Fandango!
Released April 18, 1975
Recorded April 12, 1974 (tracks 1-3) December 30, 1974 – March 23, 1975
Genre Texas blues, southern rock, boogie rock, blues rock, hard rock
Length 33:20
Label London
Producer Bill Ham
Fandango! is the fourth album by the American blues rock band ZZ Top, released in 1975. Half the tracks are selections from live shows, the rest are new songs from the studio. A remastered and expanded edition of this album was released on February 28, 2006.
Fandango, from which the album gets its name, is a type of dance similar to flamenco.
In the late 1980s a digitally remixed version of the recording was released on CD and the original 1975 mix version was discontinued. The remix version created controversy among fans because it significantly changed the sound of the instruments, especially drums. The remix version was used on all early CD copies and was the only version available for over 20 years. A remastered and expanded edition of the album was released on February 28, 2006, containing three bonus live tracks. The 2006 edition is the first CD version to use Terry Manning’s original 1975 mix. The album was re-released in 2009 on 180 gram vinyl using the original master tapes. It appears exactly the same except that it had a 180 gram vinyl LP sticker, by Back to Vinyl records.
Track listing
All songs by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard except where noted.
Side A
“Thunderbird” (Live) – 4:08
“Jailhouse Rock” (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) (Live at The Warehouse, New Orleans) – 1:57
“Backdoor Medley” (Live) – 9:25
“Backdoor Love Affair” (Gibbons, Bill Ham) – 1:10
“Mellow Down Easy” (Willie Dixon) – 3:39
“Backdoor Love Affair No. 2” (Gibbons) – 2:05
“Long Distance Boogie” (John Lee Hooker) – 2:32
Side B
“Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings” – 2:42
“Blue Jean Blues” – 4:43
“Balinese” – 2:39
“Mexican Blackbird” – 3:07
“Heard it on the X” – 2:24
“Tush” – 2:15
2006 remastered version bonus tracks
“Heard it on the X” (Live)
“Jailhouse Rock” (Live) (Leiber, Stoller)
“Tush” (Live)
Tracks 1-3 (side A of the original LP) were recorded live at The Warehouse in New Orleans on April 12 1974, “captured as it came down-hot, spontaneous and presented to you honestly, without the assistance of studio gimmicks”. Tracks 4-9 (side B) were new studio recordings.
Tracks 10-12 (of the expanded 2006 version) were recorded live at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on August 30, 1980.