Craig Allen’s ZZ Top Fun Facts: “Tush”

On a "Free Ticket Weekend" from New Jersey 101.5...

ZZ Top is "the little old band from Texas."

It's made up of Billy Gibbons on vocals and guitar, Dusty Hill on vocals and bass, and Frank Beard on drums.

ZZ Top formed in Houston in 1969.

They had a few lower-charting hits in the early to mid 1970's...but they really hit their stride in the 1980's.

But...that's for later.

"Tush" would be the band's first Top-40 chart hit, landing at #20 in the summer of 1975.

Bassist Dusty Hill explains that the word "Tush" has two meanings in the heart of Texas...it can mean "booty" just like it does in New Jersey...or it can mean plush or very luxurious.

It all depends on the context...how the word is used.

Guitarist Billy Gibbons adds that the guys got the idea for the title of the song from another song..."Tush Hog" by Texas musician Roy Head.

The guys were practicing a few hours before a gig in at a rodeo arena in Florence, Alabama, when Gibbons hit on the opening lick...

He kept the riff going...

And, Dusty Hill improvised a vocal.

The rest is...rock and roll history...straight from Texas, to the rest of the world!

Til "Tush" hit, ZZ Top was very popular in Texas...but outside the Lone-star State, not so much.

Like the 1980's ZZ Top tunes: "Pearl Necklace," Tube Snake Boogie" and "Velcro Fly," this song can have different meanings, depending on the listener...this sort of lyrical ambiguity helps to keep the songs (somewhat) "radio-friendly," while still appealing to ZZ Top's core listener base.

ZZ Top usually plays "Tush" during their concert encore.

In 2001, they briefly considered changing the title to "Bush" when asked to play at the Inauguration Party of fellow-Texan George W. Bush. They played. The song name remained the same.

If you consider all the "booty shakin'" tunes that have hit the radio airwaves in the last few years...wasn't "Tush" ahead of its time? Even...WAY ahead of its time?!

Keep listening all weekend to WIN tickets to see ZZ Top at the PNC Bank Arts Center on September 1st!

With New Jersey 101.5 and nj1015.com!