My ZZ-TOP Story

I often talk about “risks” and “rewards” and how nothing great comes without some risk. I have spoken about huge risks, little risks and explained how the emotional rewards have been so amazing. I want to tell you about a story where I took a risk to get a personal reward, and knew that was what the risk was when I took it.

You know, sometimes a fence is just too appealing NOT to climb it… Sometimes, even when you think you might get in trouble, you have to ask yourself “is the possible reward worth the risk I am about to take?” and if it is, get to climbing Because you never know if the pastures on the other side are going to be greener unless you actually step off in them.

When I was younger, about 15-16 years old, I dated a girl and she was a HUGE ZZ-Top fan. Every time we would get in the car, she would have a ZZ-Top tape in (yeah, cassette tapes…I know, hard to remember back that far!) of ZZ-Top and I quickly became a fan.

In the 80’s, it was a fun thing to go and camp out for concert tickets in front of “Independent Records” to get prime seats for the show. Polly and I decided that we wanted to get great tickets to go see ZZ-Top and they were coming to McNichols Arena. This was in 1986 or maybe in 1985…It was a loooong time ago anyway!

It was a great night! There was a line when we got there before sunset but we were third in line. We gathered our blankets and cooler and sat down with the small crowd.

As the night went on, the crowd grew and before long, there were probably 30 people in line. Then the party started! We were drinking, smoking, and just having a great time. We stayed all night, slept in shifts in the car and even had some friends that came by for the party throughout the night.

The doors opened the next morning at 8:00am, line was now as long as you could see, we were hung over, worn out, and smelling like we had been sleeping on the streets for a week. We went into the store and were able to  get 5^th row, center stage tickets to see ZZ-Top! I was thrilled.

Back in those days, the parties in the parking lots were just as fun as the shows. It was basically a “tailgating” party for a rock and roll show. We had spiked watermelons, lots of booze, drugs were everywhere…it was the 80’s man…Full swing!

We went to the show, had a great time, and had memories that would last forever. Now I was REALLY a fan…I had all the albums and was a die hard ZZ-Top fan now for sure…T-shirts, posters, stickers…all of it…If it was ZZ-Top, for about three years, I had it!

Time passed, I moved to Texas, became a Deputy Sheriff, Polly and I had been divorced for a while, I did my tour in the jail and while in the jail, I met and started dating Donna. Donna had never been to a “rock and roll” concert and had only ever been to one or two other concerts and they were all Country artists.  ZZ-Top was coming to Houston on their “Antenna Tour” and I wanted to take Donna to see this amazing band and re-connect with my old high school rock and roll music. I was, even at that time, still a fan and listened to ZZ-Top all the time.

I was able to buy scalped tickets, took Donna to the show, and we had a ball. We had really great tickets, right off the side of the stage, and Donna loved it. “Jackyl” opened for the band and it was a really great show. Donna was thrilled and we both had an amazing time.

A few years later, I was assigned to patrol. When I advanced to the mainland, and then advanced to a full time patrol man with a district, I was assigned to the Bayshore. Along Bayshore Drive, there was a huge home. It took all the property from the waterfront up to the roadway…it was 5 or maybe 10 acres of land. It was surrounded by a fence and had a huge security gate at the entrance. I had no idea who the owner was and then one night Kenneth told me it was Dusty Hill’s vacation home. Dusty Hill is the bassist and back up guitarist for ZZ-Top. From that moment on, I made regular passes by the house to see if I could spot ole Dusty outside…I just wanted a glimpse of my old rock and roll hero!

There were a few guys on patrol (Kenneth included) who had met Dusty and the stories were always about how nice he was, how much he loved the police, how friendly he was…etc…

Now, the house you see is Dusty’s home but it isn’t the house that has always been there. I cant remember which tropical storm it was but it messed the old house up so he tore down the old one and built this one.

The other house was a large wood-framed house, wood siding, weather beaten, but was still a huge home and was really nice… It had to be a 2-3 million dollar home at that time. Waterfront, long lighted fishing pier, nice barn out front, cobblestone drive way with sculptures and a fountain, and it had a drive up driveway that circled by the front door. White picket, cross fenced property…Like I said, it was nice!

Well being such a huge fan, I started to consider my options…

“Hmmmmm, let me think…if I drive up to the house and just knock on the door and tell him I am a huge fan, what’s the worst that can happen?? He would get upset for the bother, call, complain, and I would get “written up” by my supervisors… Is it worth it?”

Yes, it was!!

So, I decided one night, around Christmas, 1998 (I think it was) while patrolling San Leon that I would take a risk. This fence was to appealing not to give it a shot!

