The project was recorded in connection with the group’s 2019 Netflix documentary, “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas”; the Grammy-nominated feature from Banger Films and director Sam Dunn includes an interlude that finds the group’s classic line up - Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and the late Dusty Hill - gathering for a very intimate session at Gruene Hall, “the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas”…that performance provided the basis for the new live package.
“Raw” is dedicated “in righteous memory of Dusty Hill”, the bassist who passed away at his home in Houston, TX last July after stepping away from a 2021 tour to address a hip issue; the group enlisted longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis to handle bass duties during what was expected to be a short-term absence, and who continues to perform with the group.
The 2022 album’s title is derived from the unfettered and straightforward manner in which the tracks were recorded. As seen in the film, the band members played, for the most part, together within sight of each other in the course of one day. The methodology employed was something of an homage to the way ZZ Top recorded at the start of its epic five plus decades run at the pinnacle of rock’s pantheon.
“It was, in a very real way, a return to our roots,” explains Gibbons and Beard in the set’s liner notes. “Just us and the music, no audience of thousands, no concession stands, no parking lot social hour, no phalanx of tour buses. Just us and the music. We knew right then it was a very special circumstance, all of us in the same place at the same time and what a time it most certainly was!
“It was as bare bones as when we first started touring in a behemoth Chrysler station wagon, driving vast stretches between those early far-flung shows under blackened Texas skies and first hearing our records on the radio. We were bonded as brothers. The Dust’ may have left the building but he’s still very much with us.”
“Raw” will be available on 180 gram vinyl, CD and through digital platforms.
ZZ Top is currently playing dates on a companion summer tour of North America.
See also:
ZZ Top share Raw version of Heard It On The X
ZZ Top share Tubesnake Boogie performance from Raw live album
ZZ Top share La Grange performance from Raw live album
ZZ Top stream Brown Sugar performance from Raw live album
Search ZZ Top at hennemusic
