The Last Bass Outpost

Good catch, Alan, though I’m not sure whether it might not be an electric piano rather than a guitar. (The studio version features prominent keyboards during the solo.) But there is undoubtedly a fourth guy playing.

That said, offstage keyboard and other support was nothing new even in the 70ies, Sabbath and Quo had it too. Michael Schenker had his guitar tech play rhythm guitar parts behind the Marshall stacks when Michael was soloing in MSG line-ups sans a second guitarist. And in the 80ies it became de rigueur: Ozzy, Whitesnake, Foreigner and Iron Maiden all had offstage keyboarders.

This is them circa 1980, and there is a rhythm guitar track coming from somewhere during the solo. Could be an offstage musician? At a guess they wanted the clean look of a three piece band?

He has a whole army of canned rhythm guitar tracks behind him when they play the 80ies hits and the background vocals don't sound real either, let's not even talk about the sequencers, but does he lip sync too? It wouldn't surprise me. ZZ Top's legacy as a great live band goes back to the 70ies and early 80ies, ever since then they have become more and more "augmented" live.

Yes, according to a member at TDPRI who saw them in Sacramento Friday night. he said Billy's voice would keep singing when Billy would step away from the mic.

I know. Poor critters. Not that it was remotely "worldwide", they didn't even get to Canada or Mexico, it was strictly nationwide (in the Lower States).

But one look at their opening acts during 1976/77 tells you how big they were, albeit as a strictly US-American phenomenon: Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wet Willie, Marshall Tucker, BÖC, Rory Gallagher, J. Geils Band, Bob Seger, The Outlaws, Ted Nugent, Foghat, Foreigner, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Pure Prairie League, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Edgar & Johnny Winter, The Band, Montrose, Point Blank, Head East, Elvin Bishop, The Dictators, Santana, Rush, Nils Lofgren, Sea Level, Burton Cummings, Muddy Waters, Climax Blues Band, Piper, Blackfoot, Atlanta Rhythm Section and Starz.

The ZZ Top Worldwide Texas Tour that went on for several years (around 75-77) was huge. They used shticks like having livestock, vultures and rattlesnakes on stage but I've never heard of any faking og the musical performance. It was a massive production with great revenue.