In those early days they also played a handful of proms and sanctioned high school parties, probably warping hundreds of young Texans for decades to come. Opening Day: Houston Astros announce starting lineup, if roof is open.

Read porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawsuit against President Donald Trump.Houston Astros give up late lead in season-opening loss to White Sox.This Texas beach has one of the best views of this year's annular eclipse.Tacos y Más: Teotihuacan Mexican Cafe endures for two decades on Airline.Houston artist charged with a felony for repainting 'Be Someone' bridge.Tejano pop icon Selena Quintanilla celebrated in new Astros merchandise.It was the Knights of Columbus Hall and though I didn't meet any knights or royalty, there were a lot of cool people who came out to hear us play,' Hill wrote. The band turned in a raucous set last weekend at Super Bowl Live festivities in downtown Houston.īack in 2015 bassist Hill told via email that he had to borrow a pivotal piece of stage equipment to play the show. Houston fans will get to see ZZ Top back in action next month as the band is slated to play RodeoHouston on Tuesday, March 21 at NRG Stadium. Gibbons started the band in late 1969 and the pieces soon came together.įARRAH HAD IT: The hidden Houston connection to a classic R&B radio hit This would be the band’s first show together with their now-iconic lineup of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard installed. 90, a gig booked by Beaumont radio personality Al Caldwell of KLVI, who would later also broadcast the band's first recordings. And yes, that means the car is more than just a show piece.On this date in February 1970, ZZ Top played at a Knights of Columbus Hall on old U.S. Under the hood, you’ll find a So-Cal Speed Shop-built SBC 350ci V8 with a single four-barrel carburetor, tied to a Turbo 350 transmission for reliability sake. Other defining features of the car include a 3-inch chop, custom 3-piece hood built by Steve Davis, ’34 Ford headlights, classic ’39 Ford teardrop taillights, and of course, the iconic red paint scheme with custom “ZZ” graphics, designed by Kenny Youngblood. Having been inspired by The California Kid car, Gibbons brought on Pete Chapouris (the Pete of Pete & Jake’s) to do some consulting on the car, which was ultimately built by Don Thelen of Paramount, California’s Buffalo Motor Cars with a Pete & Jake’s custom chassis, complete with a dropped tube axle, 4-bar front suspension and a Ford 9-inch rearend underneath it. The build of Eliminator was originally inspired by the Pete and Jake’s coupe from the movie The California Kid and is a true steel 1933 Ford, not a fiberglass replica of the classic Ford model. So what makes the Eliminator so special? Well, aside from it’s legendary owner and resulting fame, the car offers several key “ingredients” of a note-worthy hot rod. But the reason you should know about the Eliminator coupe goes far beyond its international fame.Ī true hot rod enthusiast, Gibbons owns a number of amazing vehicles, but Eliminator was his first well-known and most famous hot rod to-date. Eliminator is also credited with inspiring two of ZZ Top’s albums, one of the same name as the car, Eliminator, which came out in 1983, and the follow-up album Afterburner, which was released in 1985.įeatured on two album covers and in three music videos, ZZ Top and frontman Billy Gibbons have certainly aided in making this custom '33 coupe famous. Yes, Eliminator is in fact nearly as famous as its owner, having been featured on two of ZZ Top’s album covers, appeared in a handful of the band’s music videos, toured the country alongside Gibbons, along with at least one clone said to have been commissioned by Gibbons just for appearance reasons, and appeared in pretty much every hot rod, street rod and custom magazine on the planet, not to mention dozens of TV shows, movies, and automotive productions over the year. As the story goes, Eliminator, a true steel car, was bought by Gibbons from the car’s original owner in Tucson, Arizona before being transformed into the iconic ZZ Top car.

Zz top members