Z.Z. Hill

Texas-born vocalist Z.Z. Hill revived his somewhat waning professional trajectory and helped reinvigorate the broader blues field by joining Jackson, Mississippi-based Malaco Records in 1980, where he unleashed raw, uncompromising performances that Black radio outlets had rarely broadcast so openly in years. His standout 1982 Malaco album Down Home Blues stayed on Billboard's soul album charts for nearly two years, an unusual longevity for such an overtly blues-oriented release. The tracks "Down Home Blues" and "Somebody Else Is Steppin' In" have since entered the canon of established blues standards.

Arzell Hill began performing gospel with the Spiritual Five quintet, yet the work of B.B. King, Bobby Bland, and especially Sam Cooke shaped his approach more lastingly. He started playing clubs around Dallas and fashioned his distinctive initials in the style of B.B. King. When his older brother Matt Hill, an emerging record producer who operated his own M.H. label, asked Z.Z. to relocate west to Southern California, the singer agreed.

His debut M.H. single, the driving shuffle "You Were Wrong" cut in an L.A. garage studio, registered on the pop chart for one week in 1964. Given that early showing, Hill's subsequent quality sides for the Bihari Brothers' Kent imprint should have fared even better, but "I Need Someone (To Love Me)," "Happiness Is All I Need," and numerous other strong Kent 45s, many produced and arranged by Maxwell Davis, never connected commercially. Solid releases on Atlantic, Mankind, and Hill, another imprint run by brother Matt who served as Z.Z.'s producer through much of his career, preceded a 1972 linkup with United Artists that yielded three albums and six R&B chart singles over the following years.

Z.Z. next moved to Columbia, where the 1977 single "Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It" became his biggest commercial success. Even so, his vocal edge proved most potent on the blues-centered Malaco recordings. From 1980 until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1984, Z.Z. championed a personal return-to-the-blues effort that helped spark the later contemporary blues movement. It is unfortunate he did not live to witness its full emergence.