I pulled up to the house and rang the bell at the gate. A voice came and asked…

“Can I help you?”

 I identified myself and asked if I could have just a second of his time. The voice said…

“Do you want to come in?

And I responded…

“Please, if I could have just a minute of your time…”

I had this whole elaborate BS story I was going to use in regards to the security system, there were people getting burglarized in the area (which really is never a lie in the San Leon area)  and was ready to unveil it as the gates opened.

When I drove in, I pulled into the circular driveway and up to the front door of the house. As I did, this short little guy with a long beard, wearing red sweat pants and a red sweat shirt, wearing glasses on the end of his nose came out to greet me...It was Dusty Hill but man, it looked like Santa Clause...LOL!!

Oh man, knots in my stomach…Contain the overwhelming joy and smile on my face…Here he was, Dusty Hill… The one and only!! Walking up to greet me at my patrol car!!

I stepped out of the car and he eagerly approached me and shook my hand. I couldn’t lie to him and figured I would take the heat of the complaint and said....

"Hello Dusty... My Name is Brad and I hate to bother you but I am a HUGE fan...Long time fan from the "Groovy Little Hippy Pad" era and I just wanted to shake your hand. If I have intruded, I apologize"Dusty shook my hand, smiled at me and said…

”Man, I appreciate that. Good to meet you. Groovy Little Hippy Pad days huh? Man I wrote that song a long time ago about a place I used to live in...That’s a great old tune. You don’t hear many people talk about that one. Would you like to come in?"

Come in?? Oh my God!! Come into his home?? Actually get to be inside his house with him?? I never even imagined that! I was sure I would get brushed off and politely asked to leave or something of that nature but never even thought about going inside the house!

Man, I was so thrilled.... I walked into his house, it was dark and the house was dimly lit. I followed him into his kitchen and as I walked in looked around at all the cool art on the walls, sculptures and statues, the rugs on the floor…It was a BEAUTIFUL home and I was amazed this was simply a “summer home.”

When we walked into the kitchen, there was a beautiful woman at the sink finishing up some dishes. I walked into the kitchen and he introduced me to her and said…

“This is my fiancé, "Chuck"”

 She greeted me and smiled and she was really a pleasant woman too…

“Hi, what’s your name again?”

And I almost tripped over my tongue I was so nervous…

“Uh, Brad…Brad Golden!”

If you ever saw the Antenna Tour or seen videos of them on stage and on the sides of the stage were white screens with a woman dancing behind it and all you could see was their shadow, well Chuck explained to me how she was one of those girls.

Well, there I was, standing with Dusty Hill, in his kitchen with his fiancé and we just started with a casual conversation…

“So, you work for the Sheriffs Department huh?”

“Yes sir, been here since 1992 am new to this area and heard this was your house. I am sorry to be intrusive, but I just had to try and meet you.”

I was overwhelmed…I couldn’t believe I was standing right here with one of my rock and roll idols and having casually chit chat.

I explained to him the extent of the fan I was, told him about the shows I had attended, all of the memorabilia I owned and thanked him for taking the time to meet e and have me in his house. I even told him that if this was intrusive, I would leave. He assured me that it was fine and started to talk more…

An old fan huh? That great man, I remember that show in Denver… That arena always had great sound and we always had a great crowd there.”

McNichols arena is no longer in existence….It seems as time passes, all that is really left is memories!

Then he went on and started to tell me stories shows passed and I was simply in heaven. I was like a kid hearing the story of sleeping beauty for the first time…Mesmerized by hearing him speak…I was speechless! And this is not a common thing for me!

After talking to me for about 20 minutes he said…

“Hey man, you want to see the house?”

Are you kidding??!! Of course I do…I want to stay here forever!! Was what was going though my mind!

He walked me down this small hallway out of the kitchen, behind the master staircase and it was lined with gold records from the many albums they had that had reached that level of excellence. I slowed by each one and took it in….Man, I could not believe this was actually happening…I almost pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. He would stop, explain each album, ask me… “You know that one?”

I looked at him with a silly smile and nodded. I knew every one of them…I OWNED every one of them!

  As we walked through the hallway, we took a sharp right turn, and now we were in a game room. There were a couple of ZZ-Top pinball machines, some video games, lots of neon lights…I had been to plenty of game rooms in my days but this one was the ultimate arcade man. He had pictures on the walls of him and Stevie ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy, BB King, Ozzy…. If it was a musical legend, he was in a picture with them…Again, I eased slowly through the room looking at every picture.

As I would stop in front of each one he would say something…

“You know who Buddy Guy is, man, he is amazing huh?” Guess you are a “little Stevie” fan huh?” “Ozzy, man, that’s a wild one there” and on and on!! I was hearing little short stories about personal experiences of him with all of these legends…Could this get any better!!??

