Gone
Keep My Heart In A Rage
Mercury Blues
Melted Like Snow
Mellow

Back to American Blues discography

American Blues Do Their Thing
Album notes
Reissued as See For Miles See99 (LP) (UK) in 1987
Recorded at Pams, Inc., Dallas, Texas between August & October 1968
Original liner notes by American Blues
Liner notes to the reissue by Brian Hogg
Personnel
Rocky Hill - guitar
Dusty Hill - bass
Frank Beard - drums
Doug Davis - organ
Tracks
You Were So Close To Me
Wonder Man
Just Plain Jane
Shady
Comin' Back Home
Captain Fire
Chocolate Ego
Nightmare Of A Wise Man
Dreams
Softly To The Sun

Back to American Blues discography

Original liner notes to American Blues Do Their Thing

This album is an attempt to bring together different influences in music experienced by us - be they good or bad… The American Blues.
Captain Fire - reveals a common bond hidden in the depths of our most inner selves and can be interpreted on any level of consciousness.
Chocolate Ego - I have a chocolate ego, you have a magic eye - people are puppets, but you can pull your own string… Try to get into this one folks!
Dreams - came to me through my own dream…
Nightmare Of A Wise Man - tries to unfold truth in the form of a nightmare which flew on the wings of a snow white dove from Fort Worth to Waxahachie on Halloween night and lo and behold - out dripped a nightmare…
Shady - has to be experienced under vegetation.
Wonder Man - relates to a type of person - one of which we all known well, who tries to appear to be something that he knows is not.
Just Plane Jane - a metaphysical truth…
You Were So Close To Me - unseen realities.
Softly To The Sun - beauty is skin deep and if you can dig it - read between the colours…
Comin' Back Home - is the song in which the American Blues take solos and is self-explanatory.

Back to American Blues Do Their Thing card |

Top

Liner notes to American Blues Do Their Thing reissue by Brian Hogg

(kindly transcribed by John Melbourne)

