Rio Grande Mud

Rio Grande Mud is the second studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in 1972 by London label. The album title was inspired by the Rio Grande, the river that forms the border between Mexico and Texas.

Rio Grande Mud
Studio album by
ZZ Top
ReleasedApril 4, 1972 (1972-04-04)
RecordedSeptember 1971–January 1972 at Robin Hood Studios, Tyler, Texas
GenreTexas blues, hard rock, blues rock, boogie rock, southern rock
Length38:55
LabelLondon
ProducerBill Ham
ZZ Top chronology
ZZ Top's First Album
(1971)		 Rio Grande Mud
(1972)		 Tres Hombres
(1973)
Singles from Rio Grande Mud
  1. "Francine"
    Released: April 1972

Background

ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons said of the album:

It was the first record that brought us into step with the writing experience. We started documenting events as they happened to us on the road; all of these elements went into the songwriting notebook. As we went along, we were keeping track of skeleton ideas as they popped up. The craft was certainly developing.[1]

In 1987, the album was remixed for CD release. On January 11, 2011, Rhino released a remastered version from the original 1972 mix on vinyl only. This album was put up for download on Amazon's MP3 store and iTunes as a digital download in 2012, and features the original mixes of the tracks that are on Chrome, Smoke & BBQ, and the 1987 remixes of the tracks that are not from that box set. The original mix of the album was released on CD in June 2013 as part of the box set The Complete Studio Albums (1970-1990).[2]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideC[4]
Rolling StoneMixed[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
The Daily VaultA-[7]

AllMusic retrospectively gave the album 3.5 stars, stating: "With their second album, Rio Grande Mud, ZZ Top uses the sound they sketched out on their debut as a blueprint, yet they tweak it in slight but important ways."[3]

The album peaked at number 104 on the Billboard 200 in June 1972.[8]

Singles

The only single released from the album was "Francine" (b/w "Down Brownie") which peaked at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100.[9] Another 45 version was released with "Francine" appearing on both sides (side one with English vocals and side two with Spanish vocals). Various official ZZ Top releases throughout the years, beginning in 1972, have used the alternative spelling "Francene", especially on the various 45 releases both within and outside the United States.

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Francine"Billy Gibbons, Steve Perron, Kenny Cordray3:33
2."Just Got Paid"Gibbons, Bill Ham4:27
3."Mushmouth Shoutin'"Gibbons, Ham3:41
4."Ko Ko Blue"Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard4:56
5."Chevrolet"Gibbons3:47
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Apologies to Pearly (instrumental)"Gibbons, Hill, Beard, Ham2:39
2."Bar-B-Q"Gibbons, Ham3:34
3."Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell"Gibbons7:39
4."Whiskey'n Mama"Gibbons, Hill, Beard, Ham3:20
5."Down Brownie"Gibbons2:53
Total length:38:55

Personnel
ZZ Top
Additional personnel
  • Pete Tickle - acoustic guitar on "Mushmouth Shoutin'"
Production

Charts
Chart (1972/74) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 85
United States (Billboard 200) 104

References
  1. "Billy Gibbons talks ZZ Top: The Complete Studio Albums (1970-1990)".
  2. Gallucci, Michael. "New ZZ Top Box Will Include Original Mixes of First 10 Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  3. Rio Grande Mud at AllMusic
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: Z". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 9, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930235629/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/zztop/albums/album/240679/review/5944861/rio_grande_mud. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 22, 2007. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "ZZ Top". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 907–8. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. Thelen, Christopher (2019). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : Rio Grande Mud". dailyvault.com. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  8. "Billboard 200, The week of June 17 & June 24, 1972". Billboard.
  9. "The Hot 100, The week of July 8, 1972". Billboard.
  10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 348. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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