Texas Blues Guitarist Rocky Hill, R.I.P

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Texas Blues Guitarist Rocky Hill, R.I.P
Reverend Keith A. Gordon
About.com

Texas blues guitarist Rocky Hill, brother of Z.Z. Top bassist Dusty, died on Friday, April 10th, 2009 from an undisclosed medical condition. The well-known Houston area musician was 62 years old.

Hill picked up the guitar at a young age, and by the time he was 15 years old Rocky was playing local Dallas clubs with his band the Starliners. Hill later formed American Blues with his brother Dusty and drummer Frank Beard. The early power trio died their hair blue and performed the psychedelic blues-rock popular in Texas and elsewhere during the mid-to-late-1960s. The band recorded two major label albums, American Blues Is Here in 1967 and American Blues Do Their Thing a year later, both of which garner a premium price from collectors.

After the band moved from Dallas to Houston, Hill left American Blues to pursue a solo career. His replacement came in the person of Billy Gibbons, from acid-rockers Moving Sidewalks, and American Blues became Z.Z. Top. The rest, of course, is history. Rocky stumbled along during the 1970s and '80s, battling problems with drugs and alcohol while playing behind artists like Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Hill released Texas Shuffle, his debut album, in 1982, with guests like Johnny Winter and Dr. John on board. Rocky would subsequently record sporadically throughout the next couple of decades, signing with Virgin Records for a self-titled album in 1988, and later releasing Midnight Creepers in 1994. Hill's last public performance is thought to have been in 2006. Speaking about his career, Hill told the Houston Chronicle newspaper in 1993, "We played when blues was not in vogue at all. Now that blues is very hip, I’m gonna do a rock ‘n’ roll band. My career is backwards."