ZZ Top team up with Rick Rubin

There's so many artists out there who've lost their way. They've gone from cocky young gun slingers to doddering mummified no-marks who still shift records on their hauling ass. It's obvious that, in most cases, the older a musician gets, the less you can trust 'em. However, since the rebirth of Mr J. Cash, with the help of Rick Rubin (rock 'n' roll's very own Help The Aged charity), it seems there's a way out. Quite why these bands feel that they need Rubin's nod is another matter... man... jus' have the balls to do it yourself shooly?

Anyway, Rubin has now teamed up with ZZ Top after his Cash and Neil Diamond collabs, and he's lookin' to take them back to 'La Grange'. See, the white-trash rockers were once good... so I'm told (I've yet to find the evidence but, y'know, I can believe it... if the Bee Gee's '1st' LP exists, then others coulda been great too and I wouldn't know a damn thing about it).

Some guy called Stubner, who began managing ZZ Top a year-and-a-half ago, is workin' hard to make ZZ Top relevant again. Let's be honest, the only use they've served of late is if you're playing some word game and you need a band that begins with 'Z'. Although, in fairness, you could have The Zombies, Zutons, Zion Train and Tom Ze (if surnames are allowed).

Anyway, this Stubner guy has been wheeling these seized-up ol' gits out, including a spot on in the finale of "American Idol". I'm not sure that's too credible, mind... but still. He's said: "We thought this was a great brand that was kind of dusty," he says. "My goal was to polish it and do certain things they hadn't done before." Brand? Jeez. These music-industry cats live in a different world to me. Still, they are the US Status Quo aren't they? Anyway... here's a track from the Tres Hombres LP... and it sounds a bit like The James Gang.