I am such a Stevie Ray Vaughn fan and I had to tell him about it…

“Man, talk about gone too soon! I sure wish I could have seen him play! I never got the chance…as a matter of fact, I wasn’t even a fan back in those days.”

Dusty went on...

"Oh yeah, little Stevie.... Man, we (The band) have known the Vaughn’s since we were kids. Me, Billy and Jimmy would all sit in Jimmy’s room and play music. Little Stevie used to whine and cry and go tell their mom how we wouldn’t let him play with us. She would come up and yell at us and make us play with Stevie. We called him Little Stevie cuz he was such a little pain in our ass. As we grew up and became amazing…We would have NEVR thought that! I remember the day Stevie got sober...."

I turned to look at him and intently listen to the story…This was so surreal! Dusty went on…

"We were in Germany at a show and Little Stevie showed up. Man, he was so loaded he could hardly walk. He wanted to come on stage with us and play but he was way too loaded to perform so we asked him to stay in the green room until the show was over.  Told him to go party it up and we would meet him after the show. When the show was over, we all went back to the greenroom, Stevie was all torn up and we all just started partying. A little while later, party rockin’, people everywhere, and the door flew open. It was Stevie’s Mom. She didn’t even say anything to us… She went right for Stevie. She had heard how bad he was and flew to Germany because she heard he was there and when she saw Stevie, she literally went in and grabbed him by the ear and took him out of the party, seriously,  dragging him by the ear! The way I heard it was, she drug him all the way to the airport, got him on a plane and took him to re-hab... That’s when he got sober."

Now, I don’t know if that is how it unfolded but I remember him telling me that story like it was yesterday. I was hearing first hand accounts of the Legend Stevie Ray Vaughn and how he got sober.

Well, he took me around the rest of the first floor of the house chatting with me and telling me stories about shows in cities, events, things like that. Chuck had joined us and we just hung out for like 2 hours.

He also took me to his garage. It was run down, full of stuff, dimly lit and inside it was a chopped 49, pink, Ford hotrod that he stored there...it was awesome! This isn’t the one from the videos, but it was amazing. Chopped, lowered, smoked black windows, chrome tipped exhaust…What a sweet ride man! He explained to me the work done on it and I complimented every inch of that car…It was quite the hotrod man!

He took me out to his pier… It was a long pier, lighted and had benches at the end of it. When we got out to the end, he said…

"Man, do you know how to catch these fish...I never have any luck"

I pointed North about four piers and explained to him that the pier was a friends and I had fished it many nights; drinking beer, having fun and had caught a busload of fish off that pier!

We talked about that for a bit I looked at my watch, realized the time and couldn’t believe we had been chatting for 2 hours. I figured I  didn’t want to wear out my welcome and told him I was going to take off.

He said…

“Oh, OK man; let me walk you to the car”

When we got to the car, I thanked him graciously for his time and told him how much of a treat it was to meet him. As I shook his hand and started to leave, he said…

"Why don’t you come by tomorrow and I will get you an autograph?"

I was stunned!! I couldn’t believe it!! He was inviting me back to his house!!

I told him…

Oh man Dusty, that isnt necessary...I was simply honored enough to meet you man.”

He insisted and told me to stop by in the afternoon the next day. I asked if I could bring my wife and he said…

 "Sure, of course!"

I got home and told Donna about what had taken place and I was like a little kid…Giggling at his stories, how he looked like Santa Claus, amazed about the stories of Stevie and the other legends…I couldn’t shut up now!

So, the next day, Donna and I went out to the house and Chuck met us at the door. Dusty was on a phone interview but waved us in the house. Chuck was cordial and smiling and offered us a drink and we sat down. She explained he would be a few and then looked at me and said …

Oh Brad, Dusty has a special treat for you!”

There was no way anything could be better but I was just n the edge of my seat!

Dusty came in met Donna, and gave me a picture of him and the band. He signed it with my name and then handed me something... He said...

"So, the show you took your wife too (and he looked over at Donna)...That had to be the antenna tour huh?"

I smiled and said…

 “yes, yes it was as a matter of fact...

"Well, I collect shit...A lot of shit...I keep warehouses full of old concert memorabilia. Seriously man, warehouses…I need to quit being such a pack rat! Here is a pick I used on the Antenna tour"

And he handed it to me... It had the logo for the antenna tour on it and it was a bit worn.

He said…

 "It really is one from the tour, I swear…I actually used it on the tour man...I thought you might like to have it."

Man, I was floored and sooooo thankful. Donna and I were like little school kids. You would have thought he handed us a gold brick. As a matter of fact, I probably would have taken the pick over a gold brick!

