Audience 8.6 - What this old tape delivers in terms of sonic clarity and atmosphere for such a vintage ZZ Top performance has to rank it at the top of the list of must-haves for ANY collector of this band’s music. Yes, it is nothing short of a revelation, uncovering a lot of the muck, dirt, mud and distortion that most, if not all, of the early and mid ‘70’s bootlegs seem to have present. That is not to say this tape is “excellent” or even “great” as far as how it would be measured in a laboratory, but the lab is your own ear, and your mental tape measure for previous examinations of early Top.  What I am saying is, this tape allows you to hear not just Billy’s immense tone, but also the notes played on bass, and they are separate just enough to let you get a bona fide realistic feel for what this concert sounded like – you can sense position, size (of venue), PA, crowd, pretty much all of the elements of a gig in a VERY reasonably well documented way by taper. Some hiccups, nothing major or too distracting and thankfully brief, and some between song hollering near the mic but music comes through without much frustration and man, that tone!  Oh, and it must have been a really good night for the guys, they are playing fluidly and in high spirits. Kudos to whoever remastered this gem, or I should say whoever remastered this tape created a real gem. ZZ Top Overton Park Shell, Memphis, Tennessee (Memphis Country Blues Festival) 1971-04-25 Disc 1 1) Every Day I Have The Blues 2) Somebody Else Been Shaking Your Tree 3) Neighbor Neighbor 4) Just Got Back From Baby's 5) Whiskey 'N' Mama 6) Rattlesnake Shake 7) Goin' Down To Mexico Disc 2 8) Instrumental Improvisation 9) Memphis Blues 10) Little Queenie 11) It's My Time 12) Drums & Bass Solo 13) Brown Sugar 14) Jailhouse Rock

Audience 8.4 - Another one of those audience recordings that, while being listenable and clear, does not have a great separation of instruments or vocal clarity. That being said, this recording is certainly worth having, because it’s not a pile of muddy crap – it’s very listenable. Features a packed set list too. ZZ Top Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, NY March 8, 1977 Band line-up Billy Gibbons - guitar, vocals Dusty Hill - bass, vocals Frank Beard - drums, percussion Total Time = 01:28:56 Disc One 01 Thunderbird 02 Chevrolet 03 Precious & Grace 04 Waitin' On The Bus 05 Jesus Just Left Chicago 06 Enjoy & Get It On 07 Pan Am Highway Blues 08 It's Only Love 09 Ten Dollar Man 10 Movin' On Down The Line 11 Heard It On The X 12 Balinese 13 Arrested For Driving While Blind 14 Nasty Dogs & Funky Kings Disc Two 15 She's A Heartbreaker 16 Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers 17 Blue Jean Blues 18 Rattlesnake Shake 19 La Grange 20 Mexican Blackbird 21 Backdoor Love Affair 22 Tush 23 Goin' Down To Mexico 24 Mellow Down Easy