Z. Z. Hill

Arzell "Z. Z." Hill (September 30, 1935 – April 27, 1984)^[1] was an American blues singer, in the soul blues tradition, known for his 1970s and 1980s recordings for Malaco. His 1982 album, Down Home, stayed on the Billboard soul album chart for nearly two years.^[1] The track "Down Home Blues" has been called the best-known blues song of the 1980s.^[2] This track plus the songs "Taxi", "Someone Else Is Steppin' In", and "Open House" have become R&B/Southern soul standards.^[1]

Life

Born in Naples, Texas, United States, Hill began his singing career in the late 1950s as part of a gospel group called The Spiritual Five, touring Texas. Around 1960, he started collecting records by B. B. King, Freddie King, Sam Cooke, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Wilson Pickett and began singing and writing songs influenced by these styles.

In 1964, Hill moved to California and recorded "You Were Wrong" on his brother's M.H. record label.^[1] The single charted and Hill released several more singles for Kent, but none of them charted. He moved labels several times, including signing with Phil Walden's Macon, Georgia based Capricorn label, but Hill refused to record for Walden, and his recording contract was bought by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams' Mankind label, where Hill finally fulfilled his end of the deal.

In 1971, Williams recorded Hill in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and they had hits including "Faithful & True" (Cash Box Top 100) and "Chokin' Kind" (Cash Box R&B #50). With his brother's help, Hill then signed to United Artists, where he released several successful singles. During the United Artist period in the mid 1970s, he was aided by arrangements and compositions by established R&B talents like Lamont Dozier and Allen Toussaint.

One of Hill's biggest selling hits came while signed to Columbia, "Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It," which spent 18 weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in the summer of 1977.^[1] Signed to Malaco Records in 1979, Hill's next hit single was "I'm Gonna Stop You From Givin' Me The Blues," in 1980. Hill's recording of songwriter George Jackson's "Cheatin' In The Next Room," was released in early 1982 and broke into the top 20 nationally, spending a total of 20 weeks on the charts. He had a number of best-selling albums on Malaco, the biggest one being Down Home Blues, which sold in excess of one million copies.^{[citation needed]} Other Malaco sides that received airplay in the early 1980s were "Someone Else Is Steppin' In", "Bump And Grind", "Shade Tree Mechanic", and "Get You Some Business". George Jackson also wrote Hill's signature tune, "Down Home Blues", which label-mate Denise LaSalle later recorded.

Hill's song, "That Ain't the Way You Make Love", was sampled by Madvillain in their track, "Fancy Clown".

In 1984, Hill died in Dallas at the age of 48 from a heart attack after a road accident.^[2][3]

See also

• List of Electric blues musicians
• List of Soul-blues musicians
• List of blues musicians

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Allmusic biography - accessed January 2008
2. ^ ^{a b} Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 117. ISBN 1-85868-255-X. 
3. ^ Dead Rock Stars Club data - accessed January 2008

Persondata
Name	Hill, Z.Z.
Alternative names	Hill, Arzell
Short description	American blues singer
Date of birth	September 30, 1935
Place of birth	Naples, Texas, United States
Date of death	April 27, 1984
Place of death	Dallas, Texas, United States