ZZTop "playing" live to bass tracks !?!

[selowitch]

Van Halen's "Right Here, Right Now" DVD is a great example of this as there are numorous times what their playing is not sincing up exactly with what they visually just played.
What really gives it away is Sammy, unlike the rest of the band, wore different clothes each night so his outfit is changing from camera angle to camera angle during the same song.

Sure, but that hardly sounds like a genuine attempt at deception; they're making a montage in that case and not representing it as a live shoot. No professional producer is that stupid nor does he or she believe the audience to be that stupid ... right?

*chirp* *chirp* Right? Guys?

 

[masoncole]

I've seen them live b4 and noticed a rythum guitar going while a lead was happening? But only one guitarist on stage.Hmm!!!

 

[CYDbass]

This causes a lot of sinc problems as you might be seeing the player in the shot for that part of the song from night 1 while actually hearing the recording from night 2.
...
What really gives it away is Sammy, unlike the rest of the band, wore different clothes each night so his outfit is changing from camera angle to camera angle during the same song.

Good point, shame that it's so hard to actually just have video of a show now!
There's a video of the band Less Than Jake where (I think) the Sax player is wearing three different coloured hats depending on camera angle! There's no attempt to hide it though so I'm guessing it is meant as a montage.

Additional footage of ZZ Top at the same concert, concluding with "Tush."

This is a good find, because he screws up after they repeat the intro again. Whilst it does show he isn't miming, it is a bit of bad form to miss a note in the same place twice, especially when it could have been an open A!

 

[PhatBasstard]

Sure, but that hardly sounds like a genuine attempt at deception; they're making a montage in that case and not representing it as a live shoot. No professional producer is that stupid nor does he or she believe the audience to be that stupid ... right?

*chirp* *chirp* Right? Guys?

Ahhh...more witch hunt.

I never said it was an "act of deception".
Just giving more reasons of why it might be/look out of sinc.

 

[Oraflora]

This is a good find, because he screws up after they repeat the intro again. Whilst it does show he isn't miming, it is a bit of bad form to miss a note in the same place twice, especially when it could have been an open A

Or maybe he actually likes playing the fifth as a pickup to the main groove. Since he does it twice - in the same spot of the song - that's my guess.

I would think he probably isn't interested in playing the part exactly the same every night over the last 30 years and is capable of trying something different.

Also, no one knows what the stage mix sounded like, and maybe he couldn't hear the drums, the guitar, his bass, etc. and rather than pout and stomp around, yelling at the sound guys, he just did his best to put on a great show to the thousands of people there to hear and watch a legendary blues trio.

 

[MR PC]

Fellas, the youtube video is highly processed, designed to sell product. It's been techno gizzed, it's not a down to earth in a club performance. What's the problem? The dance steps are good, the guitars are cool,ect.

Jeez, i thought ZZ Top was a band that got down and grooved the world......now it just sounds like the Walt Disney cartoon version of the old days of their club time in Texas. I imagine that the chicks backstage are forever the same young age, no matter how crusty and old ZZ Top gets. I doubt that those young girls are worried if Dusty flubbed a note or two!

 

[lowfreq33]

Ok, enough.

I've opened for them. They use backing tracks on the 80's stuff for the synth parts. Frank's kit has triggers on it for some of the 80's drum sounds as well. There are a few songs with a rhythm guitar track during solos. But there is no bass track, it's all 100% Dusty.

And he doesn't have a bass rig onstage, he goes direct through a couple of different preamps, one of which is a Marshall JMP-1.

 

[pit7]

They use backing tracks on the 80's stuff for the synth parts. Frank's kit has triggers on it for some of the 80's drum sounds as well. There are a few songs with a rhythm guitar track during solos. But there is no bass track, it's all 100% Dusty.

That's exactly what I hear and see.
Is the rhythm guitar played by his tech (the reverend says he's a genious) or is it sequencer-stuff?

 

[Lammchop93]

The note is just sustaining, there is no question, Dusty is playing his part.

I hear it sustaining. He's really playing his part.

 

[Mrdak]

ZZ Top has been doing that for years.
In that video, Dusty's playing straight up though.....if you ask me.

 

[Rocker949]

Ok, enough.

