Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Texas-born singer Z.Z. Hill managed to resuscitate both his own semi-flagging career and the entire genre at large when he signed on at Jackson, MS-based Malaco Records in 1980 and began growling his way through some of the most uncompromising blues to be unleashed on black radio stations in many a moon. His impressive 1982 Malaco album Down Home Blues remained on Billboard's soul album charts for nearly two years, an extraordinary run for such a blatantly bluesy LP. His songs "Down Home Blues" and "Somebody Else Is Steppin' In" have graduated into the ranks of legitimate blues standards (and few of those have come along over the last couple of decades).–

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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This is a '70s Swamp Dogg-produced concept album.–by Bill Dahl

1. It Ain't No Use (Act I, Scene I ) 4:52
2. Ha Ha (Laughing Song) (Act I, Scene II) 4:29
3. Second Chance (Act II, Scene I) 4:52
4. Our Love Is Getting Better (Act II, Scene II) 4:02
5. Faithful And True (Act III, Finale) 3:16
6. Choking Kind 3:08
7. Hold Back (One Man At A Time) 3:05
8. A Man Needs A Woman (A Woman Needs A Man) 3:15
9. Early In The Morning 2:52
10. I Think I'd Do It 2:14
11. Suppertime (Home Just Ain't Home At) 4:14
12. Just As I Am 3:42
13. Touch Em' With Love 1:50
14. Put A Little Love In Your Heart 2:31
15. Just As I Am (Collectors Version) 3:41
16. Faithful And True (Collectors Version) 5:33
17. It's A Hang Up Baby 2:29
18. Put A Llittle Love In Your Heart (Collectors Version) 2:55
19. Hold Back (One Man At A Time) (Collectors Version) 3:17
20. Early In The Morning (Collectors Version) 3:55
21. I Think I'd Do It (Collectors Version) 2:29

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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The initial step in Hill's amazing rebirth as a contemporary blues star, courtesy of Jackson, Mississippi's Malaco Records and producers Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephenson. The vicious blues outings "Bump and Grind" and "Blue Monday" were the first salvos fired by Hill at the blues market, though much of the set – "Please Don't Make Me (Do Something Bad to You)," "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" – was solidly in the Southern soul vein.–by Bill Dahl

1. Separate Way 4:10
2. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 3:50
3. Something Good Going On 3:18
4. Bring It On Home To Me 3:29
5. Please Don't Make Me (Do Something Bad To You) 3:55
6. Chained To Your Love 4:21
7. Rolling Stone 3:11
8. Bump And Grind 3:30
9. Blue Monday 4:30

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Down Home is one of the very few classic blues albums of the 1980s. Hill revitalized the genre among African-American listeners with his "Down Home Blues," which earned instant standard status. But the entire album is tremendously consistent, with the percolating R&B workouts "Givin' It Up for Your Love" and "Right Arm for Your Love" contrasting with an intimate "Cheatin' in the Next Room" and the straight-ahead blues "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing" and "When It Rains It Pours."–by Bill Dahl

1. Down Home Blues 5:15
2. Cheating In The Next Room 3:36
3. Everybody Knows About My Good Thing 4:58
4. Love Me 3:48
5. That Means So Much To Me 3:58
6. When Can We Do This Again 4:18
7. Right Arm For Your Love 3:33
8. When It Rains It Pours 3:41
9. Woman Don't Go Astray 2:24
10. Givin' It Up For Your Love 3:18

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Led by Z.Z. Hill's second immediate standard – the Denise LaSalle-penned "Someone Else Is Steppin' In" – Hill's third Malaco album, The Rhythm & the Blues is another consistent effort, if not quite the blockbuster that his previous effort was. Hill again dipped into the Little Johnny Taylor songbook for a humorous slow blues, "Open House at My House," while relying on talented songwriters George Jackson and Ernie Johnson for most of his tailor-made material.–by Bill Dahl

1. Someone Else Is Steppin' In 3:39
2. What Am I Gonna Tell Her 3:15
3. Open House At My House 4:49
4. Who You Been Giving It To 3:12
5. That Fire Is Hot 3:45
6. Wang Dang Doodle 3:19
7. Outside Thang 3:23
8. You're Gonna Be A Woman 3:37
9. Help ME, I'm In Need 3:37
10. Get You Some Business 3:12

