Billy Gibbons has opened up on the time he proved he had cajones of steel when, while supporting Jimi Hendrix on tour, he played two of the electric guitar legend’s biggest hits in front of the man himself.
The bold play took place while Gibbons was submerged in psych rock sounds with his pre-ZZ Top band, Moving Sidewalks. Speaking on the Rock & Roll High School YouTube channel, Gibbons says he was “mystified” to have been offered the opportunity to support Hendrix across the States in the late 1960s.
The band had already weaved two Hendrix classics, Purple Haze and Foxy Ladyinto their live set, and as the terms and conditions of playing on the tour revealed themselves, Gibbons was forced to do the unthinkable.
“We thought about it and I said (to the band), ‘The promoter’s really fussing at us, he said he’s holding us to this 40 minutes of material.’ I said, ‘The only way we can play 40 minutes is if we include Purple Haze and Foxy Lady.’”
That left the band pondering, “Dare we play this in front of Hendrix?” But they were left with little choice: “Well, we want to get paid,” Gibbons had concluded. Little did he know, Hendrix himself would be watching on from the shadows.
“As we were rounding out our portion of the show, I kept noticing that there was a lone figure standing off to the side in the shadows of the stage,” he continues. “And as we wrapped it up, I remembered passing by, being spun around and this guy grabbed me by the shoulders, and smiling he said, ‘Man, I wanna meet you. You got a lot of nerve, I like that.’”
That moment sparked an endearing friendship between the two guitarists. After their shows, they’d hang out, listening to music together on a “piece of furniture” hi-fi system in Hendrix’s hotel room every night.
“I gotta tell you, we became fast friends,” Gibbons says. “His door was always open. Hendrix would signal me over and say, ‘Hey man, come check this out.’ We sat cross-legged aimed at the speakers and he was playing the first Jeff Beck Group album, Truthand Jeff Beck is peeling the sides off his Les Paul.”
Hendrix listened in awe and questioned how Beck managed to play the things he put on record. Gibbons had a sharp response for his new and virtuosic friend.
“I said, ‘Jimi, it would probably surprise you to know that Jeff Beck is probably listening to your record trying to figure out what you’re doing at the same time!’”
Gibbons would go on to form ZZ Top in 1969, citing the magic of Hendrix and Cream’s power trios as a reason for wanting one of his own. Elsewhere in the interview, he confirms new ZZ Top music is in the works, which will be the first since the passing of bass player Dusty Hill.
The band’s long-standing guitar tech, Elwood Francis, has since been sworn into the vacant spot. He’s made headlines for ripping part of the band’s set on a monstrous 17-string bass but has since pivoted to a more humble two-string after his joke backfired.
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