Tejas (album)
Tejas is the fifth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in late November 1976. The title is a Caddo language word meaning 'friends', which is the origin of the name of the band's home state, Texas.
Background and release
Frontman Billy Gibbons said about the album:It's fair to say that this is a transitional record, although I'm not really sure what we were transitioning from and what we were becoming. It may be representative of how rapidly things were changing in the studio.
The equipment was becoming more modernized, and the way that music was being recorded was different – things were moving faster. It was still pre-digital, but there was better gear that was more readily available. We made use of it all.
This period was the wrinkle that kind of suggested what was to come, and change would become a necessary part of the ZZ Top fabric.
Tejas was produced by Bill Ham and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning. In 1987, a digitally remixed version of the recording was released on CD and the original 1976 mix version was discontinued. The remix version created controversy among fans because it significantly changed the instrument balance and the sound of the instruments, especially the drums.
Tejas was released as a digital download on Amazon.com's MP3 store and iTunes in 2012, with the original mixes of the tracks that are included on Chrome, Smoke & BBQ, and the 1987 remixes of the tracks that are not from that boxset. The original mix of the album was released on CD in June 2013 as part of the box set The Complete Studio Albums .
Track listing
Personnel
- Billy Gibbons – guitar, vocals, harmonica, fiddle
- Dusty Hill – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Ten Dollar Man", co-lead vocals on "It's Only Love", "Pan Am Highway Blues", and "Avalon Hideaway"
- Frank Beard – drums, percussion
Production
- Producer – Bill Ham
- Engineer – Terry Manning
- Mastering – Larry Nix
- Photography – Lee and Lesser
- Album concept – Bill Ham
- Album design – Bill Narum
Charts
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1976 | "It's Only Love" | Billboard Hot 100 | 44 |
| 1977 | "Arrested for Driving While Blind" | Billboard Hot 100 | 91 |