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Fueled by more impressive material from the pens of Jackson, Johnson, and LaSalle, Hill was in an amazing groove during the years prior to his untimely demise, and the crack Malaco house band was certainly up to the task. Just like the title track ably demonstrated, Z.Z. Hill had indeed rechristened himself as a blues man of the first order.–by Bill Dahl

1. I'm A Blues Man 3:34
2. Three Into Two Won't Go 2:52
3. Cheatin' Love 3:26
4. Shade Tree Mechanic 2:57
5. It's Been So Long 3:29
6. Get A Little, Give A Little 4:12
7. Please Don't Let Our Good Thing End 4:18
8. Steal Away 4:09
9. Blind Side 2:47
10. I Ain't Buying What You're Selling 3:22

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Issued the year he died, Bluesmaster boasted more competent soul-blues hybrids by the man who reenergized the blues idiom with his trademark growl. LaSalle's "You're Ruining My Bad Reputation," "Friday Is My Day" (written by legendary Malaco promo man Dave Clark), and a nice reading of Paul Kelly's slinky "Personally" rate with the standouts.–by Bill Dahl

1. You're Ruining My Bad Reputation 2:47
2. Bottom Line Woman 2:58
3. She Got the Goods on Me 3:21
4. Breakdown 3:28
5. Personally 3:08
6. Champange Lady 2:49
7. Be Strong Enough to Hold On 3:11
8. I'm Gonna Stop You from Givin' Me the Blues 4:10
9. Friday Is My Day 4:05
10. I'll Be Your Witness 3:37
11. Why Don't You Spend the Night 3:27

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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1. Faithful And True 2:37
2. Early In The Morning 3:01
3. Second Chance 3:41
4. Hold Back 3:14
5. Ain't No Use 3:27
6. I Think I'd Do It 2:21
7. Our Love Is Getting Better 2:51
8. A Man Need A Woman 3:20
9. Ha Ha (Laughing Song) 2:31
10. Chokin' Kind 3:02

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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"Rare and Previously Unreleased Recordings 1965-1972," reads a legend on the cover of the Turn Back the Hands of Time compilation, and while Dan Nooger's liner notes fail to spell out the details, it appears that the bulk of these tracks date from the early '70s and Z.Z. Hill's Hill Records label. One, "Don't Make Me Pay for His Mistakes," was a hit for the blues singer in 1971. The first three tracks present Hill's distinctive covers of the Temptations ("Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "My Girl") and Tyrone Davis ("Turn Back the Hands of Time"). Certainly, this is not the best Z.Z. Hill collection out there; on the other hand, it does contain some effective performances that have not gotten much recognition previously.–by William Ruhlmann

1. Ain't To Proud To Beg 4:05
2. Turn Back The Hands Of Time 4:05
3. My Girl 4:23
4. It Can Be Fixed 2:47
5. Nine Pound Steel 3:11
6. Don't Make Me Pay For His Mistakes 2:56
7. Mr. Nobody Somebody 4:14
8. Sweet Woman 3:42
9. One Way Love Affair 2:29
10. Think People 2:29
11. You Better Take Time 3:09
12. Five Will Get You Ten 2:26
13. The Right To Love 2:46
14. You Were Wrong 2:35

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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The best of Hill's late-'70s stay at Columbia Records, This Time They Told the Truth might be a bit of a shock to listeners not familiar with the period, for Hill's always smooth vocals are embellished with a very disco-fied production, not always disturbing, but definitely obtrusive in several places. The songs themselves are quite good (distilled from 1978's Let's Make a Deal and 1979's The Mark of Z.Z. Hill), including "Stop by and Love Me Sometime," "A Message to the Ladies" and the title track.–by John Bush

1. Universal Love 4:41
2. This Time They Told The Truth 3:47
3. Stop By And Love Me Sometime 3:39
4. Love Is So Good When Your Stealing It 4:24
5. Let's Make A Deal 3:47
6. I Don't Want Our Love To Be No Secret 4:17
7. I Want To Be Your Every Need 3:55
8. A Message To The Ladies 4:15
9. Whip It On Me Baby 3:58
10. Just Because We're No Longer Lovers 3:29
11. Tell It Like It Is 3:24
12. That's All That's Left 3:36
13. Let's Have A Party 6:17

