ZZ Top: La Grange

Last weekend I caught a commercial for the first time that advertised CanAm Spyder Roadster. In the background, you immediately recognize Frank Beard's characteristic shuffle on the drum rim and the John Lee Hooker style guitar and vocals by Billy Gibbons. It was the band’s first single from their debut 1973 album “Tres Hombres.”; however, "La Grange" barely missed the top 40 charts by peaking at #41.

Live Version

While Billy Gibbons played a Fender Stratocaster on the original studio recording of “La Grange,” he is seen here playing a Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird – a guitar originally made famous by Bo Diddley. You can see Bo’s original 1959 model on the cover of the LP “Bo Diddley is a Gunslinger.”

Bo gave this same guitar to Billy Gibbons – which Gibbons later modified. A few years ago, a reconstituted Gretsch Guitar Company began marketing the Jupiter –Thunderbird as the “Billy-Bo” model and that moniker can be found on the back of the headstock.

The guitar and the man behind the guitar – rocks.

CanAm Spyder Roadster Commercial