He said…

 "Hey, I got to go out to the barn and check on something...Want to come out and see it?"

Like I was gunna say no.....

Well, we walk out to the barn (again, its gone now, the new barn has replaced it..). It was a typical little red barn, covered with a horse stall attached outside. We walked in and inside it wasnt really a barn, it was a cool “man cave.” It was open, had a bar and a loft. It had a jukebox and a small dance floor and I noticed a picture over the bar that I recognized. It was the picture of them all off of one of their first albums...I pointed out the picture with amazement and said…

“Hey Dusty…”

Dusty said…

"Yep, that’s the picture alright" and I said…

 "THE picture?" and he stated…

 "Yep, that’s the one"

And again, I was like a little kid. This was the original picture from the album One Foot in the Blues. It was here, hanging in this barn, in San Leon Texas…Whooda thunk it!?

He asked me if I liked motorcycles and I told him I was a huge MC buff.  He said…

"Well then, you gotta see this"

He took me to a room in the barn. Now this was just about the time that Jesse James style choppers were hitting the scene...maybe a little before that... He opened up a door and there was this HOG...Man, this absolute piece of artwork motorcycle... HUGE raked out chopper.  It had to have been a 60k bike; maybe more. I said…

"Dusty, man, how can you keep that bike down here in this salt air; its going to rust away; are you crazy man?!"

He said…

"Man, I don’t ride that damn thing...Its way too fast for me. It was a gift. I don’t know what else to do with it." and he laughed.

“Shoot, give it to me, I wont let it rust!!” I was thinking!

 We chatted about every day stuff, fishing, his daughter, his home in Houston. He told me stories about Billy Gibbons and his collection of guitars (Billy is the lead guitarist and a true guitar legend). He told me about Frank Beard (The drummer) and how he was going to “Blow all his money on classic cars” and how he had them stored allover the country….Just a great time again with Dusty!

Well again, we didn’t want to abuse the kindness he had offered and told him thanks for the autograph and the pick and again told him we were such huge fans and we appreciated his time. As we walked off, Dusty pointed to his vehicle and he said…

"Well Brad, anytime you see that parked here, I am home. Come by and have a cup of coffee of a cocktail. It’s been nice meeting you both."

I said…

“Man Dusty, I just can’t thank you enough. Next time, I will come bearing gifts and bring you a case of Budweiser (I had read somewhere that he was a huge Budweiser drinker)”

And he said…

“Oh man, don’t bother…I don’t drink beer!”

I explained that I had read different, and he explained…

“Brad, don’t believe all you read or hear. There is so much bullshit out there about me. I hate beer…I like Crown Royal! I get so tired of the crap people say. Some girl will come back stage and want a picture, I will be nice and take it with her and just as the click the camera, she will lift her top and show her tits… I hate that man!! I don’t sign women’s boobs and I don’t like being portrayed as some wild rock star…You see how I live, this is who I am…Just remember that!”

I told him that I would always keep that in mind and the next time I stopped by, Crown Royal is what it would be!

We left and I stopped by a couple of times after that. Brought him his Crown Royal I promised, had a drink or two, casually visited and walked the property…We became kinda “casual friends” I guess.

After the storm messed up his house and when he was breaking ground on the new one... I stopped by to chat with him and check out the damage. He told me how he was going to build a plantation style home, tear everything down and start over…The picture you see is the one he built.

He was always really friendly and really down to earth. It’s an experience I will treasure forever. I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with him and Chuck.

I saw a few years ago in some rock and roll magazine, or People, or some rag, that he and Chuck got married. I haven’t seen Dusty since 2000/2001 probably but I was honored to meet him and listen to all the cool old stories he told me about his tours, the crazies, the whacko fans (yes, me included!!).

This is what I mean, sometimes we get scared. A fence just seems to risky to climb. But if I would have answered to that fear, I would have never had these experiences. Life is what you make it…Make it amazing! Take risks, weigh the consequences and then get to climbing man!! You will never know the greatness that awaits you unless you pursue it. Always chase your dreams; don’t let anyone try to diminish what you see as spectacular.

Are there many people out there who would say that this was stupid, or they wouldn’t have chosen that, they wouldn’t see it as important…Well, that great, that why you haven’t had that experience… And maybe this isn’t an experience that you would want. However, there IS an experience out there you do want to have, and its up to you to create it!!

“Life is not a process of discovery; life is a process of creation”

~Neale Donald Walsh~

Below is a frame I had done to put the picture and the pick in...I have it hanging in my hallway of my house along with some other autographs I have gotten...I think his spurred me off on collecting them.