Title:
Fandango
Description:
Fandango!
1975 studio & live album by ZZ Top
This article is about the ZZ Top album. For other uses, see Fandango (disambiguation).
Fandango! is the fourth album by the American rock band ZZ Top, 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, from which the album gets its name, is a type of dance similar to flamenco.
Background
Frontman Billy Gibbons 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.[4]
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 its members were teenagers.[5] The Nightcaps performed the song and distributed it on their album Wine, Wine, Wine but never applied for copyright.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
The song "Heard It on the X” was written about the influence of a Mexican border blaster radio station, X-Rock 80. The station was located in El Paso, Texas, while the transmitter was across the border in Juárez, Mexico. That allowed it to put out 150,000 watts of power from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. Mountain Time. It could be heard in up to 44 states and parts of Canada.[8]
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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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’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.
Tracks
A1Thunderbird2:49
A2Jailhouse Rock1:56
A3Backdoor Love Affair1:09
A4Mellow Down Easy3:39
A5Backdoor Love Affair No. 22:04
A6Long Distance Boogie2:31
B1Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings2:42
B2Blue Jean Blues4:42
B3Balinese2:37
B4Mexican Blackbird3:06
B5Heard It On The X2:23
B6Tush2:24
1975 studio & live album by ZZ Top
This article is about the ZZ Top album. For other uses, see Fandango (disambiguation).
Fandango! is the fourth album by the American rock band ZZ Top, 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, from which the album gets its name, is a type of dance similar to flamenco.
Background
Frontman Billy Gibbons 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.[4]
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 its members were teenagers.[5] The Nightcaps performed the song and distributed it on their album Wine, Wine, Wine but never applied for copyright.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
The song "Heard It on the X” was written about the influence of a Mexican border blaster radio station, X-Rock 80. The station was located in El Paso, Texas, while the transmitter was across the border in Juárez, Mexico. That allowed it to put out 150,000 watts of power from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. Mountain Time. It could be heard in up to 44 states and parts of Canada.[8]
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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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’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.
Tracks
A1Thunderbird2:49
A2Jailhouse Rock1:56
A3Backdoor Love Affair1:09
A4Mellow Down Easy3:39
A5Backdoor Love Affair No. 22:04
A6Long Distance Boogie2:31
B1Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings2:42
B2Blue Jean Blues4:42
B3Balinese2:37
B4Mexican Blackbird3:06
B5Heard It On The X2:23
B6Tush2:24
Band or Artist:
ZZ Top
Release Year:
1975
Length:
34
Country:
United States
Format:
12”
Speed:
33 1/3 rpm
Subgenre:
1970’s
Catalog Number:
K 56 604 (WB56 604)
Producer:
Bill Ham
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AllMusic Rating:
4.5
Record Label:
Warner Bros
London Records
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Promo:
Yes
Recording Location:
New Orleans
Number of Tracks:
9
Album Type:
Album
Quality:
N/A
Number of Discs:
1
Date Added:
2018-06-28 16:19:38
Packaging:
Cardboard Sleeve
Series:
Studio Album
Series Order:
4
Automatic Estimated Date:
2026-01-18
Date Added:
2018-06-28 16:19:38
