Arrested for Driving While Blind

Hey Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew has been spinning that ZZ Top cut "Arrested for Driving While Blind" off the Tejas album, and it is a pure Texas boogie with a sly wink that never fails to get the whole room nodding. The little ol' band from Texas cooked this one up as the second single from their 1976 record, and it only managed to scrape into the charts at number 91, yet it stuck around because the groove is so loose and the lyrics so full of that dry Texas humor. Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard all got writing credit, and the track rides that classic shuffle with Billy's stinging guitar licks riding right over Dusty's growl and Frank's solid backbeat. Record World even said the boogie rhythms and those guitar lines left no doubt the band was heading chartward again. It sits right there on Tejas, an album that came out while the Worldwide Texas Tour was still rolling, so the boys cut it between legs of the road. Billy later called the whole record transitional, not quite sure what they were leaving behind or heading toward, which fits the mellower country-tinged feel that had some critics scratching their heads while the faithful kept the volume up.

The song itself is pure fun with a cautionary edge. It talks about rolling down the highway feeling that Wild Turkey bite, warning not to give Johnnie Walker a ride because Jack Black is right there by your side, and you might just end up taken to the jailhouse and fined for driving while blind. Then it gets even more specific: just the other night with nothing to do they broke a case of proof 102, started itching for that wonderful feel of rolling in an automobile, and you could say they were out of their mind, flying while blind. By the time the cops have them up against the wall they are claiming it is only blood grain alcohol and there ain't no cause for alarm, they ain't out to do nobody no harm. How could anyone be so unkind to arrest a man for driving while blind? That is the punch line that always lands. Dusty Hill cleared the air years later in a 1985 Spin magazine interview, saying he was never DWI though he had come close and had a couple of wrecks. They wrote the song quite a while before and caught a little flak because some folks thought they were suggesting people should get drunk and go out and drive. Dusty said that was not it at all. Billy introduces it with "Don't get arrested for driving while blind." They were not saying don't drink, they were just doing a tune. Personally it scared the stuff out of him having a wreck; he was not completely whacked but his response time was not what it would be later. That is the real story behind the track, not some preachy sermon but a knowing nod from guys who had seen the edge of the road.

Tejas itself carries that same Texas spirit. The title is a Caddo language word that means friends, which is where the name of the state comes from. The cover shows that longhorn and the desert landscape, and the music mixes the usual hard blues with a bit more country flavor on cuts like It's Only Love and El Diablo. They produced it with Bill Ham and engineered it with Terry Manning, same team that had been with them. Fans still argue about the original 1976 mix versus the 1987 remix that changed the balance a bit, but either way the song holds up as one of the album's highlights, right there with the humor and the road stories that define the band. You can dig deeper into all of it over at the official site for ZZ Top, where the whole catalog sits including Tejas and the rest of the classics.

Now for how this whole thing got rolling in the first place. Billy Gibbons was a Houston kid who caught the bug early. He saw Elvis when he was about five and knew he wanted to play guitar. For his thirteenth birthday he got a Gibson Melody Maker and a Fender Champ, and that was the beginning. He played in local outfits like the Saints and the Coachmen, soaking up the blues from stations like KCOH and the wild psych of the 13th Floor Elevators. By the mid-sixties he formed the Moving Sidewalks, a psychedelic blues band that scored a local hit with 99th Floor and even opened for Jimi Hendrix. The Sidewalks put out one album called Flash before the draft and other changes pulled them apart. Billy wanted something more straight-ahead, so in late 1969 he hooked up with Dusty Hill on bass and Frank Beard on drums. Those two had been playing together in American Blues out of the Dallas area, a rival outfit on the same circuit. The name ZZ Top came from looking at posters and combining B.B. King and Z.Z. Hill, then deciding king is at the top so ZZ Top it was. Manager Bill Ham got them signed to London Records after an early single on a local label. Their first show together happened at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Beaumont on February 10, 1970. Legend has it there was only one person in the audience, so the boys took a break, bought him a Coke, and kept playing. That is how the little ol' band from Texas got started, grinding it out in teen clubs and dance halls until the records started connecting.

From there it was the first album in 1971, Rio Grande Mud the next year with the hit Francine, then the breakthrough Tres Hombres in 1973 and La Grange that put them on national radio. Fandango followed with Tush, and by the time Tejas arrived they were headlining arenas on that big Texas-shaped stage tour with the cactus, the longhorns and the whole works. The beards came later, after a break, but the sound was already locked in: blues, boogie, humor and that Texas pride. Dusty and Frank had their own road stories from the American Blues days, and Billy brought the guitar fire from the Sidewalks and the Hendrix influence. It all clicked because they shared the same love for the real stuff, the kind that keeps a room moving without any fuss. You can follow the ongoing story on their official Facebook at ZZ Top, the Instagram at ZZ Top, and the X account at ZZ Top. Fans gather in places like the ZZ Top Fans group and the ZZ TOP Special Edition community where the stories and the music keep circulating.

That is the tale behind the track the Zoo Crew is laying down for the Zoo Freaks. It is the same spirit that runs through everything we do over here at THE ZOO, keeping the deep cuts and the real rock history spinning free and clear. The song reminds you that the road can be wild, the whiskey can bite, but the music keeps the wheels turning with a grin. So turn it up, keep it between the lines in your own way, and enjoy the boogie the way those three Texas cats intended. The little ol' band still has that fire, and this cut from Tejas is a fine place to hear it burn.