Within this sleeve is the second album by American Blues, just one of a succession of groups to emerge out of Texas during the 1960s. Although they were never acclaimed in the same way as, say, the 13th Floor Elevators, interest in their career has grown as two of their members found later success as part of ZZ Top. This success however, has tended to obscure American Blues' own music, much of which was excellent, something this timely release should redress.
The American Blues were based in Dallas, home of teen legends such as the Five Americans and Kenny and the Kasuals, and other garageland contemporaries such as the Briks and the Chessmen. The driving force behind the group were two brothers, guitarist Rocky Hill and bassist Dusty. They'd been working together in several bands since the early 1960s, two of which included the Starliners and the Deadbeats. It was with another band, however, the Warlocks, that the brothers began to make some kind of impact, playing in and around the city's dance circuit.
The Warlocks' reputation grew sufficiently enough to take them into a recording deal, although the exact dates, like much of ZZ's history, is shrouded in a little mystery. Some sources give 1968 as the year their two singles were cut, while David Shutt's definitive discography of Texas music, Journey To Tyme quotes them as being from 1966. Whatever the truth, the first, If You Really Want Me To Stay/Good Time Trippin', appeared on the ARA label, while the second Splash Day/Life's A Misery, was issued on Paradise. Both were fairly successful in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but neither made much impression outside the Warlocks' home region.
The Warlocks also made one further appearance on vinyl, backing another local singer, Lady Wilde. Once again the exact date is unclear, although the fact that the single Another You/Poor Kid was released by ARA, suggests that it was made close to the time of the Warlocks' debut. Another You could date from 1965; quotes that the group backed Lady Wilde live on material such as Ferry Cross The Mersey would suggest it to be earlier than late.
Just what is clear however, is that a new drummer came into the Warlocks early in 1968. Frank Beard had played in several groups including the Hustlers and the Cellar Dwellers, the latter of which also cut a single on a Houston outlet. Bad Day/Call, appeared on the Steffek label around 1966, a session which doubtlessly made a change to one of the Cellar Dwellers other avenues of employment, backing a stripper in local dives.
Soon after Beard joined, he, the Hill Brothers and organist Doug Davis decided that the Warlocks needed a newer name and the group evolved into the American Blues. This new identity signalled a new direction and the group's punkish snarl was modified into something altogether more progressive. That duly in place, American Blues then signed up with yet another Dallas independent, Karma, went into the infamous Robin Hood Brian's studio where so many essential Texas records were cut, and emerged with an album and single, a reworking of Tim Hardin's song If I Were A Carpenter. It was produced by Scotty McKay, himself something of a local legend as both a performer and catalyst. McKay's own career, like that of Doug Sahm, spanned several years and styles and his experience doubtlessly played a part in helping American Blues shape their new identity.
Both sides of this debut 45 were included on their first album, Is Here released on Karma in 1968. Patchy rather than self-assured, it caught the group still trying to find itself as it worked its way through several different styles, from heavy-ish rock to Blues and psychedelia. Within several months, however, American Blues had found a more clear-cut style and, more crucially, had been signed to a major label.
UNI, a more hip subsidiary of MCA, had already grabbed Houston favourites Fever Tree, and now took on a representative from Dallas. The two groups could not have been more different, where Fever Tree produced a debut album which included orchestration and a careful production, the American Blues released, Do Their Thing, sounds as if the group merely entered the studio and tried to capture their live sound. The result is a somewhat wayward production, which fortunately still allows the material to shine through.
Firstly, anyone looking for ZZ Top will be disappointed, as only Comin' Back Home gives any indications of the kind of sound Beard and Dusty Hill would later play, and even there its somewhat tenuous. No, the enclosed album owes more to San Francisco than TV dinners, where a basic Blues/rock structure is washed over in psychedelia, and titles such as Chocolate Ego and Nightmare Of A Wise Man surely give it away. The original album's liner notes, which suggest reading between the colours add to its cosmic aura, although it should be stressed that Do Their Thing is firmly Texan, and a solid structure underpins a real inventiveness, which in turn is crammed with strange tunes, songs which after a few plays do remain firmly memorable. The highlights are probably the albums opening cut You Were So Close To Me, the marvellous Just Plain Jane and the inventive Softly To The Sun, but it's all good, topped off by some fine individual musicianship. Their love of different music styles still comes through, but here its slotted into the songs, rather than be an end in itself.
Sadly, Do Their Thing made no real impression and American Blues were quietly dropped by UNI. They struggled on, but with any real impetus gone, group members began to look elsewhere. Frank Beard was the first to be tempted away when he joined a new group just starting out of Houston. That group was of course, ZZ Top, which had evolved out of another favourite, the superb Moving Sidewalks, Guitarist Billy Gibbons and drummer Dan Mitchell had moved on from there into the Top, while Billy Ethridge was the latest bassist. Ethridge was a friend of Frank Beard, and it was he who suggested that Beard should come in, in Place of Mitchell. However Ethridge himself was soon squeezed out and this time it was Beard who did the recommending, and had his ex-American Blues partner Dusty Hill brought in alongside himself and Gibbons. The rest, as they say is history, with the ZZ's now comfortably working in the astrodome circuit. Include here is just a snatch of their beginnings, but one that remains worthwhile on its merits alone.

Back to American Blues Do Their Thing card |

Top


Moving Sidewalks

Chronology

1963-1965

In Houston, Texas, a youngster Bill Gibbons kindled the audience leading some blues bands: The Saints, The Coachmen and Billy & The Ten Blue Flames.

1966

Moving Sidewalks were born: beside Bill on guitar and vocal there were Tom Moore on keyboards, Don Summers on bass and Dan Mitchell on drums.

1967

The band made its debut with a psycho-punker anthem: 99th Floor released through the local Tantara Records. Both sides of the 7inch were written by Gibbons: it was the beginning of the collaboration with the producer Steve Ames who will be co-author of some pieces of the group. Wand Records, fallen for success achieved at Texan charts, reissued the single and released another 45rpm in October. Not earning the expected acknowledgements, the band was compelled to record the following material exclusively for the small Tantara.

