ZZ Top Quotes
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There's not a single genre that is hard to find or hard to get.
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Lightnin Hopkins was something of a fixture on the Houston coffee house scene so we were witness to eccentric blues brilliance close up. Then, believe it or not, along came the wave of the English cats like John Mayall, Eric Clapton and the Stones embracing the great American art form - the blues.
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Turn on, tune up, rock out.
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Lightnin' Hopkins taught us, "the rubber on a wheel is faster than the rubber on a heel" and Muddy Waters taught us "you don't have to be the best one; just be a good 'un" .. that just about says it all, always strive to be a good 'un.
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Ever since I was a little kid and first heard Jimmy Reed's 'Honey, Don't Let Me Go,' the blues has been in my blood.
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My discussion with Keith Richards about the creative process led me to believe that there's an invisible presence of a stream of ever-flowing creativity that we overhear-all you have to do is pull up the antenna and dial it in. This presence allows you to maintain your sense of origin and move forward.
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When I was around 7 or 8 my Dad took me to a B.B. King recording session, well, that really did it. Huge and lasting impressions. After all that I pretty much knew playing guitar was something I was going to do because I just had to do it. And I did.
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It's important to collect unusual characters. It keeps you sharp.
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Brian Eno and Robert Fripp's foray into some artful excursions into some ethereal electric experiments. There was a lot curious activities emerging in London, Amsterdam, and Berlin back then developing some fiercely fuzzy of synth-like effects way outside the norm which really blew the lid off things.
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White people get nervous and speed things up. You don't have to be in a hurry because you ain't got nothing to gain and you ain't got nothin' to lose. And that's where the groove lies.
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The band is tight enough. Quit practicing!
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Experience is definitely the high road once driven. It actually enhances the songwriting and song sourcing process.
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Sounds like the blues are composed of feeling, finesse, and fear.
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The guy played all the way up to the end. I can dig that. What else are you going to do? You've got to go with the feeling. And that was Gatemouth.
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The blues is life itself.
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I've been touted for my guacamole. I'll stand by my method. People have asked me to come to their home and prepare it. Restaurants have asked me about it.
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One springs to mind: one of our very first gigs in a small East Texas town was not well promoted. At least, that was our conclusion. After the band loaded in and the curtain opened, we realized there was exactly one paying customer in the audience. We kind of made the best of it playing through the first set, took a break and bought him a Coke and then went on to perform for the remainder of the night. It wasn't exactly a catastrophe but it certainly stands as legendary.
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Our skin colours may vary, but what's upstairs - there's certain things we've all got in common.
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The blues is a mighty long road. Or it could be a river, one that twists and turns and flows into a sea of limitless musical potential.
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It's a real uphill challenge to battle the white-guyness.
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Every once in awhile I'll call up Eddie (Van Halen) and ask, Found that fourth chord yet?
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Can't do it, simply cause underneath 'em is too ugly.
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The rawness and the richness of music on vinyl almost went away, but it still seems to be on a lot of people's radar, and for good reason. It does something different than more accessible means of music playing, like MP3 players and downloads and whatnot. You get in front of these archaic contraptions that go 'round and 'round.
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Having a visual element to your band is a good thing.