CMT Blog: Archive

I always say I never ever want to hear the ZZ Top song, "La Grange," again, but that's only because it's been performed by way too many third-rate bar bands. But everything changes when I go to a ZZ Top concert. On the surface, their music seems very simple, but it's the subtle nuances that count, and I'm convinced that the only people who ever get it totally right are Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. For the past decade or more, bands such as ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd have had an incredible influence on country music. ZZ Top's collaboration with Brooks & Dunn provided one of the very first CMT Crossroads pairings. And then there was Sharp Dressed Men: A Tribute to ZZ Top, released in 2002, featuring the trio's songs covered by Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, Montgomery Gentry and Brad Paisley, among others. If you've ever attended a ZZ Top concert, you know it's pretty much non-stop music performed by three guys who don't say much onstage. However, you get a rare opportunity to hear them talk about their music in the new episode of VH1 Storytellers premiering Saturday (June 27) at 10 p.m. ET on, of course VH1. I hope they got around to playing "La Grange." But in the meantime, check out this clip of "Sharp Dressed Man."