I'm living proof that Hepatitis C can be contained and that ZZ Top cannot.
Dusty Hill
No, I never envisioned the band lasting this long. But then again, I cant envision next week, even though I have a schedule.
In each city there are different favorites. Whatever we do, we'll come off the stage and somebody will ask how come we didn't do 'Pearl Necklace.' At the next town, it's something else we didn't do that they wanted to hear.
I think life is there for you to grab it and be positive. Just look for the good everywhere.
I'd go over to friends' houses and ask them to put on some Howlin' Wolf, and they wouldn't know what I was talking about. Then, when they would come over to my house, I'd play them some blues. Their parents wouldn't let them come back. The blues were still called 'race records' back then.
They sent us the script of 'Back to the Future III' and we wrote 'Doubleback' for it.
Even if I were to retire, I wouldn't shave. Everyone I know, including my wife, has never seen me without it.
The audience loves us! They buy out all our shows and really enjoy themselves but the press keeps right on bombin' us. We thought at first it was because our music was too Texan, maybe too different for East coast people to relate to. But anyone can relate to bein' drunk or missin' your woman.
When we did 'Eliminator,' at the time, it was experimental for us. It obviously turned out real successful, but at the time, we caught crap about it from some of our old fans. They thought we were deserting our roots or our old style or whatever.
If we found an ashtray in the studio, we'd try to play it and find a part for it in a song.
I remember when our first album came out. After one of our gigs, we went across the border to Mexico and the band in the bar where we were was doing covers of our songs. I don't think they understood a word they were singing but they did the songs perfectly.
My major influences were primarily guitar players and bands; I started playing bass by accident.
They say you look ten pounds heavier on TV, but it makes your beard look longer.
Listen to really old blues guys and how they weren't allowed to sing about what they meant; they alluded to things. I find that style amusing, and I think it's a little harder to write.
I like to believe that I play bass like Dusty Hill, and that's something nobody else can do as well as me. I'm the best Dusty Hill I know.
It was the beginning of our second career. We certainly had a full career - 15 years at it - before it came out, but 'Eliminator' had a tremendous impact on us and the people who listen to us.
Every album is unto itself, so whatever sounds we need to come up with, like way back when, we needed horns. So we invented the Lone Wolf Horns, and we learned how to play horns.
Somehow it seems more clever to refer to something instead of saying it.
We all write the lyrics together, but Frank really shines on 'em pretty good.
When I was younger, I'd listen to a song and take it literally. I'd think, Boy, what a drag. How horrible, he must be really bummin'.
Legs' wouldn't be 'Legs' unless it had that driving synth bass.
Being a musician in Texas had its own set of risks.
I think everybody would admit that we've got a sense of humor.
Every album has its own character.
We were bunched up with Southern bands, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. We just wanted to make it clear we weren't a Southern band.
I was 19 or 20 the last time I shaved.
You know how a dog and his owner start to look alike after a while? Well, that's like me and Billy.
People are all the time telling me stories: they named their son after me, or more than likely their dog. Or they got a tattoo.
I don't know if it was a single-blade or one of those straight-edge razors, but I used to play in bands that were, like, show bands and would play different clubs, and, in those days, I would go to the barber twice a week.
We live for our concerts. We like a live appearance more than anything else about this business and it bothers us when we put so much into it and the critics bomb us.
People got to know us from hearing us live because there wasn't much publicity or radio airplay for a long time.
Actually, my mother turned me on to the blues. We had Lightnin' Hopkins as well as Elvis Presley records.
People shouldn't knock the synthesizer. It's an aid, and it depends on how you use it, just like any other instrument.
Some thought it strange that we incorporated synthesizers in our music but the equipment was there so we just figured out a way to use it.
The women really seemed to like 'Rough Boy.'
Vegas to me is a place like Hollywood or New York where you can walk around and people recognize you but it's like, hey, that's cool, and then we go on with our lives.
Through the career, planned or unplanned - usually unplanned - we've taken different turns. And it's culminated in a worldwide following that's pretty substantial.
I love movies and I'm interested in watching how they're made and everything.
My impression of Las Vegas was in the movies and on TV. So we were all gonna go see somebody perform - I can't recall who it was - and we went out and rented tuxedos because I thought that's what you did in Vegas.
If we ever have a problem, it's not comin' up with ideas. It's stoppin' us.
If there are people who admire us and what we do, that's a huge compliment. As long as it doesn't get too crazy.
Eliminator' was a big, experimental thing.
We all like each other. I know people ask us that, and I hate to disappoint them, but we get along great and we enjoy playing with one another, and what can I say? I'm as surprised as anyone else.
We were on the road playing when we started acquiring gold records.
I just love the idea of taking an elevator down to the stage, like Elvis did.
I have no hobbies, other than I travel a little and shoot skeet once in a while. I don't even hunt anymore.
I just like to play and I'm always ready to be back onstage.
I always had kind of a baby face, and when I started playing people didn't take me seriously.
All we did was take what we were and brought it forward. We obviously had a great amount of pride in being from Texas.
I mean, rock 'n' roll is based on the blues, whether people want to know that or not.
