ZZ Top Release New Version Of ‘La Grange’
ZZ Top have released the latest taster from their upcoming album, RAW – a new version of La Grange, originally released on their 1973 album, Tres Hombres. La Grange – like the rest of the album – was recorded at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels Texas.
On its original release, La Grange was the most successful release the band had experienced to that point and would become a signature song for the group for almost five decades. The song is something of a homage to “The Chicken Ranch”, a real life brothel that was located in the town of La Grange, just 88 miles away from New Braunfels. La Grange anticipated the story, written by Larry L. King, that was the basis for the Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. The film version starred Dolly Parton as Mona Stangley, proprietor of the much-celebrated establishment.
Hear the original version below:
The late Dusty Hill once recalled, “Shortly after the record was released, they shut it down, and I went around and spent a lot of my time in Texas explaining to people that we didn’t have anything to do with that.” Billy Gibbons noted, “That place was the scene of many a ‘rite of passage,’” adding, “The closing line, ‘But I might be mistaken,’ was inspired by Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue Got Married.” It was very much the case of one Texas music icon – ZZ Top – celebrating a forebear – Buddy Holly.
The tracks on new album RAW were all recorded over the course of one day to keep the whole process as simple and straightforward as possible, in a nod to the band’s early days. Billy F Gibbons served as producer with engineering by Jake Mann and Gary Moon; RAW was mixed by Ryan Hewitt. It will be available on 180-gram vinyl, CD and through digital platforms. It will be released “In righteous memory of Dusty Hill.”