Elwood Francis | |
|---|---|
 Francis, 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | August 23, 1962 Lexington, Kentucky |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Guitar tech, bass player |
| Instrument(s) | Bass, vocals |
| Member of | ZZ Top |
Elwood Francis (born August 23, 1962) is an American guitar tech and bass player. He was the guitar tech for Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, and now plays bass for the group at the request of Hill before his death in 2021.
From Lexington, Kentucky, [1] he started playing guitars at age 13/14 after listening to Telstar by The Tornados. [2] His grandfather got him his first guitar. [2] He started working in guitar tech through Joe Perry. [2] His influences are Frank Zappa, Geordie Walker, Steve Jones, Bob Stinson, and Kenny Hillman. [2]
Francis performs in his own group, The Mighty Skullhead, a band he formed in the 1980s. [2]
Francis worked as guitar tech for ZZ Top before, at Dusty Hill's request, being hired to be their bass player in 2021, following Hill's death.
He is largely responsible for Dusty Hill quitting marijuana. At a hotel in Amsterdam, Dusty was smoking the drug, when Francis noticed a metal bar underneath one of the hotel windows. Francis jumped out of the window while holding onto the bar, something Hill could not see from his perspective, making it look like Elwood committed suicide. Hill apparently never smoked marijuana again after the incident. [3]
In July 2021, Dusty Hill had to drop out of a concert following a hip injury, and Francis was asked to fill in. A few days later, Hill died aged 72.
Francis was chosen by Hill to replace him on bass in the band, insisting that ZZ Top not break up following his death. [4] Elwood played his first show as an official member of ZZ Top on July 30, 2021 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. [5] In 2024, Francis spoke out and said that it still feels "weird" taking Dusty's place in the band, and doesn't consider himself a member of the band. [5] [6]
In 2022, Francis went viral for performing on stage with a seventeen stringed bass guitar, an instrument he found "late at night while internet surfing on one of those Chinese websites". [7] He sent it to Billy Gibbons and they soon ordered the bass from China. Francis has admitted that he hates playing the instrument as it's hard to play and he struggles finding the frets on the bass' neck. [7]
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For 51 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound based on Gibbons' blues style and Hill and Beard's rhythm section. They are known for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances of Gibbons and Hill, who wore sunglasses, hats and long beards.
Degüello is the sixth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in November 1979. It was the first ZZ Top release on Warner Bros. Records and eventually went platinum. It was produced by Bill Ham, recorded and mixed by Terry Manning, and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
El Loco is the seventh studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1981. It foreshadowed the band's extensive usage of synthesizers on Eliminator, Afterburner, and to a lesser extent, Recycler, by way of employing a synthesizer on a couple tracks, played by an uncredited Linden Hudson.
Mescalero is the fourteenth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in September 2003, as the band's final release for RCA Records. While the band still retained their foundation in blues rock, Mescalero explored genres like country and Tejano. Recording sessions took place at Foam Box Recordings in Houston, with Billy Gibbons as producer.
XXX is the thirteenth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in September 1999. The album's title commemorates the band's 30th anniversary.
Eliminator is the eighth studio album by American rock band ZZ Top. It was released on March 23, 1983, by Warner Bros. Records, and rose high on the charts in many countries. Four hit singles were released—"Gimme All Your Lovin'" which reached the American Top 40, "Sharp Dressed Man", "TV Dinners" and their most successful single, "Legs". Eliminator is ZZ Top's most commercially successful release, with sales of 11 million and diamond certification in the US.
William Frederick Gibbons is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist and primary vocalist of ZZ Top. He began his career in Moving Sidewalks, who recorded Flash (1969) and opened four dates for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Gibbons formed ZZ Top in late 1969 and released ZZ Top's First Album in early 1971. He has also maintained a solo career in recent years, starting with his first album Perfectamundo (2015).
One Foot in the Blues is a compilation album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1994. The album contains a selection of the band's songs which fall into the blues genre. With the exception of the songs taken from the Degüello, El Loco, Eliminator and Recycler albums, the 1987 digital remixes were used.
Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang backing and lead vocals and played keyboards.
"Cheap Sunglasses" is a 1979 single by ZZ Top from their 1979 studio album Degüello.
"Sharp Dressed Man" is a song by American rock band ZZ Top, released on their 1983 album Eliminator. The song was produced by band manager Bill Ham, and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning. Pre-production recording engineer Linden Hudson was very involved in the early stages of this song's production.
"Legs" is a song by the band ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator. The song was released as the fourth single in May 1984 more than a year after the album came out. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and the dance mix version of the song peaked at number 13 on the dance charts.
"TV Dinners" is a song by American band ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator. It was produced by band manager Bill Ham, and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning. The song is a simple, beat-driven and tongue-in-cheek tune with lyrics about pre-packaged, oven-ready meals. Promoted for radio play in the US, and released commercially as a single in the UK, it reached number 38 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. Robert Palmer recorded "TV Dinners" for his 2003 album Drive.
"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.
"Got Me Under Pressure" is a song by ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator.
"Rough Boy" is a song by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in the US in March 1986, as the third single from their ninth studio album, Afterburner. The song reached No. 5 on the Album Rock Tracks chart and No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. Unlike the other songs on the album, this song has a much slower tempo and is more of a power ballad. It also shares a similar tune to their song "Leila", from their seventh studio album, El Loco.
"Doubleback" is a song by ZZ Top from the 1990 album Recycler. It was released as the album's lead single, and was also featured in the film Back to the Future Part III (1990).
"Leila" is a song by American rock band ZZ Top, from their 1981 album El Loco.
Fandango! is the fourth album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1975. The album's first side consists of selections from live shows, with the second side being new studio recordings. A remastered and expanded edition of this album was released on February 28, 2006.
The Tonnage Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band ZZ Top in support of their 2016 live album Live! Greatest Hits from Around the World. The tour consisted of six legs that alternated between indoor and outdoor shows in the US, along with arenas and festivals in Europe. Much like their recent tours, the Tonnage Tour featured a stripped-down, intimate stage design. The band played a mixture of older and newer material during their set, which included songs from their latest studio album La Futura (2012).
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