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Texas-born singer Z.Z. Hill, born September 30, 1935 in Naples Texas, and died April 27, 1984 in Dallas Texas, managed to resuscitate both his own semi-flagging career and the entire genre at large when he signed on at Jackson, Mississippi's 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 there haven't been many of those come along over the last couple of decades).
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.
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 current contemporary blues boom. It's a shame he couldn't stick around to see it blossom. -- Bill Dahl of All Music Guide.
01. It Ain't No Use 02. Ha-Ha (laughing song) 03. Second Chance 04. Our Love Is Getting Better 05. Faithful And True 06. Choking Kind 07. Hold Back (one man at a time) 08. A Man Needs A Woman 09. Early In The Morning 10. I Think I'll Do It 11. Suppertime |
12. Just As I Am 13. Touch 'Em With Love 14. Put A Little Love In Your Heart 15. Just As I Am (collector's version) 16. Faithful And True (collector's version) 17. It's A Hang Up Baby 18. Put A Little Love In Your Heart (c-v) 19. Hold Back (one man at a time c-v) 20. Early In The Morning (c-v) 21. I Think I'll Do It (c-v) |
01. Happiness Is All I Need 02. Hey Little Girl 03. I Need Someone To Love Me 04. You Don't Love Me 05. If I Could Do It All Over 06. Everybody Has To Cry 07. Kind Of Love I Want |
08. That's It 09. What More 10. Oh Darling 11. Have Mercy Someone I Found Love 12. Set Your Sights Higher 13. You Got What I Need |
01. I Created A Monster 02. That Ain't The Way You Make Love 03. Steppin' In The Shoes Of A Fool 04. Two Sides To Every Story 05. Am I Groovin' You |
06. I Keep On Lovin' You 07. Who Ever's Thrilling You (is killing me) 08. Look What You've Done 09. My Turn 10. I Don't Need Half A Love |
01. Universal Love 02. This Time They Told The Truth 03. Stop By And Love Me Sometime 04. That's All That's Left 05. You Got Me Doing The Disco |
06. A Message To The Ladies 07. Let's Make A Deal 08. Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It 09. Need You By My Side 10. Near But Yet So Far |
01. Separate Ways 02. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 03. Something Good Going On 04. Bring It On Home To Me 05. Please Don't Make Me(do something bad to you) |
06. Chained To Your Love 07. Rolling Stone 08. Bump And Grind 09. Blue Monday |
01. Down Home Blues 02. Cheatin' In The Next Room 03. Everybody Knows About My Good Thing 04. Love Me 05. That Means So Much To Me |
06. When Can We Do This Again 07. Right Arm For Your Love 08. When It Rains It Pours 09. Woman Don't Go Astray 10. Givin' It Up For Your Love |
01. Someone Else Is Steppin' In 02. What Am I gonna Tell Her 03. Open House At My House 04. Who You Been Giving It To 05. The Fire Is Hot |
06. Wang Dang Doodle 07. Outside Thang 08. You're Gonna Be A Woman 09. Help Me, I'm In Need 10. Get You Some Business |
01. I'm A Blues Man 02. Three Into Two Won't Go 03. Cheatin' Love 04. Shade Tree Mechanic 05. It's Been So Long |
06. Get A Little, Give A Little 07. Please Don't Let Our Good Thing End 08. Steal Away 09. Blind Side 10. I Ain't Buying What You're Selling |
01. You're Ruining My Bad Reputation 02. Bottom Line woman 03. She Got The Goods On Me 04. Breakdown 05. Personally 06. Champagne Lady |
07. Be Strong Enough To Hold On 08. I'm Gonna Stop You From Giving Me The Blues 09. Friday Is My Day 10. I'll Be Your Witness 11. Why Don't You Spend The Night |
01. Down Home Blues 02. Bump And Grind 03. Wang Dang Doodle 04. When It Rains, It Pours 05. Givin' It Up For Your Love |
06. Someone Else Is Steppin' In 07. I'm A Blues Man 08. Please Don't Make Me Do Something Bad To You 09. Everybody Knows About My Good Thing 10. Get You Some Business |
01. It Ain't No Use 02. Faithful And True 03. The Chokin' Kind 04. Early In The Morning 05. Second Chance 06. Hold Back |
07. I Think I'll Do It 08. Our Love Is Getting Better 09. A Man Needs A Woman 10. Ha Ha (the laughing song) 11. Take Me (just as I am) 12. Touch 'Em With Love |
01. Universal Love 02. This Time They Told The Truth 03. Stop By And Love Me Sometime 04. That's All That's Left 05. You Got Me Doing The Disco 06. A Message To The Ladies 07. Let's Make A Deal 08. Love Is So Good when You're Stealing It 09. Need You By My Side |
10. Near But Yet So Far 11. Let's Have A Party 12. I Wanna Dance With You 13. Just Because We're No Longer Lovers 14. I Want To Be Your Every Need 15. Whip It On Me Baby 16. I Don't Want Our Love To Be No Secret 17. I Will Understand 18. Tell It Like It Is |
01. Right Arm For Your Love 02. Please Don't Make Me Do Something Bad To You 03. Friday Is My Day 04. Get You Some Business 05. I'm A Blues Man |
06. Outside Thang 07. Woman Don't Go Astray 08. You're Ruining My Bad Reputation 09. Everybody Knows About My Good Thing 10. She Got The Goods On Me |