I've opened for them. They use backing tracks on the 80's stuff for the synth parts. Frank's kit has triggers on it for some of the 80's drum sounds as well. There are a few songs with a rhythm guitar track during solos. But there is no bass track, it's all 100% Dusty.

And he doesn't have a bass rig onstage, he goes direct through a couple of different preamps, one of which is a Marshall JMP-1.

Thank you for this post which is the equivalent of a primary source.

 

[lowfreq33]

That's exactly what I hear and see.
Is the rhythm guitar played by his tech (the reverend says he's a genious) or is it sequencer-stuff?

I believe it's on the backing track.

 

[My name is Mudd]

Late to this party, but I agree with the 'sustain' people here.

And way back on the second page, someone mentioned the v1 Texas blues Top, which to me was/is still the better version, especially when compared to the MTV'd/fuzzy guitar'd/cars&girls* band...but that's just me...


* someone told me that the girls in the 80's vids are their daughters and daughters' friends...anyone know anything about that?

 

[62bass]

Ok, enough.

I've opened for them. They use backing tracks on the 80's stuff for the synth parts. Frank's kit has triggers on it for some of the 80's drum sounds as well. There are a few songs with a rhythm guitar track during solos. But there is no bass track, it's all 100% Dusty.

And he doesn't have a bass rig onstage, he goes direct through a couple of different preamps, one of which is a Marshall JMP-1.

I also opened for them, but that was way back in the early 70s on a leg of one of their tours. Back then the technology wouldn't make it easy to use backing tracks so none were used by them. Besides, they were doing great playing as a trio so why change? So it was all them and only them live. They each played very well for the 3 chord blues/rock they were doing, Great sounding stuff if that's what you like. Not many could do it much better. Bass was direct but sounded just like his stage sound from the Marshall type multi 4x12 set up he used. (Sorry, forgot the brand name but made in Texas I believe) ) Guitar was miced amp.

Nice guys, not too full of themselves and a sense of humour.

 

[JZQuantum]

it looks to me that he stopped plucking but kept it going with the fretting hand

Possible, but it sure sounds like I heard more notes played than his fretting hand produced. Looks overdubbed to me.

 

[Rocker949]

Late to this party, but I agree with the 'sustain' people here.

And way back on the second page, someone mentioned the v1 Texas blues Top, which to me was/is still the better version, especially when compared to the MTV'd/fuzzy guitar'd/cars&girls* band...but that's just me...


* someone told me that the girls in the 80's vids are their daughters and daughters' friends...anyone know anything about that?

I don't have anything definite about that, but I've read in several places that some of the girls were from Hugh Hefner. Whoever they were, I'm sure they were not daughters of the band.

 

[Febs]

Possible, but it sure sounds like I heard more notes played than his fretting hand produced. Looks overdubbed to me.

I think you guys are mistaking the kick drum for a continuation of the bass part.

 

[Ferret]

Have not watched it but did have a buddy years ago who seen them and the track they were playing to went goofy and they Milli Vanilli'd

 

[MrTAteMyBalls]

Fellas, the youtube video is highly processed, designed to sell product. It's been techno gizzed, it's not a down to earth in a club performance. What's the problem? The dance steps are good, the guitars are cool,ect.

Jeez, i thought ZZ Top was a band that got down and grooved the world......now it just sounds like the Walt Disney cartoon version of the old days of their club time in Texas. I imagine that the chicks backstage are forever the same young age, no matter how crusty and old ZZ Top gets. I doubt that those young girls are worried if Dusty flubbed a note or two!

i got backstage passes one time about 1997( I was 17). i didn't see any hot girls. I met them all, and dusty's wife. They put on a great show, and were very nice. My friend introduced himself as a drummer, and they proceded to rip drummer jokes for about 2 minutes. All in all they probably spent 10 minutes or so chatting with our group. My other idiot friend mentioned that the guitar player from "kansas" was really fat, to which one of them replied something like "that's just the real world, aint it?" Good times.

 

[MrTAteMyBalls]

also, in ref to the STP thing....check out the comments at the bottom. There is little to no evidence that scott is lip syncing yet there are a ton of comments "i will never listen to this band again." lol....really??? STP played red rocks recently, and scott struggled. I wasn't there, but evidently he sounded pretty poor, and kept saying that the altitude was affecting him. certainly not a canned performance, and if you aren't used to it it's very hard to catch your breath here.