Out today (June 4th) is ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons‘ third solo album, titled Hardware. Gibbons recorded the album last summer in California’s high desert near Joshua Tree, featuring 12 new tracks — including a cover of the Texas Tornados classic “Hey Baby, Que Paso.”
The album was co-produced by Gibbons along with drummer Matt Sorum, veteran of Guns ‘N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, and the Cult — along with Mike Florentino, and engineer Chad Shlosser providing additional production.
Gibbons said in the album announcement: “We’re really delighted with the way it turned out, not to mention that we managed to avoid rattlesnake bites and cactus punctures over the course of the recording process.”
We asked Billy F. Gibbonshow he’s able to move forward creatively while staying true to his musical brief: [“Yeah, well as the old saying goes: ‘One foot in the blues.’ It keeps it honest and kinda straight ahead. We can narrow the range — take it far left, far right; let’s go back to step one — the blues.”] SOUNDCUE (:13 OC: . . . one the blues)
SIDE NOTES
- Out now is ZZ Top‘s double-vinyl reissue of 2010’s Live In Texas collection. The album, which was taped in November 2007 in Grand Prairie, Texas, features 17 tracks, including “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Gimme All Your Lovin,'” and “La Grange,” among others.
- Also on the set is ZZ Top’s version of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Foxy Lady.” Additionally, “Heard It On The X” is included as a vinyl-exclusive track, an extra bonus to the original CD release.
CHECK IT OUT: Billy F. Gibbons’ 2021 video for “West Coast Junkie”: