America 250 Rocktober Song #1: "Just Got Paid" by ZZ Top

The first song in this year's America 250 Rocktober is from a band that I have somehow never featured during Rocktober:  the legendary Texas trio ZZ Top.  It's somewhat bittersweet, as earlier this year, we lost drummer Frank Beard -- who was the only member of the band who didn't sport a beard -- leaving guitarist/singer Billy Gibbons as the only surviving member (bassist/singer Dusty Hill died in 2021).

"Just Got Paid" is the second song off of the band's sophomore album, 1972's Rio Grande Mud, and it is probably my favorite ZZ Top song.  This is just a badass blues rock song that should be played at maximum volume with all the windows rolled down while cruising around town in your 1977 Trans Am.  Or in your late-model minivan, for that matter. Gibbons's opening riff is infectious, Hill holds down the bottom with aplomb, and Beard gives us a few delicious fills.

I always imagine this song being played during a scene in a movie when our protagonist is triumphantly walking away from a situation where he or she crushed it when not expected to succeed, maybe throwing on a pair of sunglasses and cracking a wry "I can't believe I did it" smirk.  And yes, Hollywood, I am very open to talking about positions for whatever you might call someone who picks music for movies and/or TV shows.

It's Rocktober!

Dear readers, while I have admittedly shat the bed on posting for most of this year, there is one month that will bring me back into your lives:  Rocktober! 

A few months ago, America celebrated is 250th birthday.  I was still dead and there were no blogs when the bicentennial came and went, and I probably won't still be blogging when the tricentennial comes along, so to celebrate the semiquincentennial, this year's Rocktober theme will be America 250.

All of the songs will be from American bands or artists.  For band to qualify, more than 50% of the band must be American.  For example, the Jimi Hendrix Experience doesn't count because of the three members, only Jimi Hendrix himself was American.  And while Crosby, Stills & Nash would count (as Graham Nash was the only non-American), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young would not count (because Neil Young is Canadian).

As I do every October, I'm gonna give you a daily dose of rock, at least on the weekdays when I'm not out of town. There will be no repeated artists during the course of the month.  I'm going to try my best not to repeat songs that I have featured in prior Rocktobers, but I make no promises.  As always, the week leading up to Halloween will feature songs with dark, evil, or macabre themes.  And my Friday choices will, of course, be from hair bands.  Retro Video of the Week will be suspended during Rocktober (not that I've been posting those recently anyway), but Hair Band Friday will continue because Hair Band Friday cannot be killed.  

As always, remember that this is Rocktober, so these will all be bands, artists, and songs that rock, even though they may not always be from genres or artists that you would consider "rocking" or "rockers."  There will be popular songs, songs that you may never had heard before, and maybe even some bands and artists you've never heard of.  But for the sake of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, everything will rock.