It’s one of the greatest blues rock songs of all time—but it’s also got a controversial history. It’s been in countless movies, TV shows, and commercials. It’s playing in jukeboxes right now far and wide. Yes, it’s the ZZ Top hit song, “La Grange.” As soon as the rugged riffs begin on the classic rock station, you know what’s in store. Hip-shaking, head-bobbing rock glory. Let’s take a look into the history, origins, and meaning of this ultimate (though contested) classic.
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John Lee Hooker
One of the reasons the ZZ Top song is so recognizable is because it sounds like another significant (even trailblazing song) by John Lee Hooker, “Boogie Chillen.” It’s an old song (1948) and so impactful to the origins of the blues genre that it seems source material. But it’s also the Intellectual Property of Hooker, of course.
The resemblance to the riff caused music publisher Bernard Besman, who was the first in the business to record Hooker and who is credited with co-writing some of Hooker’s songs, to sue the members of ZZ Top in 1992, saying that “La Grange” ripped off “Boogie Chillen.” It took three years but in 1995 a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by Besman.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
In La Grange, Texas there used to be a brothel that many from all around appreciated and enjoyed. That brothel is the subject of both the ZZ Top song at hand, and the stage play and film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The film starred country icon Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.
Legend has it that the ZZ Top song along with the play and film were so popular that it made authorities look into the brothel in 1973, and, to the chagrin of its patrons, shut it down. Prior to its closing, the place had been an unassuming farmhouse with no signage and a lot of stories (if the walls could talk). Many locals, including look-the-other-way law enforcement, knew it as the Chicken Ranch.
The Lyrics
Comprised of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard, ZZ Top released the song in 1973 on its aptly titled album Tres Hombres. The Houston, Texas-born band highlights the “shack outside La Grange” around which a “rumor spreadin’ ’round.”
It’s a short song, lyrically speaking, and singer Gibbons concludes it with:
Well, I hear it’s fine
If you got the time
And the ten to get yourself in
A-hmm, hmm
And I hear it’s tight
Most every night
But now I might be mistaken
Hmm, hmm, hmm
Have mercy
Photo: Ross Halfin / BMG
