#Zz top bassist dusty hill dies at 72 how to

Hill spent the period working at Dallas Airport, saying he wanted to 'feel normal' and 'ground himself' after years spent performing. In 1976, after almost seven years of touring and a string of successful albums, ZZ Top went on hiatus for three years while Beard dealt with his addiction problems. On the 1976 album Tejas Hill took the vocal lead on 'Pan Am Highway Blues', 'Avalon Hideaway' and 'Ten Dollar Man', and duetted with Gibbons on ' It’s Only Love'. In 1975 Hill sang lead vocal on ' Tush', the band's first Top 20 hit and one of its most popular songs. The boogie rock single ' La Grange' brought the band their first hit, with it just missing the Billboard Top 40. On 1973's Tres Hombres, ZZ Top developed its heavy blues style and amplified its roots in Texas music. Following their debut album, the band released Rio Grande Mud (1972), which produced their first charting single, ' Francine'. The music and songs reflected ZZ Top's blues influences. With the assistance of manager Bill Ham and engineer Robin Hood Brians, ZZ Top's First Album (1971) was released and exhibited the band's humor, with 'barrelhouse' rhythms, distorted guitars, double entendres, and innuendo. With Gibbons as the main lyricist and arranger, Hill played bass and keyboards and sang lead on some songs. They joined guitarist-vocalist Billy Gibbons of the Houston psychedelic band Moving Sidewalks in the recently formed ZZ Top, just after they released their first single 'Salt Lick', in 1969. Rocky left and Dusty and Beard moved to Houston.

At this time, Rocky wanted to focus on 'straight blues', while Dusty wanted the band to rock more. In 1968, American Blues relocated to Houston. I got probably less shit about having blue hair than about having long hair, because I believe they thought I was crazy.' and at that time we had long, blue hair – in the 60s in Texas. Hill recalled, 'Being a musician in Texas had its own set of risks. In 1969, Hill was a member of a fake version of the British band the Zombies with Beard. From 1966 to 1968, American Blues played the Dallas- Fort Worth- Houston circuit. Hill, Rocky, and the future ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard played in local Dallas bands the Warlocks, the Cellar Dwellers, and American Blues. If you don't play well, standing up there with lights on it really stands out, so it behooves you to get your shit up pretty quick.' He did not enjoy school, and achieved poor grades according to Hill, 'Part of the problem was that by the time I was 13 I was already playing in local bars, so school kinda got in the way of that and I resented it.' ZZ Top

#Zz top bassist dusty hill dies at 72 how to

He said, 'I kind of learned how to play on stage and whatnot, and embarrassment is a great motivator. Unlike many bassists, he did not learn to play guitar first. After Rocky formed a band with a drummer, Dusty took up bass at the age of 13. Hill began singing for money with his brother Rocky at the age of 8.

Like his future bandmates, Hill grew up listening to blues music, which he said was uncommon in white families he recalled shocking the parents of his childhood friends when he brought records by Muddy Waters or Son House to their houses. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School, where he played the cello. He and his older brother Rocky Hill also a musician, were raised in the Lakewood neighborhood of East Dallas.

Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, on May 19, 1949.