So there I was at a record sale in Leeds University refectory on a freezing wet lunchtime, a few days short of my 19th birthday. By skimping on some essential or other, probably food, I had a few quid in my pocket for a LP and I wanted some escape from the concrete and cold.
As I remember it, my hand was magically guided to it in the box. A sumptuous triple foldout, boasting great cover art by Bill Narum of a steer, cacti and blue agaves, buffalo and a view of a distant mesa; kinda hokey and trippy at the same time. Okay so the band had misspelled the name of their home state on the cover, but who was I to judge? I handed over the cash I didn’t really have and ZZ Top’s Tejas was mine.
I never knew anyone who owned Tejas, it just wasn’t one of the ZZ Top LPs everyone who cared had*. I pored over the fold-out triptych of the band, HIll and Gibbons with sensible beards, the sensible Beard in soft focus and the photo of them rocking their thing against a desert backdrop. In fact it was to this great photo of Dusty Hill, lens-flared to the max that I went to when I heard of his death.
When I got to play Tejas I was shocked, it was nice enough but kinda average.
31 years later, that’s still where I am with it.
Tejas is very much a transitional LP, the band’s sound had softened since Tres Hombres and it was cut at a ‘better’ studio. In fact Tejas follows on from the previous year’s ‘Blue Jean Blues’ and ‘Balinese’ in tone, more melodic, with a better fleshed-out sound; fine but ‘Tush’ would have been a better prototype to my mind.
The playing is never less than stellar, that wonderful mix of precision and looseness but with one exception it lacks guitar bite. So the likes of ‘It’s Only Love’ and ‘Enjoy And Get It On’ swagger on by like the scenery from a long car ride, but without leaving much of an impression. Sadly, ‘She’s A Heartbreaker’ is downright bad.
There are a few goodies and a pair of classics to salvage Tejas. ‘Arrested For Driving While Blind’ is a good little stomper in need of some roughing up, the lyrics are fun too although I would urge you not to take driving advice from them**. I really love ‘El Diablo’ it’s a decent stab at making an heir for the supremely weird genius of ‘Master Of Sparks’, the muted tone and atmospherics perfectly suiting the anti-climactic tale.
In my utterly non-humble opinion Tejas peaks with ‘Ten Dollar Man’, the only track here that really kicks and the only song that really benefits from being cranked up really high. That guitar tone hasn’t been buffed to a shiny finish and you can really hear Hill’s sterling bass work.
Mrs 1537’s favourite ZZ Top track finishes the LP, ‘Asleep In The Desert’. This instrumental is a gorgeous classy way to close the set, there is a softness, a sense of space and a gentle melancholy all present and correct. They never did anything like it again.
Thinking back across the 11,352 days I have owned Tejas do you know what strikes me about the day I bought it? the fact that for all 3 years I was a student I never had a record player with me. I used to buy ’em at a rate of knots^ but I was a cassette only operation, my stereo stayed in Wales. So I used to have to beg and plead with my mates to play/record any and all new purchases for me. Crazy. Thank you all very much guys, particularly you Ads!
1126 Down.
*Eliminator, Afterburner, Tres Hombres, Fandango and a cassette ‘Best of’ that used to do the rounds.
**referring to mescaline as ‘that cactus friend of mine’ is a killer.
^I bought Jane’s Addiction Been Caught Stealing on the same day.
Many nineteen year olds find their hands magically guided. This sometimes has unfortunate consequences, but clearly not here. Well done, Fingers McStory.
Yup, it stopped me going blind.
…or bald.
Heaven forfend!
I always liked this front and back cover. Cool suff Joe. Owning a record for over 11,000 days is well a record! Cheers pal
It is a good one to own, if you catch it at the right price. It’s definitely a lesser one of theirs though. I hope you’re impressed by my counting the days there Deke.
Very impressed!
I actually think I am missing this from my ZZ collection. Don’t know why, just haven’t picked on up.
I wouldn’t make it a priority, just wait until you see one at a good price. Its a lesser one of theirs, still a couple of cracking tracks though.
of course!
“In The Fine Texas Tradition”. I like early ZZ Top because they have a certain playful lightness and didn’t reduced their music to heavy yet.
Their rhythm section was always so light on their feet.