On this day (July 28) in 2021, Dusty Hill died at his home in Houston, Texas, at the age of 72. The bassist joined ZZ Top before they released their first album. More than 50 years later, he was still with the band. Before he died, he passed the torch to Elwood Francis.
Hill started his musical journey when he was around eight years old. Back then, he was singing with his older brother, Rocky. A few years later, he became a bass player to fill a role in his brother’s band. Unlike many bassists, he wasn’t a guitar player first. Instead, he took up the instrument and learned on the fly.
Videos by American Songwriter
“I came home from school, and there was a bass guitar there,” Hill recalled. “I played at a bar that night. It wasn’t very good, but I kind of learned how to play on stage, and embarrassment is a great motivator. If you don’t play well, standing up there with the lights on, it really stands out. So, it behooves you to get your sh*t up pretty quick,” he explained.
Dusty Hill Joins ZZ Top
Dusty Hill and his longtime friend, Frank Beard, were in several bands together over the years. They were in the Warlocks, the Cellar Dwellers, and American Blues together. Then, in 1969, Beard joined Billy Gibbons’ new band, ZZ Top, as a drummer. When their bass player didn’t want to sign the record deal they’d been offered, Hill joined Beard in the band, completing the lineup that would rock millions of fans around the world for the next five decades.
Hill’s bass playing wasn’t flashy. On paper, many of his bass lines were incredibly simple. However, they are not easy to replicate. He was a master of feel, finding the perfect groove and blending into the mix. It took some time to get there, though.
“It took me a while, because early on, I just learned the fundamentals. Then, I was influenced by Jack Bruce with Cream, and he plays a lot. Even Stanley Clark or Charlie Mingus, a little jazz. So I used to play a lot,” Hill said. “When I started playing in a three-piece, I realized that you have to do the song, not your personal performance. So, you have to be tasty with it and enjoy the playing,” he explained.
“Sometimes you don’t even notice the bass,” Hill said of finding perfect balance. “I hate that in a way, but I love that in a way. That’s a compliment. That means you’ve filled in everything and it’s right for the song, and you’re not standing out where you don’t need to be.”
Hill Chose His Replacement
ZZ Top had been playing together for 52 years when Dusty Hill passed away. Before he left this world, he let his bandmates know that he wanted them to keep rocking.
“Dusty emphatically grabbed my arm and said, ‘Give Elwood the bottom end, and take it to the top,” Billy Gibbons revealed in the days after Hill’s passing. “He meant it, amigo. He really did.”
The band continues to honor Dusty Hill’s wishes. ZZ Top is currently on tour.
Featured Image by Mat Hayward/Getty Images
-
American singer and songwriter Bobbie Gentry posed sitting on a park bench in a London square on 13th October 1969. (Photo by Larry Ellis Collection/Getty Images) -
CIRCA 1960: Fred Foster (1931 – 2019), president of Monument Records, poses with his newest signees, Fred Carter (left) and Willie Nelson in circa 1960. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
Mick Jagger performing at a Rolling Stones concert. Photo shows: Head and shoulder shot of Mick Jagger in performance. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) -
NASHVILLE, TN – Jim Foglesong, Garth Brooks and Allen Reynolds attends the 2009 Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award at the Renaissance Hotel on August 23, 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Beth Gwinn/Getty Images) -
Merle Haggard, who helped Clint Eastwood top the country chart -
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – OCTOBER 19: Kelly Nelon Clark, Amber Nelon Thompson, Autumn Nelon Clark, and Jason Clark of The Nelons attend the 52nd GMA Dove Awards at Lipscomb Allen Arena on October 19, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
