ZZ TOP'S FIRST ALBUM

Every recording artist has to get their start with a debut LP, but not many go the extra mile and slap First Album right there on the artwork. Here, as in so many other ways, ZZ Top proved themselves an exception to a rule.
On. Jan. 16, 1971 ' less than a year after putting an end to a tumultuous first few months by playing their first gig with the lineup that would go on to become one of rock's longest-lasting combos ' guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard arrived in record stores with ZZ Top's First Album. Although they'd go on to score plenty of hit singles and sell millions of records along the way, their debut wasn't exactly auspicious.