r/ClassicRock

From Consequence of Sound:

A statement from the band’s publicist reads, in part, “It was announced today that Frank Beard, ZZ Top’s drummer for the past 56 years, has died. He was in hospice care when he passed away at his ranch in Richmond, TX with family members at his side. Beard, together with guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill were one of music’s most enduring line-ups continuing until 2021 when Hill’s passing saw Elwood Francis join the band, who have continued to tour throughout North America, Europe and South America to this day.”

Beard, known as the one ZZ Top member without a beard, was the galvanizing force for the little band from Texas that formed in 1969 in Houston. The drummer, along with singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill, made up the classic lineup that would record and tour together for 50 years until Hill’s death in 2021.

Beard’s steady beat was an integral part of the band’s vitality, but it was his self-realized sobriety that played a crucial part in the trio’s longevity and their 1980s success.

1949-2026

Capitol Records

12" gatefold x2. One silver, one grey. 1976 Swan Song. Standout tracks, Live For The Music, Run With The Pack.

I grew up seeing this in her art school portfolio and asked for her to frame it for me many years later when she managed a frame shop. I grew up obsessed with the Beatles starting at 6 years old and later learned about the rest from her too. Hope her work from when she was 16 is appreciated here.

Up until a few months ago, I would have told you I knew the Rolling Stones. I’ve lived with them for 50+ years.

I know all the radio hits. I own Hot Rocks, Some Girls, Emotional Rescue, Tattoo You and Undercover. I certainly never thought of myself as someone who needed an introduction to the Stones.

A few months ago, I started listening to their albums chronologically.

The same thing has happened with several artists I've been going through chronologically at the same time. Greatest hits collections and classic rock radio gave me a very strong sense of what these bands sounded like. A surprisingly narrow one, as it turns out.

Albums I had always thought of mainly as vehicles for two or three hits are starting to make much more sense as complete records.

This is happening because I've gotten myself into a yearlong project: 29 classic rock artists, 329 albums, every album listened to three times, chronologically.

I'm about a third of the way through now, and the results are already quite different from the list I would have made before I started. I've been documenting the whole thing as it unfolds because I'm increasingly curious where this is going to end.

But one of the biggest surprises so far has nothing to do with rankings. It’s realizing how much greatest hits albums and classic rock radio edited these bands for me.