Maps of Music

Tejas (1976)

Where the lyrics of Tejas take you, and where it was really made.

Billy Gibbons called this record a transition, unsure what it was moving from or toward.

Key places

Recorded at Ardent Studios, Memphis (1976)

Recording site Ardent Studios — Tejas was recorded and mixed by Terry Manning, and the recording location listed is Ardent Studios in Memphis. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Tejas: fifth studio album by American rock band ZZ Top
• Released in November 1976 on the London label
• Produced by Bill Ham; recorded and mixed by Terry Manning
• Album design credited to Bill Narum; photography credited to Lee and Lesser
• Album concept credited to Bill Ham

Background

• Frontman Billy Gibbons described the album as a transitional record
• Gibbons said he was not sure what the band was transitioning from or what it was becoming
• He said the album may reflect how rapidly things were changing in the studio
• Studio equipment was becoming more modernized, and recording methods were changing
• The album was made in a pre-digital period, though better gear was becoming more readily available
• Gibbons called this period the wrinkle that suggested what was to come
• Change became a necessary part of the ZZ Top fabric after this album
• After the tour that preceded the album, the band took a rest of about a year and a half, as its previous record contract had expired
• The band signed with Warner in 1978 and released Deguello in 1979

Recording

• Terry Manning recorded and mixed the album
• The 1976 original mix was later discontinued after a 1987 digital remix was issued on CD
• The 1987 remix was not done by original engineer Manning
• Fans objected to the remix because it significantly changed the instrument balance and sound, especially the drums
• A digitally downloadable version appeared on Amazon.com's MP3 store and iTunes in 2012, with original mixes of some tracks
• The original mix was released on CD in June 2013 as part of The Complete Studio Albums (1970–1990) box set

Cover

• Cover photography credited to Lee and Lesser
• Album design credited to Bill Narum

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969 after Billy Gibbons' band Moving Sidewalks disbanded.
• The name came from Gibbons' idea, inspired by B.B. King and Z.Z. Hill, reasoning that "king is at the top."
• Signed with London Records and released ZZ Top's First Album in 1971.

Members

• Billy Gibbons on vocals and guitar, the only constant member since 1969.
• Dusty Hill on bass and vocals from 1970 until his death in 2021.
• Frank Beard on drums from 1969 until his death in 2026.
• Elwood Francis took over on bass after Hill's death, at Hill's request.
• Michael Monahan has been on tour as drummer since 2025.

Career

• Tres Hombres (1973) and Fandango! (1975) brought radio success; "La Grange" and "Tush" became classic rock staples.
• Eliminator (1983) reached international stardom and sold over 10 million copies, the only ZZ Top album certified diamond.
• Afterburner (1985) was their highest-charting album, reaching number four on the Billboard chart.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
• Recognized by Guinness in 2018 as the longest-running active group with no lineup changes.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Richard Riegel of Creem described Tejas as an album that sings of Southwestern lyrical staples, but with greater immediacy than the Eagles
• Riegel compared the album to Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! and noted that Tejas might outsell Frampton
• Barry Cain of Record Mirror highlighted the songs Arrested For Driving While Blind and El Diablo
• Cain said El Diablo struck him as about the most haunting song he had come across
• Cain also praised the vocals and guitar playing of Billy Gibbons on the album

Reappraisal

• In a 2016 piece for the Something Else! webzine, M. C. Mosquito said the album contains a lot of very good songs
• Mosquito said many critics and much of the public dismissed the album as ZZ Top gone countrified
• Mosquito said the twangy opener It's Only Love was part of the reason for that dismissal
• Mosquito argued that the rest of the record is only a little more country than the band's earlier albums
• Mosquito noted countrified fiddle on the record, so the country label may be partly fair

Records

• Reached number 17 on the US Billboard 200
• Received a gold certification in the United States within months of release, after passing 500,000 copies sold
• It's Only Love, released as a single a couple of months before the album, reached number 44 in the United States
• In 1977, El Diablo and Arrested for Driving While Blind were released as singles
• Arrested for Driving While Blind reached number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 1987 digital remix was not done by original engineer Terry Manning, and fans objected because it changed the instrument balance and drum sound.
• The album reached number 17 on the Billboard 200 and received a gold certification in the United States only months after release.
• After the tour that preceded the album, the band took a year and a half off because its previous record contract had expired.
• The stage for that tour was shaped like a large map of Texas and was meant to imitate a desert, with native desert animals moving across it.
• The band signed with Warner in 1978 and released Deguello in 1979.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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