DVD review: ZZ TOP – That Little Ol’ Band From Texas

Eagle Vision [Release date 29.02.20]

Brilliant. Buy/Stream right now.

Nikk Gunns. 5 out of 5.

Now that would be the quickest review I have ever written, and yet how true that simple statement is.

Newly released ZZ Top documentary “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” comes from the makers of “Super Duper Alice Cooper” (another highly recommended watch) and takes us from day one and through the evolution of this legendary band. A band that have a worldwide image that is as instantly recognisable as their trademark sound.

ZZ Top were formed in late Sixties Texas and are one of the few bands that can boast having the same line-up since 1969- now think about that, that is an amazing fifty-one years. The band are well known for their legendary stage shows, those massively popular MTV videos of the Eighties, and for those beards, and have released 15 studio albums since 1971.

“That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” contains individual interviews with Dusty Hill, Frank Beard and Billy Gibbons, plus some great archive footage and tributes from famous fans like actor billy Bob Thornton and Queens of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme. The interviews with the band themselves contain all the highs and lows of their career (no spoilers here) and the whole documentary is a fascinating look into the band. This is in no doubt helped by the footage courtesy of the Ham Estate Archives as this is from the personal collection of the band’s former manager Bill Ham, there is also recent footage of the band playing to themselves at Gruene Hall, the oldest remaining dance hall in Texas, kinda poignant ain’t it?

There is also some great visual trickery when it comes to the vintage stills and newspaper clippings here that really brings them to life, and this is just another part of what makes this DVD one that will be loved by both fans of the band and general music fans alike. There really is something for everyone in this well told story of one rocks music’s best-loved bands.

The bonus footage on both the DVD and BluRay versions includes the full Gruene Hall performance plus more from the Ham Estate Archives, and the full performance of the former is worthy of the DVD purchase on its own. *****

Review by Nikk Gunns

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

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