Texas-born blues-rock band ZZ Top may be the surprise of the 20th century. Middle-aged guys with giant beards became one of the biggest bands in music and mainstays on MTV. Guys who were known for music video vixens and songs about legs.
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The group was also well-equipped for the silver and small screens. These three movies below are proof of just that, proving the power of the band onstage, in concert, and in the world of music, in general.
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1. ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas (2019)
The documentary, complete with concert footage, tells the backstory of how ZZ Top became one of the most beloved rock groups in the 20th century. Directed by Sam Dunn, the doc focuses on all three members of the band—Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard—and their “oddball” style. Check out a trailer for the 2019 documentary below.
2. ZZ Top: Live from Texas (2008)
Recorded in 2007 at the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie, Texas, and released a year later, the concert film includes 17 songs and hits like “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” “La Grange” and “Tush.” It’s a veritable greatest-hits album. Fans can check out “Got Me Under Pressure,” the opening offering from the concert movie below.
3. Tales of the Rat Fink (2006)
This surreal, slightly grotesque 2006 movie is dubbed by IMDB as “the life and times of famed hot rod and custom car designer Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth.” Ray Fink, of course, is a classic cartoon from the 1980s and 1990s made as a kind of grunge anti-Mickey Mouse. In the movie, ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons voices the character Beatnik Bandit. Check out a trailer for the movie below.
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