Alex Becker recently posted an interview with Billy Gibbons on the Gibson Lifestyle site. The interview covers several topics, including his musical beginnings, his first guitar, ZZ Top and Pearly Gates:
ZZ Top owned an old Packard, a car from the ’30s. It served us well, but it was really, really old. One of our girlfriends decided to head to California to try out for a part in a movie. We gave her the Packard as a way to get there. Not only did she arrive, but she got the part. We named the automobile “Pearly Gates” because we thought it must have had divine connections. Renee Thomas — that was her name — sold the car to a collector in California and sent the money to us. Her timing couldn’t have been better. The very day that the money arrived a guy called me up wanting to sell an old guitar. It was a ’59 Sunburst Les Paul. It was found underneath a bed, by the way, in which her previous owner died. I had to buy the guitar, of course, and I called Renee on the same day to thank her for being so kind. She said that it looks like the Packard went for a good cause and we should name the guitar after the car, Pearly Gates. At the end she said, “Now you can go make divine music.”
I love the story about Pearly Gates. Whether its true or not is another matter…I’m sure it’s been embellished over the years. Particularly like the part about the guitar being found under the bed in which its previous owner died. There’s something very Blues about that. If you’re interested, I posted a Billy Gibbons video guitar lesson here