Z.Z. Hill
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, Mississippi-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.
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. However, "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.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Complete Hill Records Collection/United Artists Recordings, 1972-1975
Blues - Released by Capitol Records on 1/01/1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
This Time They Told The Truth: The Columbia Years
Pop - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 17/02/1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Brand New Z.Z. Hill
Blues - Released by S.D.E.G. Records on 1/01/1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Northern Soul Legend
Soul - Released by Master Classics Records on 1/06/2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Thrill on The (Z.Z.) Hill [Digitally Remastered]
Blues - Released by Essential Media Group on 10/09/2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Z.Z. Hill's Ha Ha (Laughing Song)
R&B - Released by Charly Records on 25/06/2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Brand New Z.Z. Hill (Digitally Remastered)
Blues - Released by Essential Media Group on 3/09/2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Turn Back The Hands Of Time
Soul - Released by Night Train International on 1/01/1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Faithful And True (Original)
Blues - Released by 12 Bar on 9/10/2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Hill Records Collection/UA Recordings, 1972-75
Blues - Released by Capitol Records on 1/01/1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Chokin' Kind
Blues - Released by 2013 Autarc Media GmbH, CH. on 6/01/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Z.Z. Hill Blues Legends
Blues - Released by StreamWorld Entertainment Classics on 23/10/1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Choking Kind
Soul - Released by Jukebox Entertainment on 22/04/2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ben E. King Meets Z Z Hill
Pop - Released by 2014 Autarc Media GmbH, CH. on 29/09/2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Brand New Z.Z. Hill
Funk - Released by Good Time Records on 10/06/2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo