A while ago, I heard one of my favorite Cleveland-area bands would soon be no more … three of the four members were setting aside their ’80s-themed band in favor of CC Top, a ZZ Top tribute band. My heart sank when I heard the news, because I really liked Moonman TV, and I was not a big fan of the boogie-woogie and blues rock band from Houston, Texas: ZZ Top. Oh, well. However, I was in for a pleasant surprise when I attended CC Top’s show in Mansfield Saturday night with friends Kenny Hart and Dawn Hott (Wendi was tired and needed some much-needed down time).
I first saw and met the members of MoonmanTV at Kenny’s birthday party, which you can read about here. Drummer/vocalist Chuck Schilling came up with the idea for the band, and two of the other three members were guitarist/vocalist Denny Davis and bassist/vocalist Steve Kovacs. These three now perform as CC Top. I was never a big fan of ZZ Top. I like their earlier stuff better than the pop-ish tunes they were turning out in the 1980s. So, when Kenny asked if Wendi and I were interested, I was not very interested in listening to ZZ Top music. What I was interested in, though, is supporting friends Chuck, Denny and Steve. So, I went.
Turns out I enjoyed the music of ZZ Top more than I thought I did. It was a veritable greatest hits compilation of ZZ Top’s catalog. There was even a song I knew, but didn’t know it was a ZZ Top song: I Heard it on The X. I really did not expect much heading over to the Corner Stone in Mansfield. I knew it would be good to spend time with Kenny, Dawn and the band members, and I was OK with that — relationships are more important. Still, I had a great time.
As 9 o’clock rolled around, Denny and Steve donned some western-style shirts. Denny put on a fake beard to help him resemble Billy Gibbons, ZZ Top’s guitarist. Steve had been growing his beard out for the past nine months, so he didn’t have to affix a beard to his face to resemble Dusty Hill, ZZ Top’s bassist. Ironically, Chuck just wore a T-shirt for his role as ZZ Top’s drummer, Frank Beard, the only one in the band without a beard.
CC Top opened the first of three sets with “Under Pressure.” Right from the opening riff (I knew Chuck started the song hitting the cymbals, but it was Denny’s guitar that signaled this was ZZ Top), CC Top sounded great. I was only going to shoot video for the first three songs, but ended up shooting video for most of the first two sets that focused on the music of the legendary group that was formed in 1969 in Houston. Their third set, which we did not see, featured classic rock hits.
I was absolutely taken away by how good they are and how much I enjoyed the show. I had told Kenny and Dawn I was not much of a ZZ Top fan, but I looked to Kenny, flashed the thumbs-up sign and told him, “They are amazing.” For those of you who are thinking, well, what else am I going to say about my friends. The answer is simple: I would not be writing a blog post about them. I would have posted some photos and videos to Facebook and called it a day.
They were so good, I wanted to capture as much video of them as I could for their archives. Many of the songs, I just recorded about a minute or so of footage just in case I wanted to do a video montage of the songs.
Steve, Chuck and Denny sat with us before the show and between the first and second sets. We had a chance to talk a little about how they have been getting ready and what it was like switching from a format of playing songs from MTV’s first decade to performing the songs of ZZ Top. And, Kenny asked how they got the fuzzy guitar and bass.
Chuck came up with the idea of Moonman TV. The band would play the songs from MTV with the original videos playing on TV screens behind them. It was a really great concept for the band, but it became cumbersome having to lug around the extra equipment to support the TV screens. Even though it was his idea, Chuck said it was time to set Moonman TV aside. He had to drum on every song to a click track — he had a “metronome” in his ear so he could make sure the band was right on time with the video.
They decided to form CC Top, and they hope, as the band establishes itself, to be playing more bike nights and motorcycle-related events. For months, CC Top has been practicing and rehearsing in a basement. Their Mansfield gig was only the second time they have performed as CC Top, but you would never have known it. These three are veterans of the Cleveland music scene, having performed in a number of other bands. They are no strangers to performing live and in front of crowds, but if this is how good they are after show No. 2, I can’t wait to see how well they do after show No. 100.
While Steve wasn’t quite ready to step away from Moonman TV, he said he is happy with how CC Top has progressed. He was the one who replicated ZZ Top’s fuzzy guitars that were featured in the band’s Legs video. Dean Zelinsky built the original “fuzzy” guitar and bass, using sheepskin Billy Gibbons acquired in Scotland. After Steve and Denny purchased the Dean guitar and bass, Steve went to find a suitable material to recreate the iconic instruments. He found the material at a Joann Fabrics, and cut out and affixed the material to the guitar and bass.
Thanks, Steve, Denny and Chuck for a wonderful evening of music. Best of luck to you. If you might be interested in booking CC Top for one of your events, check them out online.