1968

In June the group supported Jimi Hendrix on his Texan tour: this was the highest moment of popularity attained by the band that released the third single shortly afterwards, covering The Beatles' I Want To Hold Your Hand.

1969

Flash came out: the album is a classic of psychedelia as well as a sought-after collectors' item. Although it suffered the influence exerted by Hendrix, it revealed an original rendering of an abused style like the hard blues. A last 7inch followed the LP then Tom Moore and Don Summers left for Vietnam. Gibbons recruited Lanier Greig on keyboard (a past with Neil Ford & The Fanatics) and changed the name into ZZ Top, renewing the line-up with Frank Beard and Dusty Hill from American Blues later on.

Discography

(U.S. unless indicated otherwise)

official releases

bootlegs

note: Flash was pirate repressed also on vinyl (black cover and red label)

compilations

Top

Extended notes to Moving Sidewalks discography

Flash
Album notes
Produced by Steve Ames
Recording engineers: Bert Frilot & Doyle Jones
Re-mix engineer: Neal Ceppos
Cover photo by Galen Scott
Inside photo by Bill Metzler
Graphic design by Hudson-Eades & Michel Du Pré
Personnel
Bill Gibbons - vocals, guitar & harmonica
Don Summers - bass
Dan Mitchell - drums
Tom Moore - organ & piano
Tracks
Flashback
Scoun Da Be
You Make Me Shake
You Don't Know The Life
Pluto - Sept. 31st
No Good To Cry
Crimson Witch
Joe Blues
Eclipse
Reclipse

Back to Moving Sidewalks discography |

Top


F. A. Q.

Which kind of music did the three hombres play on their debuts?
Bill was inspired by Chicago blues bands, Dusty played essentially garage music and Frank took the starting point from British Invasion (The Cellar Dwellers, one of his early groups, was possible to admire it regularly at Cellar Club of Pat Kirkwood in Fort Worth).

Who was Lady Wilde?
She was an English singer: The Warlocks backed her at several events in Dallas.

Did The Warlocks change their name for avoiding disagreements with the future Grateful Dead?
Not exactly, in that Jerry Garcia coined his new name long before (on Dec. 4th 1965 precisely): The Warlocks was simply a name too frequent (there were at least two singles released between 1965 and 1966 by bands named Warlocks).

Which was the weight of a piece like 99th Floor?
99th Floor is considered a standard in its way: probably the best interpretation of this track was performed by The Fuzztones on a demo dated 1982; Ron Rimsite titled 99th Floor his wonderful zine and Luca Re (ex-leader of the mythical Sick Rose) called 99th Floor his new band.

Which was the first single recorded by ZZ Top?
It was Salt Lick b/w Miller's Farm released in 1969 through Scat Records (cat. no. 500); Frank Beard and Dusty Hill joined in soon afterwards; it was reissued the next year by London Records (cat. no. 131).

What has happened to Rocky Hill?
Rocky reappeared on the stage in 1988 with an album produced by Bill Ham (the same of ZZ Top) released for Virgin Records. Subsequently two records came out but they were made up of previous material: Texas Shuffle (Tomato 269654) in 1990 and Midnight Creepers (Collectables 572) in 1994.

Some explanations about Moving Sidewalks' discography:
Flash LP - according to the legend the abbreviation TS stands for Tantara Stereo, 69 for the year of release and 19 for the age of the four members;
I Want To Hold Your Hand 7inch - a few guides and zines report this one as Tantara 3103, other sources refer to compilations and mention it as 3108 (Bill sings I wanna, not I want to): Joe Rein who owns a copy told me the cat. # is 3108;
Flashback 7inch - common rock encyclopaedias report No Good To Cry as B-side; sources for collectors mention the B-side as unknown or call in question the existence of the single: Don Summers (Sidewalks' bassist) resolved the doubt… the A side was a radio edit (2:52) b/w the long version (4:15); the album version is 4:45.

Top


Links

Top


URL: http://web.tiscali.it/wrongway/
Webmaster: Roberto Feruglio
Revised: May 30, 2003