How ZZ Top Wrote “Tush”

How ZZ Top Wrote “Tush” | I Love Classic Rock Videos

ZZ Top live at Texas - PeutEtreDejaVu / Youtube

When performing live, bands need to ensure their equipment are up to speed and are set to their intended levels. Some might dread the boring and tedious job to double check ever piece of equipment they have, but southern rockers ZZ Top beg to differ. Who would’ve thought their aptly-named extravagant banger of a track “Tush”, was borne out of such technical moments.

Bassist Dusty Hill shared the hilarious story of how the song began, just as they were messing around their sound check sessions. “We’d just be farting around, doing old songs or new songs, whatever,” Dusty shares. “Billy started playing that riff and I started singing. What came off the top of my head, to show you how demented I am, I mean, they’re not exactly Bob Dylan-type lyrics. Only a couple of words were ever changed before we recorded it. It’s just like we did it at that soundcheck.”

“Tush” was released on the 1975 album Fandango, and became the band’s first Top 40 hit, reaching the 20th spot on the charts. Hill says he and Frank Beard were in a lot of bands before hooking up with Billy Gibbons, giving them a renewed sense of musical purpose and creativity.