Superb guitar. I just wished Billy stuck with the heavier strings (.011-.050) instead of the super light strings (.007-.038) now. It changed his sound.
Frank went to Memphis and did all the drum tracks. He came back in a few days and said he did it all. I didn't know at that point what was gonna happen, I had a few theories. But I was there for the unveiling (like I splained) and he was mad at Gibbons (that's an understatement). Then later at dinner he was pissing at me that it was part my fault. He didn't yell at me but grumpy at me. There was no way to win in this situation. And this situation were talking about was a scene of success. Do you hear me?
I don't know if Dusty went to Memphis to do bass tracks, he did some vocals. I didn't see Dust much during those times. He was a man of peace, easy going.
This is a video on my facebook page that has the original full length audio writer/demo for "Dirty Dog" recorded by Linden with all the band (Eliminator was synth drums and synth bass). I repeat this is the real band not synths on this writer demo. Go here: Facebook
SOUND RECORDING - BILLY GIBBONS COMEDY : Episode 3: Overheating in Buildings by UCL (soundcloud.com) ZZ Top was practicing, Billy slips a comedy routine in, first voice heard is Frank Beard
I'm very thankful for being in an important book released recently by a solid author, music insider, historian: Southbound: An Illustrated History of Southern Rock By Scott B. Bomar (From the book, page 191): When Frank Beard decided to install a demo studio in his home in Houston, he hired a former DJ, musician, computer whiz, and audio engineer named Linden Hudson to build and maintain it. “He was a gifted songwriter and had production skills that were leading the pack at times” Gibbons said of Hudson thirty years later. “He brought some elements to the forefront that helped reshape what ZZ Top were doing, starting in the studio and eventually to the live stage…Linden had no fear and was eager to experiment in ways that would frighten most bands. But we followed suit, and the synthesizers started to show up on record.” By 1982, ZZ Top had fully embraced synthesizers and drum machines as an integral part of their sound for a new generation. Through data analysis, Linden Hudson had discovered that most hit songs were within a beat or two of 124 beats per minute. He and Billy Gibbons set out to capitalize on the formula, resulting in songs like “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs,” which are both 125 beats per minute. The resulting album, Eliminator, was released in 1983, and led ZZ Top to the pinnacle of their success. +++++++++++++++++ Read about the author, he has a way-out great Bio & Resume: https://www.scottbbomar.com/ (Scott's book was awarded "Best Historical Research in Recorded Rock and Popular Music" by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. ) ++ Comment from Linden: Ive been criticized on occasion for taking too much credit, that wasn't caused by me. Book and article writers have expanded and added to the story over the years. I only claim for my involvement, Terry Manning was a huge force on Eliminator and Billy was too (Linden says: I'm flattered, but its over the top, Im numb)
Thanks for this ! I think I understand now why Billy went for the synth-drums and synth-bass in the studio
Don't tell any one. (Putting it together: They did the album both ways in Memphis. That's easily my thinking. We did it both ways in Houston too for the first 5 or 6 songs, but there were never real drums on Thug. I was the creator of the demo save for the bass lead which was recorded in Houston demo and finished in Memphis)
Your story is certainly a worthy story! And well worth writing about. I’ve worked a bit in book publishing and I have a couple of suggestions: First, focus on the positive. Eliminator is, at least in some spall part, your artistic achievement. Through this album, you inspired millions and generations of people, including myself. When writing, try to verify and corroborate as much as you can. Talk to anyone who was around at the time, roadies etc. See if you can get the band involved in any way. For most of us, this counts as a great untold story. It’s your chance to tell a fly-on-the-wall story about how a truly major album is created. After a portion is written, submit it to a good literary agent and they will help you form it into a marketable story.
So I'ld have to guess since you were "hired" you were at least paid a salary since Texas is a Right To Work state (and I've been on the bad end of that as a graphic artist).. so no guaranteed union scale and so your focus is more on the creative and production contributions on Eliminator. Is your posting your name in the third person part of a Search Engine Optimization strategy a strategy you alluded to up thread to bring this to the forefront? Someone new and not familiar with your situation with ZZtop may take it as someone else posting as you.
