Most rockers have dream lineups in which they include their favorite musicians. For instance, Jimmy Page had previously disclosed that the initial lineup of Led Zeppelin didn’t consist of Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. The guitarist had another dream lineup with other cult rock figures, but his plans didn’t work out.
Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale had also dreamt of an all-female rock band and listed the iconic names she wanted to team up with on this project. Another example of dream recruits is when Deep Purple wanted to hire another well-known rocker after firing Ian Gillan, but the band ended up hiring Joe Lynn Turner, who recorded only one album with the band.
There were also other instances where artists appreciated their favorites by stating they would want to be in a band with them, and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons also has his picks. The rocker named the lineup of his dream band as he appreciated different musicians from different periods of rock.
Gibbons seemed quite sure when he shared these names since he had probably already thought about his dream lineup. The rocker disclosed his picks to Elmore Magazine in 2010 and mentioned various rockers from different periods of rock. His lineup was a bit complicated, but still, it would please any rock fan.
“In addition to my two partners,” stated Gibbons as he mentioned to Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, “Doyle Bramhall on drums, maybe singing a bit; he’s underrated, but he can sing Ray Charles like Ray. An organist would be Jimmy Smith or Jimmy McGriff, or John Patton. I would clump those guys.”
Gibbons continued by listing his picks for guitarists and bassists. “We’d need the Jimmys on guitar: that would be Jimmy Reed, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jimi Hendrix. Dusty might want to take a smoking break, but I’d get Eddie Taylor, who played with Jimmy Reed’s trio—two guitars and drums. You listen to those records, and you don’t realize that there is no bass; Eddie played the bottom-end sides, the bass lines.”
The rocker’s picks for the vocalists were quite interesting. “Me, [Mick] Jagger, and Keith Richards as singers, and—this will make a rather amusing addition—Jeff Beck as a singer.”
The frontman’s list was dreamy, and he paid homage to various names with his lineup. Many of these names surely cannot team up for obvious reasons, but this was the dream lineup that Gibbons had envisioned. His amusing list reflected that artists might appreciate other musicians’ talents by forming dream lineups.
Still, he didn’t leave out his two bandmates. The rocker also imagined this legendary lineup, including bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard. It was obvious that Gibbons cared for his bandmates, as he named them among his picks and showed the harmony between the bandmates.
