Dusty Hill

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Dusty Hill with ZZ Top in San Antonio, Texas, 2015

Dusty Hill (born May 19, 1949 in Dallas , Texas as Joe Michael Hill , † July 27, 2021 in Houston ) was an American rock musician who became known as the bassist and second singer in the band ZZ Top .

Life

youth

Dusty grew up in east Dallas and attended high school there. He was influenced early on by his mother, who was a singer on the one hand and a fan of Elvis Presley , Little Richard and Lightnin 'Hopkins on the other . He was also influenced by his older brother Rocky Hill , who played blues guitar. When Rocky Hill formed his first band, Dusty Hill played bass there. This band became American Blues over the years .

American blues

American Blues was founded in the early 1960s as "The Starliners" and was soon renamed "The Deadbeats". Through an organizer, the band was booked early on as a backup musician for greats like Freddie King and Lightnin 'Hopkins who did not have a permanent band. Dusty Hill learned a lot about professional music during this time. "The Deadbeats" became "The Warlocks" and that in turn became "American Blues". As a new drummer joined Frank Beard so. The band's trademark back then was hair dyed blue to stand out from the other up-and-coming bands.

The band played a mix of psychedelic and blues rock . The band's first single was a cover of Tim Hardin's "If I Had a Hammer" for the local label Karma. With "Is Here" (1967) and "Do Their Thing" (1968) two more albums were released, which were later re-released several times.

The band left the Dallas scene and moved to Houston . There the band split up due to the different ideas of the Hills brothers. Dusty Hill wanted more rock music, his brother wanted more blues influences. So he left the band and became a solo artist. With Billy Gibbons a new guitarist was found and the band ZZ Top was founded.

ZZ top

Dusty Hill in Concert, 2008
Left Dusty Hill, right Billy Gibbons, in the background Frank Beard, 2008
At a ZZ Top concert at the Bilbao BBK Festival, 2008
In Finland, 2010
On tour in 2011
On tour with ZZ Top, 2013

See also the main article: ZZ Top

Together with moving sidewalks guitarist Billy Gibbons and his previous bandmate Frank Beard, Hill founded the band ZZ Top at the end of 1969. The music style chosen was blues rock , Texas blues and southern rock . A manager for the band was found in Bill Ham , who stayed from 1969 to September 2006.

Within the next six years, ZZ Top released five albums: The first album, ZZ Top's First Album , was released in 1971 on the Warner Bros. Records label , on which the band released their albums until 1990.

By 1976, ZZ Top became one of the best-selling rock bands of their time, but the band took a break until 1979. The following albums were more modern and the band mixed electronic sound with their normal style.

By the time their 1983 internationally successful album "Eliminator" was sold, Hill and Gibbons grew their long beards, which became trademarks of the band as well as Gibbons' 1933 Ford Coupe and long-legged women in their music clips and the large number of different guitars and basses Live performances. Some of the band's songs are among the most played music clips on MTV .

With the album " Antenna " released in 1994 , ZZ Top switched to RCA Records with a better-paid contract , where they released a total of four albums.

In 2004 Hill was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with his bandmates .

Five years after their last album, the 15th album "Live from Texas" was released in 2008, this time on Eagle Records.

Guest Posts

In 1990 he co-produced the tribute album to Roky Erickson (singer of The 13th Floor Elevators ) "Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson".

Movie and TV

In addition to his musical career, Hill has been involved in the film scene since the early 1980s. From 1982 to 2007 he contributed a number of songs to soundtracks (as a member of ZZ Top). B. An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), The Winners - American Flyers (1985), Knight Rider , Stephen King's The Stand (1994), Shang-High Noon (2000), The Sopranos and Ghost Rider (2007 ).

He also made appearances in film and television. In the series Deadwood he plays one of the townspeople. In the film Back to the Future III (1990) he and his bandmates play a band at the village festival. Hill also appeared in Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990), A Simple Plan (1998), Raw , King of the Hill , Drew Carey Show and MADtv .

Private

Dusty Hill was married from 2002 and had a daughter from a previous marriage.

At the beginning of 2000 he was diagnosed with hepatitis C and therefore a tour of ZZ Top was canceled. She was able to continue after treatment in 2002. In 2007, ZZ Top had to cancel another tour because Hill discovered a tumor in his inner ear that could have damaged his hearing. The tumor turned out to be benign and could be removed.

Hill died in his sleep on July 27, 2021. His death was announced by his ZZ top bandmates Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard.

Web links

Commons : Dusty Hill  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ZZ bassist Dusty Hill Dead at 72. rollingstone.com, accessed on July 29, 2021 .
  2. ↑ Dusty Hill Biography . Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ a b ZZ top publications at Allmusic
  4. ↑ a b Gibbons profile at Allmusic
  5. ↑ Currently Top in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
  6. ↑ ZZ top bassist Dusty Hill marries longtime girlfriend. In: myplainview.com. March 24, 2002, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  7. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill dies at 72. In: Los Angeles Times . July 28, 2021, accessed on July 29, 2021 (English): "Hill is survived by his wife Charleen" Chuck "McCrory and his daughter Charity from a previous marriage."
  8. ↑ Musicians with Hepatitis C. In: Hep. Accessed July 29, 2020 .
  9. ^ The Top Forced to Stop. In: NME . May 15, 2000. Retrieved July 29, 2021 (UK English).
  10. ↑ Andrew Dansby: ZZ Top cancels tour over Dusty Hill's ear ailment Bassist Hill's inner ear problem cancels ZZ Top's European tour. In: Houston Chronicle . May 16, 2007, accessed July 29, 2021 .
  11. ↑ Dusty Hill from cult band ZZ Top is dead. In: t-online.de , July 29, 2021.
personal data
SURNAME Hill, Dusty
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hill, Joe Michael (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rock musician
BIRTH DATE May 19, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas , Texas , USA
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Houston , Texas , USA