Linden, thanks for the stories, I've been enjoying the read. One aspect of the band's image I've always been curious about (and apologies if the answer is common knowledge within the ZZ Top community). Did Frank ever consider growing a beard similar to the other two?
The story is constantly told by authors in wrong ways. I wasn't hired. Frank invited me to live there. There's 39 years of confusing reports. Im not a writer, I just try (not a writer) to tell my story. Sometimes I show quotes from books. Lots of talk from authors, different versions are implied, the clearest detail was a settlement for Thug (then I got cheated by the producer who backed my lawsuit). I wasn't paid a salary (what does that have to do with right to work?) I see why you said that, because I didn't get union scale because Im in Texas. I had no salary. It was "why don't you live at my house". I made my living freelancing for several small businesses. I barely made enough, my car was old. I worked on the studio a little at a time. In fact since I wasn't getting paid "I took my time". It was mostly ordering gear. It wasn't like a commercial studio. Studio is a confusing label. A room with some gear in it is better. Hook it up, record stuff. David Blayney (stage manager for ZZ 15 years, first roadie) told my story first in a book in the 80s after Eliminator was released. He wasn't a writer either, he just did the best he could and it's an interesting document. Dave did a better than expected job at writing his book and got a book deal. There are quite a few non writers who have discussed this story. Me talking in 3rd person has been criticized, I did it more in the old days when I was trying to write my resume on sites because Im a freelancer. Im trying to speak more directly but I have tendencies. However, I continue.
Hi Linden- thanks for being here and much appreciation for your involvement with the band during this period. I get the idea for the experimentation around El Loco and gradually into Eliminator as it is what a lot of musicians will do for various reasons and I think you've explained the why regarding Gibbons. They (or maybe just Billy) were doing that experimentation back on Deguello with "Manic Mechanic" too. I'll admit that I am a "child of the MTV generation" and as we got cable in 1983, MTV was always on and I was exposed to ZZ Top videos constantly. I was somewhat familiar with the band and their early hits before then but SEEING the band took things to a whole 'nother level. I was (and still am) a music junkie at 15 years of age at that time and spent a ton of time listening to music and reading about music and now watching music was another thing entirely. Those songs, those videos, those girls, those guys, and that car were huge. All that said, I never bought Eliminator at the time but borrowed a cassette from a friend just to hear the non hits. You've already touched on a good number of the other songs but the one that really blew me away and still does is "I Need You Tonight". @JulesRules had mentioned it but I wanted to confirm... did you have any involvement with this one or recall hearing it at the time? The guitar tones on it, the sparseness of the arrangement, and the laid back feel sounds like a mix of synth and live playing, as if they took Dusty's bass tone and Frank's toms and sampled them through the synth and tweaked the EQ a little for the final product. Curious if Billy's rhythm work was the Dean and lead work may have been his trusty Les Paul.
Most people wanna hear "dirt" as do I. Im just telling my part of it, I don't ever expect anything, I talk in casual. There are innocent and good stories two, as they truly were my friends (I thought). Im not gonna get any more lawyers, I can only tell stories when I remember one, there are probably lots of em, Ill keep remembering. I understand the curiosity of people, especially around something that blew up big (Eliminator). Now, I just want to reveal what I can and be remembered (I hope in a good way). Im isolated, a loner, I try to improve that condition by talking. Im 73 now, afraid of the future, dealing with age, getting old is hard for me. Peace. (At age 70 I still had some freelance sound and television work (freelance). But the pandemic put me out of biz (2 years after Hurricane Harvey flooded my house) and same for so many other people. I would have kept working. My fun now is my laptop.)
It was great to read your remarks here, well said. But, sorry to say, I wasn't involved at all with that song. But lots of people like it.
