ZZ Top into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. The original line-up was formed in Houston and consisted of Gibbons, bassist/organist Lanier Greig (died February 2013) and drummer Dan Mitchell. The name of the band was Gibbons' idea. The band had a little apartment covered with concert posters and he noticed that many performers' names used initials. Gibbons particularly noticed B.B. King and Z.Z. Hill and thought of combining the two into "ZZ King", but considered it too similar to the original name. He then figured that "king is going at the top" which brought him to "ZZ Top".
Merryweather (band) in The Just Us, The Tripp and Livingstone’s Tripp (which Roth and Livingston had renamed Livingstone’s Journey following Lillie's departure to join Rick James briefly in the final version of The Mynah Byrds in May 1967). Adding guitarist David Kindred and drummer Gary Hall, the new group, initially called New King Boiler, began rehearsing in Lillie’s grandmother’s basement in May 1968. Kindred was quickly replaced by ex-Fraser Loveman Group guitarist Dave Burt (born in Hamilton, Ontario on September 19, 1948). (Apparently, Gary Hall drank so much coffee that Lillie's grandmother called him ‘Coffee’, and the band started to call him