Happy 45th: ZZ Top, RIO GRANDE MUD

45 years ago today, ZZ Top released their sophomore LP, an album which didn’t feature much in the way of hit singles but nonetheless paved the way for their real breakthrough album, TRES HOMBRES, the following year.

Recorded at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas and produced by Bill Ham, who’d helmed their cleverly-titled first album (ZZ TOP’S FIRST ALBUM) and would go on twiddle the knobs on TRES HOMBRES as well, RIO GRANDE MUD showed that ZZ Top’s sound was still more or less the same while also confirming that they weren’t afraid to tweak it here and there. The end result was a 10-track collection of songs – all of which were at least co-written by Billy Gibbons – that paid tribute to cars (“Chevrolet”), food (“Bar-B-Q”), liquor (“Whiskey’n Mama”), and, of course, the ladies. Indeed, the one single released from the album was called “Francine,” and while it didn’t make it into the top 40, it did climb into the Billboard Hot 100 and make its way to #69.

RIO GRANDE MUD hit #104 on the Billboard 200, which is pretty great when you consider that the band’s debut album didn’t chart at all. As noted, however, the most important thing the album did was cement the band’s momentum: when TRES HOMBRES was released, it made it all the way into the top 10.