Sunday, July 21, 2019

A Wicked But Not Supernatural Character


Song 469: This week the playlist focuses on El Diablo by ZZ Top, written by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. La Grange (Song 366) turned me into an instant ZZ Top fan, and a couple of years later, when Tejas came along, I thought it sounded even better than the trio's previous records. The LP became a regular spinner on my turntable, and I liked it so much that when the band came to Chicago a few months later, in February of 1977, I had to join the crowd for that show, and it remains one of my most memorable concert experiences. Having studied Spanish in HS, I knew that the title of this song meant The Devil, although the character sketched in the song lyrics, while malevolent, did not possess supernatural powers, The man with the tan who lived by the luck of the draw might have been high on the hog for a bit, but by verse 3 he was caught, he was bound, he was tried, he was found, he was readied for the noose, and then he bid his last farewell.

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