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''Fandango!'' is the fourth album by the American rock band
ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature so ...
, released in 1975. The album's first side consists of selections from live shows, with the second side being new studio recordings. A remastered and expanded edition of this album was released on February 28, 2006.


Album title

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...
, from which the album gets its name, is a type of dance similar to
flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura an ...
.


Background

Frontman
Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, '' Flas ...
said of the album:
The live capture wound up being in the can first. We had enough live material to make up one side of the disc, so we decided to go with the unusual move of making the album half live, half studio. It turned out to be a winning combination for us.
The album's opening song "Thunderbird", despite having ZZ Top writing credit, was originally written and performed by The Nightcaps, a band formed in the 1950s when the members were teenagers.Dabou/sb v. Gibbons, 42 F.3d 285, 287 (5th Cir. 1995). The Nightcaps performed the song and distributed it on their album ''Wine, Wine, Wine'' but never applied for copyright. ZZ Top began performing the song as early as 1974, and has conceded that their version is lyrically and musically identical to the Nightcaps' song. The Nightcaps sued ZZ Top for copyright infringement but their claims were dismissed as ZZ Top had registered a copyright on the song in 1975. The song "Heard It on the X" was written about the influence of Mexican
border blaster A border blaster is a broadcast station that, though not licensed as an external service, is, in practice, used to target another country. The term "border blaster" is of North American origin, and usually associated with Mexican AM station ...
radio stations (so-called "X Stations") on Texas and other parts of the United States, namechecking "Dr. B," an alias of Dr. John R. Brinkley.


Promotion and release

The only single released from the album was " Tush". The single peaked at #20 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it the band's first top 40 single in the US. The song "Heard It on the X" also received heavy rotation on classic rock radio. In the late 1980s the album was released on CD with the studio recordings being digitally remixed and the original 1975 mix version was discontinued. The remix version created controversy among fans because it significantly changed the sound of the instruments, especially the drums. The remix version was used on all early CD copies and was the only version available for over 20 years. A remastered and expanded edition of the album was released on February 28, 2006, containing three bonus live tracks. The 2006 edition is the first CD version to use
Terry Manning Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adam ...
's original 1975 mix. The album was re-released in 2009 on 180 gram vinyl using the original master tapes. It appears exactly the same except that it had a 180 gram vinyl LP sticker, by Back to Vinyl records.


Track listing

All songs by
Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, '' Flas ...
,
Dusty Hill Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang lead and backing vocals and played keyboards. Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, an ...
and Frank Beard except where noted. *Tracks 1-3 (side A of the original LP) were recorded live at The Warehouse in New Orleans on April 12, 1974, "captured as it came down - hot, spontaneous and presented to you honestly, without the assistance of studio gimmicks". *Tracks 4-9 (side B) were new studio recordings. *Tracks 10-12 (of the expanded 2006 version) were recorded live at the Capitol Theatre in
Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69, ...
, on August 30, 1980.


Personnel

*
Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, '' Flas ...
– guitar, vocals *
Dusty Hill Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang lead and backing vocals and played keyboards. Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, an ...
– bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Jailhouse Rock", "Balinese", and "Tush", co-lead vocals on "Backdoor Medley" and "Heard It on the X" * Frank Beard – drums, percussion


Production

*Producer – Bill Ham *Engineers – Jim Reeves, John L. Venable, and, Norman Mershon for Record Plant Truck. Robin Brians, Terry Kane,
Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Quee ...
(mastering),
Terry Manning Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adam ...
*Album concept – Bill Ham *Design –
Bill Narum Bill Narum (January 11, 1947 – November 18, 2009) was an artist, illustrator, and Texas counter-culture icon known for his work in popular entertainment, and for being one of the few non-natives to have lived with the Tarahumara tribe of norther ...
*Photography – John Dekalb


Charts


Certifications


References


External links


Commercial for the album Fandango!
from the
Texas Archive of the Moving Image The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film ...
{{Authority control ZZ Top albums 1975 albums Terry Manning albums Albums produced by Bill Ham London Records albums