In September I had a golden opportunity for a lifelong fan of ZZ Top, an invitation to talk with Billy Gibbons for about an hour in front of an audience at The Iridium. The show was taped for Speakeasy TV who distribute the show through PBS. It is airing tonight on WNET/13 in New York and WGBX/Channel 44, sister of WGBH in Boston. Check local listings as the man says. Full show streaming is for limited time.
The timing of the interview coincided with the release of his second solo album Big Bad Blues on Concord Records. The new disc, as the title implies, is a return to the blues after exploring Cuban music on his first album Perfectamundo. It includes interpretations of a pair of Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley songs among fresh spiffy originals. Gibbons’ guitar tone is as muscular as ever and he plays a little harmonica too. Harmonica ace James Harmon is heard on the album too.
Billy is a wicked raconteur! He’s got a million cool stories. He spoke about some memorable run-ins with BB King and his connection with Gloversville, New York. Another great one that I asked him about was playing with Hendrix in the most psychedelic circumstances. The inspiration for the song Master of Sparks, as he explained, made him a high school legend for something unrelated to music and almost killed him. Also hanging in the Himalayas as the source for Ten Foot Pole and how the Top learned eight notes of saxophone for recording on El Loco among other mad tales. And if you can’t resist investigating evidence of a couple incidents alluded to in the interview, here you go!