This 1973 Rock Hit is About a WORD I CAN'T Even SAY or This Video Will GET PULLED!-Professor of Rock
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Published 2024-04-03
NOTE: Photos of Edna Milton Chadwell courtesy of Jayme Lynn Blaschke, author of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch. Used by permission Get his definitive book on the ranch here:
jaymeblaschke.bigcartel.com/product/inside-the-tex…
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There have been many songs that were inspired about a real place- a state, or a city. Just a few off the top of my head, you got: “Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell & Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “New York, New York” by Sinatra “Allentown” by Billy Joel, “Detroit Rock City” from KISS. And then there is that smokin’ jam about a “chicken ranch” located on Rocky Creek Road…just outside of the little Texas town of “La Grange.”
The great Billy Gibbons, co-founder of ZZ Top, wrote the lyrics and composed the music for “La Grange” the band’s 4th overall single, and the lead track from the trio’s third LP- Tres Hombres in ’73 “La Grange,” is a ditty about a “shack outside La Grange.” Mostly known as the Chicken Ranch, it was a Texas brothel operating steadily from 1905 to 1973. It really was a shack, just a cheaply made farmhouse with no signs, reading “We’re open,” or “Welcome to the La Grange Brothel. No signs were necessary….Everyone knew what the Chicken Ranch was all about. They also knew full well that prostitution was NOT legal. As long as they paid their taxes, local politicians & law enforcement simply turned a blind eye and gave the ranch its blessing to… carry on, without any questions asked.
In 1905, Jessie Williams immigrated from Waco and opened a brothel on the bank of the Colorado River in Fayetteville County, Texas. Commonly known as ‘Miss Jessie,’ her business attracted men of all sorts. In order to keep the peace with local lawmakers, she excluded drunks and invited in lawmen and politicians. The brothel became an institution in Texas. State Senators and avid supporters of the University of Texas Longhorns, and the Texas A&M Aggies, would visit the Ranch after football games when the home team had a big win. That was a common after-game ritual right up into the 50s. Miss Jessie was a ‘madam’ on an epic scale.
All Comments (21)
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Poll: What is your pick for the COOLEST ROCK SONG of the 70s?
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My dad serviced the jukebox at the Chicken Ranch. I would sometimes go with him on his routes and play shuffleboard and pinball while he was taking care of business. However, when he went to the Ranch, I had to wait in the truck.
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I saw ZZ Top live in Lincoln Nebraska in the early 80’s. When they started playing Cheap Sunglasses people started hurling kids sunglasses at the stage. One pair bounced off the top of Dusty Hill’s cowboy hat. He looked up, looked around and kept on playing. Never missed a beat. Classic!
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I actually live in La Grange, TX. ZZ Top played the Fayette County Fair a few years ago, first time they'd ever played La Grange in La Grange. There were more people there at the concert than the entire population of the county. lol My all time favorite band, seen them live more than any other band.
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It only hit #41??? No way, it received airplay on the radio like a top ten. That is so hard to believe.
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I grew up near La Grange and went to college with a girl from there. I jokingly said something derogatory about the Chicken Ranch and without missing a beat she deadpanned, “I was born on the Chicken Ranch”. I had the biggest crush on her so I felt kinda bad for my joke. She had me going for a couple of minutes before letting me know she was just pulling my leg. Great episode, Professor! Well done.
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I’ve lost track of how many thousand times I’ve heard this song and still turn it up.
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I never realized what this song was about, I just knew that it was a great tune to blast while cruising the strip.
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"Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers" is an awesome song from Tres Hombres that is so good that Van Halen covered it in their bar playing days.
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One of the greatest riffs ever.
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The movie "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds is about the Chicken Ranch
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Have mercy. I've been waiting for the bus all day!
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"La Grange" embodies the essence of ZZ Top, IMHO.
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I was 11 years when I first heard zztop in 1981 I have a fond memory of my bother driving a 72 nova I was sitting in the middle back seat and could see the speedometer with the needle past 120 mph with this song blasting and the sound of the tires rubbing the quarter panel the roads he in north Georgia are not straight it’s amazing how fast you can go with confidence of youth and empty roads both of which are well in the past the America I grew up in seems to be in the past also good days back then
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ZZTop was one of those bands I swear had innuendo in every one of their songs lol
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My older brother played this for me for the first time. My mind was instantly blown away. I was 10. I instantly grew up by 2 years!👍👍
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Nationwide is one of my favorite ZZ Top songs
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Marvin Zinder is still known for his famous Friday restaurant report and the phrase “slime in the ice machine!” In my family he’s also known for retrieving my husband’s uncle from another state back to Texas when he worked for the Harris county sheriff’s department, lol. Love hearing about our “local” band, we saw them on the Eliminator tour here in Houston. What an awesome show! Thanks Professor, for a great visit to Texas!
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I was lucky enough to see ZZ Top live in 1977
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True story...as a kid in west Texas, a right of passage as a teenager was a trip to Acuña...the Mexican border town across from Del Rio, Texas....and visiting “boys town”....on one of my trips I was in the backseat of an old Chrysler handing out the beer, circa 1979. In 1982 I heard the song Mexican Blackbird for the first time and I couldn’t believe my ears and had to play it multiple times in disbelief...... I lived the song not knowing about the song.... ZZ Top was already my favorite band, but that sealed the deal!!!
