ZZ Top: that Little Ol' Band from Texas

I've always loved ZZ Top, especially the early days. Even though they've been very popular they always seemed a but enigmatic. This documentary starts before they came together and does a great job of telling their story with Billy, the now late Dusty, and Frank doing most of the talking. I've always been a huge Billy Gibbons fan but now also have a greater appreciation for Dusty and Frank.

I always come away from these music documentaries with a greater appreciation of the bands or singer being featured. I can't say I'm a big fan of ZZ Top but I do like their music, and this documentary gives one an intimate look into how the trio came together and progressed through fifty plus years of rocking out and turning the blues into party music. A number of terms were offered in the story as to how their music can best be described, and I kind of liked 'Texas blues with an edge' myself, and the boys make no bones about putting their home state of Texas front and center when it comes to touring, providing their fans with a concert experience that combines elements of a rodeo, circus and rock show combined. Music fans who grew up with MTV can credit that venue for making popular such classic rockers as 'Gimme Some Lovin', and my own personal favorite, 'Legs'. What you might not realize though, is that the classic ZZ Top look came pretty much later in their careers after many years of changing fashion and hair styles. Actor Billy Bob Thornton appears to offer his personal insights into the band, and he had a pretty apt analogy in describing ZZ Top as something akin to actually seeing Bugs Bunny in person.

Sometimes these band documentaries are dry droning factoids - but not this one. This is wall to wall ZZ Top hits - live and background - with big hits and some jams enuf for any true ZZ fan. Also their story is presented just right, with many of the crazy stories from the road ("Keith Richards always wore the same white pants that were totally filthy...") that you'd hope for. The occasional little animated bits fit right in too. To me this was the prefect band history documentary. I got no complaints...

Loved seeing the guys progress from a 60's psychedelic rock band into the early 70's MTV juggernaut that they became. Bummed, however, that they left out the notorious time Tonya Harding skated to 'Sleeping Bag' in a professional competition.

The kind of music doc. that leads you to Spotify. Billy has always seemed to be the face of the trio so it was good being fully introduced to Dusty and Frank. The stories they all shared gave a from the inside looking out perspective, and revealed that the formula for a uniquely great band is in their chemistry.

I discovered ZZ Top when I was a seventh grader in Jr.High with Rio Grande Mud. I've remained a fan for all of these years. I can listen to all of the catalog and still connect. The band now 50-years on is the same and the core of the music is still the same. If there ever was a musical equivalent of "the right stuff" I think this band hit on it and found a path to keep making it interesting. Here's a fairly highlighted tour of their history. It's interesting enough you don't have to be a fan and if you are then all the better. What they do probably wasn't supposed to be as commercially successful as it was and therein lies the intersection of their cultivated mystery and creativity in a genre not celebrated for such. Selling albums in the realm of the rock monsters of all-time is proof that this is tasty music that won't simply fade to black in spite of the decimation of the traditional music business. Yeah, ZZ Top rocks and does so with conviction and joy. See the film and keep rockin', that's the celebration explored quite enjoyably here.

Like many, we've longed for a detailed documentary of ZZ Top. Now after 50 + years of existence, we finally have one. Banger Films(Metal Evolution, Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage, Iron Maiden: Flight 666, etc.)have a great track record for doing these kind of documentaries, so we were looking forward to seeing this film. We thoroughly enjoyed this film for the most part and learned a lot about the band's early days. It gives the audience a look at the band's history before all three members come together and what each member were doing prior to the birth of ZZ Top. The documentary also touches on their first album, production, the MTV days, etc. Where this falls short is it discusses nothing after their "Eliminator" album. Nor does it touch on their personal life, ie-family, hobbies.There is so much to be told after their Eliminator days, yet nothing was mentioned. It really starts out incredibly well but finished with a whimper.If you're a fan like we are, you'll enjoy it, but you won't know a whole lot more than what we already know for the most part. We expected more from director Sam Dunn, he has never let the audience down, until now.

Had the chance to watch a release of this on a Norweigan site while the boyZZ were touring Europe. QUITE entertaining! These guys are the single, longest-lasting band together with the original members, for 50 years now and are still touring strong. Always mysterious, you'll learn things behind the beards (and the Beard) you probably never knew. It's very well done and extremely entertaining. They're Hall of Famers, "Official Heroes for the State of Texas" and three really nice guys. They're ZZ Top. Nuff' said!

As much as I hate single paragraph "reviews", I'm just writing this to tell you this doesn't even mention "Rough Boy" (one of the greatest songs of all time, and the music video is still impressive in 2020), not to mention "Sharped dressed man", "Viva Las Vegas", "Sleeping Bag", not to mention "Pincushion" which was recorded like 10 years after all of those, not to mention... you get the point, nothing was mentioned. The story literally ends around 1980 and there's no Afterburner (whiskey foxtrot tango!) or anything that followed. You get involved in the story, they mention early MTV and the "Gimme All Your Lovin" video and the car (which of course starred in "Rough Boy"), and the next they say is basically "and so we play together to this day, wow!", like nothing else ever happened. I don't understand. If a sequel is coming in another 40 years, not only will it be hard to conduct interviews with the band, I won't be alive to watch it, so for now, please accept this score of thumbs down.

I really enjoyed this documentary! The stories, the sound, and the music just blew me away! I really loved the story about ZZ performing in front of just one guy! Dang, I wish that had been me! And Frank's interview were so honest and forthcoming! I could easily have watched and hour and a half more of this! It blew my top!