Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
1. "I Thank You" 3:22
2. "She Loves My Automobile" 2:22
3. "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" 4:45
4. "A Fool for Your Stockings" 4:15
5. "Manic Mechanic" 2:36
Side two
1. "Dust My Broom" 3:06
2. "Lowdown in the Street" 2:49
3. "Hi Fi Mama" 2:22
4. "Cheap Sunglasses" 4:46
5. "Esther Be the One" 3:30
Original LP pressings of Degüello credited authorship of "Dust My Broom" to Elmore James.
ZZ Top Band Members / Musicians
Billy Gibbons – guitar, vocals, baritone saxophone
Dusty Hill – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Hi Fi Mama", tenor saxophone
Frank Beard – drums, percussion, alto saxophone
Producer – Bill Ham
Engineer – Terry Manning
Mastering engineer – Bob Ludwig
Degüello is the 6th studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in November 1979. It was the first ZZ Top release on Warner Bros. Records and eventually went platinum. It was produced by Bill Ham, recorded and mixed by Terry Manning, and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
Returning from a two year hiatus, the band began to showcase the influence they have collected during the time away; Gibbons' time in Europe introduced him to punk music, the influences of which seeped into the creation of the album. The band also consciously tried experimenting with technology: Gibbons saw an episode of The Phil Donahue Show where a person's identity was protected using silhouette and a pitch shifter; liking the sound, he asked engineer Manning to call the show and find out what the effects unit was. Manning eventually convinced a reluctant show producer to reveal it, and the effect was used for both vocals and guitars on songs like "Manic Mechanic".
The album marked the first time that ZZ Top featured cover versions on a studio album: "I Thank You" by Isaac Hayes/David Porter and "Dust My Broom", credited on early editions to Elmore James but subsequently credited to Robert Johnson who recorded it in 1936. Elmore James had adapted and popularized the song in 1951.
