Rio Grande Mud is the second studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released on 4 April 1972 by the London Records label. The album title was inspired by the Rio Grande, the river that forms the border between Mexico and Texas.
Background
The band started writing songs for Rio Grande Mud while touring to support their first album. Guitarist Billy Gibbons said, "We started documenting events as they happened to us on the road; all of these elements went into the songwriting notebook. As we went along, we were keeping track of skeleton ideas as they popped up. The craft was certainly developing."
Recording
The album was recorded at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas, owned and operated by engineer Robin "Hood" Brians, who handled all engineering duties on both this album and ZZ Top's debut.
In 1987, the album was remixed for its first CD release, with added percussion in the style of Eliminator and Afterburner. Fans complained that the authentic boogie and blues of the album was compromised by 1980s-style overproduction. On January 11, 2011, Rhino Records issued a remastered version from the original 1972 mix on vinyl only, and the original mix was finally released on CD in June 2013 as part of the box set The Complete Studio Albums (1970–1990).
Dusty Hill played bass throughout the album, providing the low-end foundation for Gibbons' guitar work. Hill's bass playing on Rio Grande Mud was later singled out by AllMusic as one of the album's strongest assets, described as the most complementary element to Gibbons' lead work.