Let me touch briefly on the living arrangement. Lots of people say "Frank hired you? No. He just casually invited me to live in his house, there was no mention of studio building until I was in there. Then I realized he's gone a lot and someone has to feed the dog and talk to her, be there when the contractor is building the swimming pool, etc.. Frank slowly added more things to do. I dragged my feet because there was no pay, but I was valuable as a family member, because his wife stayed away from touring pretty often and I was the protector and friend. That alone was worth it for Frank. Frank needed a buddy around too because he was involved in drug rehab and he needed mentors around (people who aren't junkies). I had been at studios a lot in the past and in bands so I knew a lot about junkies, coke, everything, but I was fairly straight. He did get a little carried away with tasks for me, such as the studio dream. The studio I put together wasn't a show palace, it was just functional for a job. One time I had to look out for Carol Burnetts (tv star) 15 year old daughter who was sent to Franks to be in the drug program. I drew the line "Im a grown man, I shouldn't be in charge of a tv and movie millionaires teen daughter, it's not proper". So he got a couple to watch over the famous tv stars daughter Carrie (RIP Carrie). You see, I turned into a do it all, but I constantly resisted, it was too much for too little. Then before I knew it I was working on album with Billy. Again, they were using me, I was too laid back, Im a bad business man (if at all), I was a rock and roll hippie with a smattering of skills. Then it ended poorly as well. (The person who was the most low maintenance was Dusty, he was a good guy. Again the good part of living at Franks was being in a family situation.
This thread is about me partly (it seems). So Im demonstrate my casual engineering skills. I always argue that "studio" is where you are when you record somthing. Here a song that I did everything on (instruments vocals engineering). Id just spend one or two hours every other day for a couple of weeks and play the simplest licks (it's all I know how to play). But I get in perfect tune and try to perfect what I record (in bits and pieces). I don't know if this song is worth anything, but the engineering is fine that's what I do. I recorded with one mic (hand held) plugged into a laptop and used multi track recorder emulating software (Sony Acid). Just stackin trax like always. I can do demos on my couch and use synth horn patches from my casio keyboard synth, and I just learn and know that there's no ceiling on quality doing it with almost nothing. Guitar sounds I emulated with a line 6 amp emulator (so much fun). Im just painting a picture of who I am. Linden song demo at: RAYLENE - AN INDIE SONG - BY LINDEN HUDSON - YouTube Are the drums real? Yes, but theyre cut and paste (real samples), so it's like using a drum machine. I don't have a set of drums, this is all I needed to demo a song idea. The casio synth did great bass and horns. I can't play but I did. Ive done lots of this kind of playing at home.
Here's another example of me fooling with guitar (short piece) and making boogie loops etc, it comes out sounding almost like im a guitarist. But surely Im not. I played no guitar during the time of working with Billy Gibbons because he was a guitar savant and it was useless for me to pick up a guit. Go here with headphones preferably: Facebook
I remember a funny story Frank told me about the Dust. One night Dusty stepped out of his house for some reason in his short bathrobe and he was cradling a large half empty bottle of bourbon in his arms, he was drunk. Somehow the cops got called or showed up however and helped him get back in (after he did a lot of splainin, he had some splainin to do for sure). I can see it in my mind. His drinking made for funny stories, but its also "bad for you", don't do much of this at home. At least wear a robe if you do. Hide a key outside.
Linden mentioned briefly earlier in the thread Billy's use of a Legend amp for Eliminator. I picked one up years ago for that very reason. This is an extremely LOUD amp that gets one sound done extremely well - playing through it you'll definitely recognize a lot of the tonal frequencies. IF you can stand to be in the same room with it
Here's another short piece exercise in guitar stacking for kicks (by a non guitarist, me, on my Fernandez strat, just noodling). Hear it here: Facebook Im just as comfi recording other people. I have a client right now who pays me a little to come over every week and record his song demos and to edit his podcast. Im good, not the very best of the best (like Terry Manning), but I make good recordings.
Yes, for the time it was a killer amp. We had it in a closet (or booth) and you could feel it grinding through the walls. I loved the dean guitar grinding through that box. Billy hated the dean guitar but we kept coming back around to it. I wonder if the people who live in Franks old house know what songs were written in that front room.
You sure don't see them around very often. This guy I tracked down at a little shop in rural Kentucky
