Last night, I went to the Library Bar inside the Warwick for a drink after work. Eight feet or so away from me, an older, long-bearded gentlemen approached the bar, ordered something, and then sunk into a leather chair. I did a double take. That someone was Billy Gibbons. I did not bother him.
ZZ Top is in town tonight, playing at Starplex-Dos Equis-Gexa-Smirnoff-Superpages Dot Com Center at Fair Park with Cheap Trick. But he was here for a different reason: Mayor Mike Rawlings issued a special recognition to the band in honor of their 50th anniversary. Billy is from my homeland of Houston, but Dusty Hill and Frank Beard both have more direct ties to Dallas. (Fun, somewhat related fact, a very young ZZ Top played my uncle and aunt’s prom at Waltrip High School in Houston.) Below is the resolution honoring the band—I’m willing to bet it’s the first time one of these has included the phrase “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers.” May it not be the last.
And Rawlings (or policy chief Scott Goldstein) had a really good time writing this thing. It’s below.
WHEREAS, Those Sharp Dressed Men, Billy, Dusty, and Frank, are the most consistently stable lineup in the history of rock music, having produced 15 studio albums and sold over 30 million records—all while wearing Cheap Sunglasses; and
WHEREAS, Delirious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees ZZ Top (a.k.a. Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers) are holding a 50th Anniversary Texas Bash celebrating their remarkable career milestone and commencing a Bad and Nationwide tour with an inaugural show in Dallas at Dos Equis Pavilion on 5-17-19 (not 36-22-36}; and
WHEREAS, in 1969, following the demise of The Moving Sidewalks, Billy Gibbons’ Houston psych-rock band, the singer/guitarist formed ZZ Top linking up with drummer Frank Beard and bass-guitarist Dusty Hill, both from the Dallas-based band, The American Blues; and
WHEREAS, “That Little 01′ Band From Texas” is as much a part of Dallas as Dallas is to the band – much like Concrete And Steel, Bar-B-°’ a Party on the Patio, and Dipping Low in the Lap of Luxury- What’s Up With That?; and
WHEREAS, Those Sharp Dressed Men, Billy, Dusty and Frank are the most consistently stable lineup in the history of rock music, having produced 15 studio albums and sold over 30 million records – all while wearing Cheap Sunglasses; and
WHEREAS, most bands couldn’t touch these Tres Hombres from Tejas with a Ten Foot Pole, having entertained fans for SO years ‘a Deguello’ and showing that they still have Legs; and
WHEREAS, some Dallasites still have the Blue Jean Blues since the band has Got them Under Pressure, we can take heart since we Heard it on the X that Jesus Just Left Chicago having Just Got Paid; and
WHEREAS, having crossed the Rio Grande Mud after Goin’ Down to Mexico and forsaking El Diablo, and with a brief stopover in La Grange (where they were Arrested for Driving While Blind again), this venerable Texas band is gonna Mellow Down Easy in Dallas to start their 5Oth year – not Heaven, Hell or Houston; and
WHEREAS, having broken concert attendance records, sold millions of albums, and played a presidential inaugural ball – the blues-rocking ZZ Top remains today what it has always been: a Texas good-time band with a technical mastery of music and a sense of humor.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, MICHAELS. RAWLINGS, mayor of the city of Dallas, and on behalf of the Dallas City Council, on May 17th, 2019, do hereby extend special recognition to
ZZTOP
In Dallas, Texas.
