ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band from Texas (2019)

The story of how three oddball teenage bluesmen became one of the biggest, most beloved bands on the planet.

Director:

Sam Dunn

Writers:

Ralph Chapman, Sam Dunn

Stars:

Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Billy Gibbons	...	Self (as Billy F. Gibbons)
Dusty Hill	...	Self
Frank Beard	...	Self
ZZ Top	...	Themselves
Robin Hood Brians	...	Self - owner of Robin Hood Studios (as Robin Brians)
Josh Homme	...	Self (as Joshua Homme)
Terry Manning	...	Self
'Country' Winston Marshall	...	Self (as Winston Marshall)
Steve Miller	...	Self
Howard Bloom	...	Self - publicist for ZZ Top from 1976 to 1979
Ralph Fisher	...	Self - animal trainer and former rodeo-clown
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Self
Tim Newman	...	Self
Dan Auerbach	...	Self

Storyline

Produced by the Emmy award-winning Banger Films, ZZ TOP: THAT LITTLE OL' BAND FROM TEXAS tells the story of how Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard became one of the biggest, most beloved bands on the planet, all while maintaining a surrealist mystique that continues to intrigue fans and entice onlookers 50 years after the band's inception. Buoyed by candid band interviews, never-before-seen archive, animation, celebrity fan testimonials (Billy Bob Thornton, Joshua Homme and more), and an intimate performance at the legendary Gruene Hall shot exclusively for this documentary, "That Little Ol' Band" runs the gamut, from the absurd to the poignant, from squalid Texas bars to MTV heroics, all in celebration of this notoriously private, but larger than life, power trio. In the end, ZZ TOP: THAT LITTLE OL' BAND FROM TEXAS unravels the extraordinary tale of a band whose image we know, but whose story we don't.

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Plot Keywords:

blues | rock music | musician | texas | rock n roll | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Did You Know?

Trivia

When Gibbons's Houston band was booked to open for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the only way they could fill their assigned 40-minute time slot was to include the two Hendrix songs they knew, "Foxy Lady" and "Purple Haze." As he revved into the opening chords of the latter, Gibbons spied Hendrix staring at him from the wings. When he came off, Gibbons says, Hendrix told him: "I like you. You got a lotta nerve."

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Quotes

Frank Beard: Clapton only snorted heroin, you know, which is like, so fucking... not cost-efficient!
[laughs]
Frank Beard: You have to do like, five times as much to get the same buzz! But he was making more money...
[laughs]
Frank Beard: But it's not cost-efficient.

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Soundtracks

If You Really Want Me To Stay
Written by Dusty Hill, Rocky Hill, Kean McClalland and Phillip Vickery
Performed by The Warlocks

User Reviews

Solid, informative, fun

The makers of this documentary have struck a fine balance between their various tools -- fuzzy historic stills and video clips of the band's earlier incarnations (Hill and Beard based in Dallas with Lady Wilde and the Warlocks; Gibbons with The Moving Sidewalks down in Houston), brief animations of key early moments (especially those involving their late manager Bill Ham), very short concert clips in their early prime, and memorable footage from their first music videos directed by Tim Newman for MTV in the early Eighties.

There are also testimonials from fans such as Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Miller, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, and others.

But the strongest two elements are the interviews with the individual members throughout -- recalling their origins, early choices, war stories (the best involve opening for Hendrix, the Rolling Stones in Hawaii, an early Memphis Blues Festival, Beard's dissection of his substance abuse problems in the late Seventies) -- and footage of the band "today" (that is, 2018) playing some favorite, signature tunes at historic Gruene Hall expressly for this film as they closed in on an astonishing 50 years as a working unit with no personnel changes.

What comes across clearly -- especially if, like me, you were not a rabid fan and follower of this band's career -- is that there was more to ZZ Top than met the eye. Though they had a distinct and unmistakable sound (a brand, if you will), this band also were both smart and lucky enough to hire very good people to handle their promotion, sound production, video work -- everything that was ancillary to the actual music, but crucial to helping it find the massive audience it eventually did.

That, and the fact that the band managed to absorb interesting currents from the larger music industry as it evolved, such as disco and punk, and were sharp enough to plunge immediately into MTV to promote their work.

The ZZ Top "mystique" was largely cultivated by their manager. They would have liked to appear on Johnny Carson and do interviews, but Ham nixed all of that. Do your music, and make everybody come to you, he said. (Other than Beard's brief mentions of leaving Dallas with a wife and a kid, and destroying a relationship with his substance abuse, there isn't a whiff of a mention of their personal lives otherwise. You get no idea whether Gibbons or Hill ever married or have any children.)

The story pretty much ends with 1983's _Eliminator_ album and the "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Legs" videos. That's all that's essential to tell the story of the band's origins and success; the rest is disposed of in two sentences on a black screen.

But the movie goes on to finish with a live performance of "Blue Jean Blues" (going all the way back to 1975), intercut with each of the band members talking about why they think they stuck together so long. It's nicely done.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 2019 (Australia)

Also Known As:

ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band from Texas

Filming Locations:

Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$14,879

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,879

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eagle Rock Entertainment, Banger Films, Tower Top Tours

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1