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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1. Touch 'Em With Love 2:46
2. Early In The Morning 4:18
3. Hold Back (One Man At A Time) 3:45
4. Put A Little Love In Your Heart 3:14
5. I Think I'll Do It 2:23
6. Faithful and True 4:32
7. Just As I Am 4:07
8. Reprise # 69 2:38

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Much of Hill's 1978-79 output for Columbia was laced with disco rhythms, but there were also plenty of soulful throwbacks to the sort of intense testifying that Hill did best: the surging mid-tempo "That's All That's Left," and a string-enriched "This Time They Told the Truth," an insistent "Need You By My Side," and the smoldering title tale of cheating in the wee hours that hit big for him. Ichiban has cobbled together both of Hill's Columbia LPs, the first being infinitely superior to the brutally formulaic disco-dominated encore.–by Bill Dahl

1. Universal Love 4:42
2. This Time They Told The Truth 3:48
3. Stop By And Love Me Sometime 3:42
4. That's All That's Left 3:37
5. You Got Me Doing The Dance 3:47
6. A Message To The Ladies 4:16
7. Let's Make A Deal 3:49
8. Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It 4:25
9. Need You By My Side 3:58
10. Near But Yet So Far 3:25
11. Let's Have A Party 6:18
12. I Wanna Dane With You 6:18
13. Just Because We're No Longer Lovers 3:31
14. I Want To Be Your Every Need 3:56
15. Whip It On Me Baby 3:58
16. I Don't Want Our Love To Be No Secret 4:17
17. I Will Understand 5:12
18. Tell It Like It Is 3:26

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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1. Right Arm For Your Love 3:32
2. Pleasw Don't Make Me(Do Something Bad to You) 3:52
3. Friday Is My Day 4:03
4. Get You Some Business 3:13
5. I`m A Blues Man 3:33
6. Outside Thang 3:21
7. Woman Don't Go Astray 2:24
8. You're Ruining My Bad Reputation 2:46
9. Everybody Knows About My Good Thing 4:58
10. She Got The Goods On Me 3:18

BIO: Texas-born singer Z.Z. Hill managed to resuscitate both his own semi-flagging career and the entire genre at large when he signed on at Jackson, MS-based Malaco Records in 1980 and began growling his way through some of the most uncompromising blues to be unleashed on black radio stations in many a moon. His impressive 1982 Malaco album Down Home Blues remained on Billboard's soul album charts for nearly two years, an extraordinary run for such a blatantly bluesy LP. His songs "Down Home Blues" and "Somebody Else Is Steppin' In" have graduated into the ranks of legitimate blues standards (and few of those have come along over the last couple of decades).

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Z.Z.Hill - 12 Albums (1971 - 2002) [Re-Up]

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Arzell Hill started out singing gospel with a quintet called the Spiritual Five, but the output of B.B. King, Bobby Bland, and especially Sam Cooke made a more indelible mark on his approach. He began gigging around Dallas, fashioning his distinctive initials after those of B.B. King. When his older brother Matt Hill (a budding record producer with his own label, M.H.) invited Z.Z. to go west to Southern California, the young singer did.His debut single on M.H., the gutsy shuffle "You Were Wrong" (recorded in an L.A. garage studio), showed up on the pop chart for a week in 1964. With such a relatively successful showing his first time out, Hill's fine subsequent singles for the Bihari Brothers' Kent logo should have been even bigger. But "I Need Someone (To Love Me)," "Happiness Is All I Need," and a raft of other deserving Kent 45s (many produced and arranged by Maxwell Davis) went nowhere commercially for the singer. Excellent singles for Atlantic, Mankind, and Hill (another imprint operated by brother Matt, who served as Z.Z.'s producer for much of his career) preceded a 1972 hookup with United Artists that resulted in three albums and six R&B chart singles over the next couple of years. From there, Z.Z. moved on to Columbia, where his 1977 single "Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It" became his biggest-selling hit of all. But Hill's vocal grit was never more effective than on his blues-soaked Malaco output. From 1980 until 1984, when he died suddenly of a heart attack, Z.Z. bravely led a personal back-to-the-blues campaign that doubtless helped to fuel the subsequent contemporary blues boom. It's a shame he couldn't stick around to see it blossom.