ZZ Top's First Album on London LP

Found one of these is great condition at the Atlanta Record Show and the dealer was raving about the music and sound quality. Well he was right!

This album is terrific Texas blues rock. More gritty and real than later more commercial Top.

Any other fans of this LP?

 

Me...the entire 1970's Top output is very good. But the triple crown is Rio Grande Mud/Tres Hombres/Fandango

 

The sound quality is good? Really...

 

Yes it is, imo. I've a dead quiet sounding copy on vinyl....blue London label. Sounds just fine to me. I think the OP is referring to the quality of the vinyl, not the recording and mixing. The debut album is raw sounding and that's just fine. A little blues-rock trio from Texas just playing...ya gotta start somewhere.

 

Ok...yes, it is raw, from what I remember. I used to have the WB cassette. However, I found it thin and ragged. Might have been the tape.

 

It's possible it was the tape...that wouldn't surprise me.

 

The ZZ Top vinyl I have on London really sounds great.

 

Their best album. The real deal.

 

Yep. Raw and gritty rock but terrific sound quality.

 

I have the London vinyl as well ...... sounds great!

"ZZ Top's First Album" was never bettered by the band, in my opinion. Well, ....... maybe "Deguello", & that's when ZZ Top ended for me. But what a tremendous six albums those all were.

I found their first 5 albums in one shot one day at a used record store on the London label, all for $3 apiece! They all belonged to the same person, as he wrote his name in the upper left corner on the backs of all the covers, & he took great care of them.
They are all very quiet, with very little surface noise. To this day, that was one of my greatest ever scores. And sadly, vinyl is still the only way to get the superior original mixes for these albums (except for "Tres Hombres" & "Fandango!", whose original mixes have finally been made available on CD).

 

I've had First Album and Rio Grande Mud on my must listen to next list for a while so I guess they will get some play tonight.

 

Yeah...

 

Again, I'm going by the old WB tape. That wasn't sounding too good.

 

Fair enough but the tape and LP don't always sound the same.

 

Even the WB issues of the first allbum on vinyl sounded good, didn't they? Been too long since I heard one...can't remember.

Anything beats the CD.

 

The DeGuello is one of the best sounding LPs I own.

 

I just listened to the First Album and Rio Grande Mud on the WB label and they sound fantastic. Quite honestly after listening to the CDs for years its amazing how much better the albums sound.

Is there a bad sounding album (on vinyl)?

 

True...

 

I used to have a WB issue of 'Tres Hombres.' That was in fact pretty good!

 

The "Chrome, Smoke & BBQ" box set uses the original (album) mixes. Nice collection too.

 

I have both London and WB copies of their early stuff. The WB pressings of Rio Grande Mud and Tres Hombres sound better than the Londons. London copies of Fandango and Tejas are superb!

 

I like the early ZZ Top. Never cared for the MTV ZZ Top.

 

I like both a lot but I would say the earlier is better music.

 

Very true, but there's still a lot of great music missing on that box set from the early albums.

 

I've found just the opposite - although they're not that far apart. The originals sound like a lower tape source was used to cut the LP. That's from memory - haven't compared them in years

Their first album was a regular favorite of mine in the 70's, I played it regularly at home and on the road. It IS great road music you know.... Along with Rio Grande & Tres Hombres. Over the years I think 'first album' is my favorite, or at least, closely trailed by Tres Hombres.