Linden, in retrospect: - do you regret helping Frank (and ZZ) and contributing to what became Eliminator that led to the betrayal/disagreements and your legal action? I understand that you are also appropriately proud of your contributions, I'm wondering where the balance stands today - does one outweigh the other? - with the benefit of hindsight, how would you done things differently from the point in time when you first moved into Frank's house? - with the benefit of hindsight, what might have you done differently to manage the betrayal/disagreement after Eliminator was released?
This thread is something else. Thanks so much sir for stopping by and sharing your experiences. It’s a damn shame you and Frank couldn’t patch up. A real missed opportunity there for a lasting friendship due to bad timing (with the music business undergoing a rapid transition) and the resulting greed. That Billy Gibbons is a shrewd one…..for better or worse. Dusty sounds like he was the ultimate “go along to get along”guy. The manager comes off worst here. It’s not the same-but Col. Parker still sprang to mind.
All great questions. Frank’s beef is the one story here the I feel regrets about hearing. He had a point about being upset. I’d be willing to bet he was quite hurt more than angry. I have no idea of course. But if hurt….that’s the toughest part. It sounds like he really liked Mr Hudson.
It really takes a pair to record someone else's song and take full credit for it without an ounce of guilt.
I THINK MY GREAT GRANDFATHER IS RELATED TO A ZZ MEMBER He had a ZZ look long ago His picture: Facebook
HOW ABOUT THIS ONE ABOUT THE DALLAS BAND "THE NIGHTCAPS" THE TRUE WRITERS OF THE SONG "THUNDERBIRD" Dallas Morning News: (writer): I've written obituaries for all the late, great Nightcaps, because it's the least I can do. Twenty-five years ago, I gave a deposition in a federal case in which the Nightcaps tried to retrieve a piece of their legacy from ZZ Top, which snatched it out from under them. Nothing came of it, except a court's shrugging dismissal.
Did The Children never formally record "Francine"? I mean, my God, I like the ZZ version a little better, but it isn't as if they changed it up enough to get away with outright theft. I will say a band called "The Children" singing about 13 year old girls isn't *quite* as sketchy. The past is another country, of course...
Im ADHT and 73 years old, so answering multipart questions might cause me to pass out, but Ill say a couple of things: This was not a normal situation, and I was young (early 30s), I was trusting and hopeful right up to the release of Eliminator. What Im saying I didn't have a gut feeling about how to navigate all this strangeness. But I've been around lots of musicians and I knew how to blend in, I thought I knew what I was doing, and I did, but not with the politics that I encountered. What can I say. It was a twilight zone situation.
Well put. But I knew the Children and they were young, late teens I thought or maybe 20 at most. I will admit I knew them and was their engineer at one time but never thought about their age. Their stories are a bit sad. Perone dead from drugs super young and Cordray shot by his own son in a murder suicide. I knew Kenny Cordray for a long time, we were friends.
Speaking of Kenny Cordray. I used to (around my late thirties) sing at little clubs or parties and I would sometime hire Kenny to play guitar and use a drum machine. So once I hired Kenny for one and we had to leave early and drive to a private party in Navasota Texas. On the way I told him "by the way we're playing at a nudist camp". He got shook up "oh man, my wife will kill me, really, a nudist camp?" "Yea". He was kind of shook up. So we got there and as soon as they let us in the front gate there were naked people walking around as we went to the party barn. "Oh ****" he said. We were to play 4 sets and we set up a PA and a guitar amp. We played set one, it was interesting looking out at naked people dancing. Kenny just looked at the floor. We took our first break and Kenny waited outside. I was hanging inside and talking and stuff. They somehow convinced me to join the crowd. So it was time to start the set and I walked up to the mic and called Kenny over the PA "come on Kenny we gotta play". He walked in and they all laughed at him as he turned red, yes, I was one with them and on stage. Kenny went back to the music store the next day where he worked and the story was all over the place and they were giving him a hard time. It was hilarious. Don't tell anyone I told this story. (I'm an old hippie from the sixties, this was no prob)(A reminder: Cordray was a co-writer of the song "Francine".
ME AND PETER FRAMPTON WORKING TOGETHER He's a pretty good picker. Go to the picture & words here: Facebook
SOMETIMES in the evening when Frank and me and Deb were watching TV, Id sneak back and make poor boy hors duerves in the kitchen. Sounds gross but I would slice vienna sausage in half and put down a sheet of crackers and put the halves of sausage and a slice of cheese on the crackers and make em melty then sneak back to Frank and Deb (She would often be drinking Pouilly-Fuissé wine at the TV) and Id say "snacks are served". "Alriiiiiite" Frank would say in his drawl. I began to like that white wine she was having, pretty tasty for a white. Sometimes Frank would make the hors duerves and would butcher that phrase for comedy sake.
Forgive me if I'm entering dangerous waters here, but was there any talk of Frank walking away after being replaced on the LP? Seems like his fight should have been with Gibbons and Ham. Dan
Thank you for sharing Linden! Glad you liked it here. It's a good place to live, with people from all over the world and different cultures living together peacefully. Let me know next time you are around!
Frank loved his job, loved being a rock star even though he had been on road for years, the road is rough and lonely. He wanted to keep his job.
Yes Berlin was a gas. In fact here's a picture I took in East Berlin: Facebook (Im hoping the Facebook links are working ok, let me know if there's a problem)
I won't go to these home pix too much, but for reference sake here was my arrival not long after the birth of Eliminator. This arrival changed my life as well. See picture: Facebook
When Eliminator was released, while I was still living at Frank's, the songs from that album were plastered all over the radio, it's all they were playing and I suddenly realized how big it was about to get and I wasn't gonna get to go with em. The Terry Manning team in Memphis kicked ass on the redo of Thug: Go here: Thug (2008 Remaster) - YouTube My demo however was pretty good with synths etc.. But I never got the demo back (figures)
When I played my demo of Thug for Billy we were sitting in Frank's studio. It was a rare moment that Billy had no guitar in hand, Frank and Dusty weren't there and Billy had sat in Dusty's chair next to the bass. He just reached over and picked up Dusty's bass, amp was not on, and he started slapping it baby (the bass). He had a big smile on his face. When it was over he said "yea man". It was at that moment that he knew what he'd do (Im sure). I didn't know. I think Billy can probably play anything with strings. I think Thug is the only lead bass song that Billy ever did. But since the amp was not on at that moment, it was his instinct to just slap the hell out of it and it was cool.
Linden: do you know why Frank had the studio instead of Billy? Was he interested in working with other artists, or was it just supposed to be a ZZ playpen?
Great question. I don't know exactly, but its probably a fantasy for a rock star to have a studio. Also, Billy was not a homebody but Frank was (because he was on a golf course maybe). He had recently gotten clean from drugs and alcohol and was re inventing his way of life. But he was enjoying the golf more than anything. The studio was handy and made some convenience for Billy. I was convenient too. The studio was intended only for ZZ Top, private, home, designed for 3 dudes only. It was a small area, about the size of a two car garage, but that's a good amount of room for 3 or 4.
PICTURE OF ME ON A JOB IN NEW MEXICO (Sound guy) Go here: Facebook I did cool things after ZZ, I was needed in the film & video world.
