Clay Hammond & Z.Z. Hill - Southern Soul Brothers

An introduction to the earliest sides of two guys who have shown up on compilations here.

"Hammond has 16 of the 26 tracks on this split-artist compilation, which also includes ten songs recorded by Z.Z. Hill for the same label (Kent) during the same era (the mid-to-late 1960s). Hammond's 16 cuts include both sides of all four of his 1966-69 Kent singles, as well as four from the same period that did not surface until a 1988 LP, and four more from the same time that were previously unissued until this CD. He was a minor but a worthy Southern soul-style vocalist who sounded much like a gentler Sam Cooke, writing all of his material on this disc. On his Kent sides (he had previously recorded for other labels), he adeptly crossed soul with shades of blues and gospel, although the arrangements were not as lugubrious and brassy as much soul actually produced in the South was. Occasionally he used pop-style production to good effect, as on the 1966 single "You Brought It All on Yourself," with its swinging, slightly jazz horn lines. Interestingly, his 1968 B-side "Do Right Woman" is not the famous Chips Moman/Dan Penn song, but a different song (albeit with some similarities to the more famous one), recorded at Moman's studio, no less. The eight songs that were not released in the 1960s are good by outtakes standard. "Togetherness" has something of the ballad feel of Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," while "My Sweet Baby Is Coming Home," with only an electric guitar as backup, anticipates the sound of fellow Cooke acolyte Ted Hawkins. The ten songs that follow from Hill, incidentally, are average period soul that also have some stronger blues elements than many recordings from the genre, combining a few of Hill's 1966-69 singles with four previously unissued numbers. " AMG

Hunh, I liked the review until he dismissed Z.Z. that way, this is WAY above average period soul, Hill's sound in this era has a lot of Otis Redding in it. I think he sounds fantastic!

Z.Z. Hill - The Malaco Recordings

 "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). "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)....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." Bill Dahl

Z,Z, Hill - Love Is So Good When You're Stealin' It [Columbia 1978-79]

Bill Dahl

"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.

Z.Z. Hill - The U.A. albums

By 1972 Hill had managed to hook on with the United Artists  label for 4 years and 3 albums that came right in the dawn of the disco/funk era. The material is a cut above much of what was coming down the pipe in the time, but it is clear that the goal was to break ZZ into the mainstream. The results are a bit spotty and even a bit ridiculous in places. I would have to say it isn't my favorite period of his career, but it is worth hearing. I'm listening to the first of these as I prepare the post and I'm noticing that Hill is steadily developing into an even stronger singer with a more personal sound of his own. By the second album he is making some solid Southern Soul and the final album reflects the inescapable disco/funk influences taking over the industry at the time. Thanks to my partner in crime Dr. Hepcat and the original uploaders who made this possible to assemble.

Z.Z. Hill - Early Years

The 3 links here will get you thru the 60's output and into the early 70's if memory serves - I'll post another album of material from his brother's  Hill label, but that is from his later stint on his brother's imprint. There is surprisingly little overlap here and I've added some stray pieces that Dr Hepcat supplied as singles - to tell the truth, I no longer recall which of these pieces were from me and which the good Dr had, but together with Preslives post, I believe these cover all the early, pre UA material.

Z.Z. Hill - The Brand New Z.Z. Hill

Arzell "Z. Z." Hill (September 30, 1935 – April 27, 1984) was an American blues singer, in the soul blues tradition, known for his 1970s and 1980s recordings for Malaco. His 1982 album, Down Home, stayed on the Billboard soul album chart for nearly two years. The track "Down Home Blues" has been called the best-known blues song of the 1980s. This track plus the songs "Taxi", "Someone Else Is Steppin' In", and "Open House" have become R&B/Southern soul standards.

Born in Naples, Texas, United States, Hill began his singing career in the late 1950s as part of a gospel group called The Spiritual Five, touring Texas. Around 1960, he started collecting records by B. B. King, Freddie King, Sam Cooke, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Wilson Pickett and began singing and writing songs influenced by these styles.

In 1964, Hill moved to California and recorded "You Were Wrong" on his brother's M.H. record label. The single charted and Hill released several more singles for Kent, but none of them charted. He moved labels several times, including signing with Phil Walden's Macon, Georgia based Capricorn label, but Hill refused to record for Walden, and his recording contract was bought by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams' Mankind label, where Hill finally fulfilled his end of the deal.

In 1971, Williams recorded Hill in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and they had hits including "Faithful & True" (Cash Box Top 100) and "Chokin' Kind" (Cash Box R&B #50). With his brother's help, Hill then signed to United Artists, where he released several successful singles. During the United Artist period in the mid 1970s, he was aided by arrangements and compositions by established R&B talents like Lamont Dozier and Allen Toussaint.

One of Hill's biggest selling hits came while signed to Columbia, "Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It," which spent 18 weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in the summer of 1977. Signed to Malaco Records in 1979, Hill's next hit single was "I'm Gonna Stop You From Givin' Me The Blues," in 1980. Hill's recording of songwriter George Jackson's "Cheatin' In The Next Room," was released in early 1982 and broke into the top 20 nationally, spending a total of 20 weeks on the charts. He had a number of best-selling albums on Malaco, the biggest one being Down Home Blues, which sold in excess of one million copies.[citation needed] Other Malaco sides that received airplay in the early 1980s were "Someone Else Is Steppin' In", "Bump And Grind", "Shade Tree Mechanic", and "Get You Some Business". George Jackson also wrote Hill's signature tune, "Down Home Blues", which label-mate Denise LaSalle later recorded.

Hill's song, "That Ain't the Way You Make Love", was sampled by Madvillain in their track, "Fancy Clown".

In 1984, Hill died in Dallas at the age of 48 from a heart attack after a road accident

Searching for a pair of Z.Z. Hills

 Dr Hepcat and I have managed to assemble all the Z.Z. Hill material except for these two albums - this is a call to our Southern Soul fans to see if we can fill these last 2 holes in his discography. The first is the first Malaco album - the other appears to be his last record on the 601 label.