Neomorpheus

Thanks for the re-greet Cru.
I happen to have a lil relative story of my own that I've decided to lay on you...

Several years ago I worked for a company here in Dallas called Showco, that designed and built sound stage set ups for concerts. Later I also worked on the development of an off-shoot venture of theirs that spawned Vari-Lite, which revolutionized stage lighting. One of the first bands to take interest in Vari-Lite was ZZ Top. My boss at the time, lets call him "Happy", grew up in Houston and went to school with Billy. "Hap" had a few acres of land south of big D, and well...had him a nice bumper crop of home grown. One day Billy and Frank showed up at the facility to approve the lighting designs for their upcoming "Eliminator" tour. Billy came in wearing this flamboyant baby blue satin jumpsuit with a white cowboy hat and brand new Tony Lama ostrich skin cowboy boots. Long story short, Hap jumped in a limo with the boys and retreated to his south 40 for a brief respite. When they returned, in walks Billy with his boots covered in red Texas mud and the whole ass end of his pants ripped out. "WTF happened !", we all asked. Billy just said "A little mishap with security down at Rancho Texacano". Translation: His muddy boots lost their grip while crossing the barbed wire fence that bordered a special portion of Haps property. We all laughed till we cried, and was glad he was sporting underwear! They later named one of their best-of albums after Hap's Hacienda. Lots of craziness and fun times back then. Maybe I will recount a few more when the time is right - only here on Looperman.

I will definitely have to check out that episode. Billy's getting up there in age but can still play. Thanks for weighing in bro and YES, finally someone who likes the drums! Thanks a lot Wayne.

Thanks for your comment midi.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Stevie Ray Vaughn is more respected but I certainly agree that he is highly regarded, well loved and most sorely missed. Especially here in Dallas, his birth place and home town. I loved Stevie's style and was a huge fan. I bought his records, went to his shows and played his music. He wasn't as much an influence for me as Billy though. I've played a lot of blues but never was a bluesman. Billy's style is more rock infused which was more to my liking. Stevie's death was no doubt tragic. Yes Austin, which is a music mecca here in the U.S. and the place where Stevie played most frequently, erected a statue in his honor. Dallas is also finally getting around to constructing a memorial for him late this year. Of course all this has been a result of his passing.

Blackfoot was a good Southern rock band. I played "Train Train" quite a few times.

Not entirely sure if Billy's playing was that influenced by Jimi but anybody playing blues or guitar for that matter at the time would certainly have taken some kind of interest in Hendrix. Billy began playing with the Moving Sidewalks who actually opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience during their first American tour. Interesting you mention Tejas. It's one of my favorite ZZ Top albums and the song Asleep in the Desert influenced the idea for this track. Nobody digs my drums on this ....(pouting)?
Thanks a bunch for the comment Cru.

I'm more into ZZ's earlier stuff too.
A cousin of mine who had moved to Laredo after returning home from 2 tours in Vietnam came to visit the family and left me a copy of Tres Hombres. I was at the time digging into legendary rock bands like Sabbath, Zepplin, Deep Purple, Hendrix etc. I was floored by ZZ Tops style of Blues. Ended up playing a lot of their old stuff and introducing their music to friends and audiences in New York who hadn't heard it.

Yeah I thought about the Indian yell too but couldn't find anything appropriate. Thanks for the cool story Silve, I appreciate ya !

As you well know, sometimes you get inspired by something and one of the first thoughts is "how can I work this idea into a song"? Tumbleweed referred to it as picture painting and essentially that was the goal with this. But since there is no distorted guitar in traditional American Indian music it was never going to be recognized as such. I knew that going in but was still compelled to give it a shot.

Yeah considering the progression I was thinking that many may not give this a full listen. Thanks for your patience man.

There is a town here called Comanche, which is about half way between Ft. Worth and Abilene. Its a small rural town but is well known for surrounding areas being haunted by Indian spirits. I may gather some gear and a generator and venture out there this summer and serenade them. Freak out some of the locals!

Thanks Evan.

Haha, I can relate to those kind of after parties Ed !
So glad to hear that this makes sense to some. As always, good to get your feedback and I'm very thankful for the kind words.

Thanks a lot Jamid!
Really appreciate the listen and comments my friend.

I hope to get some time this weekend to do a little more work on this bro. Yeah I did try a couple of different things with the drums on the intro but decided to keep it very basic and pretty much only wanted the drums there to keep the beat. Very similar to what you would hear in an Indian war beat.

Good drum joke - Haha, so true !

Haha, hey I definitely wouldn't want anyone going away hungry. "The buffet line is open and it all you can eat" !

Thanks For the cool comment soundhound, very appreciative.

I have communicated with Indian spirits, I think?
Peyote contains psychoactive alkaloids...well enough said.
(Jk haha!)

Yes plenty of coyotes here and rattlesnakes and scorpions which are also in the mix, just a little hard to make out, unless you got some Peyote. Valvedriver probably doesn't have any Peyote up there in the hills, but them shrooms of his are just as potent!

Not sure of what pops your hearing, coulda been the wood popping on the campfire. I might have an edit or two in that first section but the second is a straight through one shot. Could be a click from an effects pedal in there, I will check it out.

Cant believe you don't like my beat man. Electronic! Its tribal, Tomtom log drum and wood block that's it. Its a little difficult to get perfection from primal instruments. I appreciate your comments bro for sure and I don't argue your critiques but grooves and kit sounds are not what I want. Haha, oh well we can agree to disagree on this one.

I'm satisfied that you liked the intro at least.

"Some nasty licks in this"

Do you remember back in nineteen sixty six?
Country Jesus, Hillbilly blues, that's where I learned my licks !

Thanks for the feedback TG.

Always great to get your take on things Danke.
Trying to do something a bit different here.
Even a bit like ZZ is one heck of a compliment. I'm more of a fan of their earlier material though - Rio Grande Mud, Tejas, Fandango, Tres Honbres, Deguello era, the pre-Mtv stuff.

Thanks Orlando, that's the type of response I was hoping to get. Glad you like man.

"You know what they say about Drummers don't you?"

Yes of course I do:

Drummers can Bang for hours!

Q:What do you call a drummer who breaks up with his girlfriend?
A: Homeless

Q:What do Ginger Baker and black coffee have in common?
A: They both suck without Cream.

Q:What is the last thing a drummer says in a band?
A: Hey, when are we gonna do one of my songs?

And last but not least...

Q:How many drummers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 5. One to screw it in and 4 to talk about how much better Neil Peart could have done it.

Haha!

Yeah man when you get that arrangement done just let me know. I will be glad to try to work some thing up for it. Thanks for the comment Katz!

Thanks for the comments AJ. I know this isn't a typical song and most may not get what I'm going for if they have never heard American Indian tribal music. With that being said, the drums here are a feeble attempt to bring that tribal sound to the mix.