ZZ Top's First Album may not be perfectly polished, but it does establish their sound, attitude, and quirks.
Simply put, it's a dirty little blues-rock record, filled with fuzzy guitars, barrelhouse rhythms, dirty jokes, and Texan slang.
They have a good, ballsy sound that hits at gut level, and if the record's not entirely satisfying, it's because they're still learning how to craft records -- which means that they're still learning pacing as much as they're learning how to assemble a set of indelible material.
Too much of this record glides by on its sound, without offering any true substance, but the tracks that really work -- "(Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your Tree," "Backdoor Love Affair," "Brown Sugar," and "Goin' Down to Mexico," among them -- show that from their very first record on, ZZ Top was that lil' ol' blues band from Texas.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Somebody Else Been) Shaking Your TreeBilly Gibbons | ZZ Top | Play | 02:29 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 2 | Brown SugarBilly Gibbons | ZZ Top | Play | 05:22 | 12 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | SquankBilly Gibbons, Bill Ham, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 02:49 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 4 | Goin' Down to MexicoBilly Gibbons, Bill Ham, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | Old ManRube Beard, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill | ZZ Top | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 19 MB |
| 6 | Neighbor, NeighborBilly Gibbons | ZZ Top | Play | 02:19 | 5 MB | 14 MB |
| 7 | Certified BluesRube Beard, Billy Gibbons, Bill Ham | ZZ Top | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 8 | Bedroom ThangBilly Gibbons | ZZ Top | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 9 | Just Got Back from Baby'sBilly Gibbons, Bill Ham | ZZ Top | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | Backdoor Love AffairBilly Gibbons, Bill Ham | ZZ Top | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 34 mins | 78 MB | |||||
| 34 mins | 204 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Beard | Drums |
| 2 | Rube Beard | Composer, Drums |
| 3 | Billy Gibbons | Composer, Guitar, Vocals |
| 4 | Bill Ham | Composer, Producer |
| 5 | Dusty Hill | Bass, Composer, Guitar (Bass), Vocals |
| 6 | ZZ Top | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |