Tush (ZZ Top song)

"Tush"
Single by ZZ Top
from the album Fandango!
B-side	"Blue Jean Blues"
Released	1975
Format	7"
Recorded	December 30, 1974 - March 23, 1975
Genre	Blues rock[1]
Length	2:15
Label	London Records
Writer(s)	Billy Gibbons Dusty Hill Frank Beard
Producer(s)	Bill Ham
ZZ Top singles chronology
"La Grange" (1973) "Tush" (1975) "It's Only Love" (1976)
Music sample "Tush"

"Tush" is a song by American blues rock band ZZ Top and was the only single from their fourth album Fandango!. The song was named the 67th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.^[2]

Composition

The song is a twelve-bar blues in the key of G. The recording was produced by Bill Ham, and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning. The title is a double entendre, referring both to slang for buttocks (with the connotation of "a piece of ass"), and slang for "luxurious" or "lavish", according to a 1985 interview with Dusty Hill in Spin magazine. The word "tush" is pronounced in the song in such a way that it rhymes with the word "rush," resulting in it sometimes being misheard as "touch."^[3]

It is one of four songs on Fandango! sung by Dusty Hill, the others being "Jailhouse Rock", "Balinese" and "Heard It on the X" (on which Hill and Billy Gibbons share lead vocals).

Chart performance

"Tush" peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100.

Other versions and covers

• In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1986, ZZ Top were backed by the show's in-house big band, led by bandleader Doc Severinsen, who wore a ZZ Top-style beard for the occasion, as did host Johnny Carson, who also donned matching ZZ Top-style sunglasses and hat.
• Iron Maiden have played it on some gigs off their The Beast on the Road, World Piece and World Slavery Tours in 1982, 1983 and 1984–85 (although it can only be found on bootlegs). They have played also an acoustic version, from which exists a video, which is filmed in the studio while the band was playing. This video appeared on the bonus DVD from their 2006 album A Matter of Life and Death.
• Girlschool recorded a cover for their 1981 album Hit and Run; a live version appeared on their 1986 release Race with the Devil.
• Nazareth performed a version of the song on the band's 1981 tour for their live album Snaz.
• Kenny Chesney released a country version of the song for the 2002 album Sharp Dressed Men: A Tribute to ZZ Top.
• Whitesnake performed a version of the song on their 1987/1988 tour with altered lyrics, entitled "Tits".
• Joan Jett performed a version of the song on her 1990 album The Hit List
• Wolf Mail recorded a version of the song on his 2011 album The Basement Session.
• Girl included the song on their posthumous 2001 album Live at the Exposition Hall, Osaka, Japan.
• Tygers of Pan Tang released and performed the song as cover in many albums, such as Live at Wacken in 2001.
• Dumpy's Rusty Nuts recorded a version of the song as part of their double live album Somewhere In England (1983).
• The Motörhead song "No Class" has a similar guitar riff.^[5]
• Robert Prince composed an albeit modified version for the 1992 PC game Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure.
• German Metal band Axel Rudi Pell performed a version of the song on the Magic Moments live album
• Gibbons performed the song at the 2016 ACM Awards alongside Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban. Lambert has also performed it on her tour.

Usage in popular culture

• The song was used in the films An Officer and a Gentleman, Dazed and Confused, Sgt. Bilko, The Perfect Storm, Ghost Rider and The Bucket List.
• The song was featured in the episodes "Calderone's Return (Part I)/The Hit List" from Miami Vice and "I.F.T." from Breaking Bad
• On the animated sitcom King of the Hill, the song appears twice in the episodes "Hankey Pankey" and where ZZ Top guest starred in "Hank Gets Dusted".
• It is heard in a 2016 TV commercial for Chili's restaurants.

Personnel

• Billy Gibbons - guitar
• Dusty Hill - bass, vocals
• Frank Beard - drums

References