1971

ZZ Top

Country Blues Festival		Memphis, Tennessee 


Disc 1  -  75.24
1	Every Day				 3.17
2	Somebody Else Been Shaking Your Tree	 2.47
3	Neighbor, Neighbor			 4.16
4	Just Got Back From Baby's		 7.46
5	Whiskey'n Mama				 8.58
6	Rattlesnake Shake			 6.53
7	Goin' Down To Mexico *			 4.56
8	Memphis Blues				16.10
9	Little Queenie				 6.50
10	It's My Time * >			 9.23
	Drum Solo >
11	Drum & Bass Solo			 4.03


Disc 2  -  8.23
1	Brown Sugar				5.44
2	Jailhouse Rock				2.39



Some notes about this show (not mine - This may be the remastered
version):

Some say this is where it all began. The romance between ZZ Top 
and the River City began in 1971. ZZ Top had just released their 
first record and it was given to the producer of the Memphis Country 
Blues Festival which was held at the historic Overton Park Shell 
where Elvis Presley staged his first legitimate concert in 1955. 
ZZ Top was immediately extended an open invitation to perform in 
1971. Also showing with the then unknown Texas based band were 
vintage Delta Bluesmen, Furry Lewis, Bukka White and Fred McDowell 
and Rev. Robert Wilkins. "It was incredible and I will never forget 
it said festival organizer Randall Lyon. ZZ Top came out and took 
the crowd over the edge. ZZ made a tremendous showing; The shell 
was packed. They took the blues and plugged that high power energy 
into it. Nobody knew who they were, but nobody forgot who they are."

Notes:  Quality ranges from not bad to, ehh/ouch/bad... How this 
was recorded I do not know. It's a little muted some of the time, 
seems to have a lot of bass, and can be brought out to sound better 
when using an EQ. At least someone had the foresight to save these 
concerts. Both were done from the crowd, perhaps with an 8 track 
recorder and microphone. These are not "great" recordings and are 
suggested only for the purest or serious fan/collector. If you 
really love ZZ Top, you will enjoy these. 


*** REMASTERED Version ***

This is the same historic concert as above, which has been remastered 
and now sounds much better!!! Quality is about a B-. The crowd noise 
seems to have been lowered, and the volume of ZZ playing has been 
raised. In fact this recording may be sourced from a different location 
in the crowd, perhaps closer to the stage. This one is a must have for 
any ZZ collection.