The Last Bass Outpost

ZZ Top were road heroes long before they became a household name and an MTV icon with Eliminator. Even in the 70ies there were (mainly Southern and Midwest) States where their gigs outsold, say, someone like Aerosmith. Some of their songs like La Grange were already then FM staples, Tush was a Top Twenty hit in the US. Billy Gibbons was a musicians’ guitarist of sorts, his sparse style with quirky tones/notes was appreciated by many as both rootsy and original.

In Germany they broke around Degüello (their first album after changing from London Records to Warner Bros. whose marketing and distribution clout gave them an international boost) with one single TV live appearance broadcast Europe-wide in 1980 (they had never played in Germany or Europe for that matter before, but had this reputation as a great live act from their circuit in the States).



No sequencers, electronic drums, extra guitar tracks or scantily dressed women back then. Just real drums, two guys swapping lead vocals, one guitar and a Telecaster bass with a broken pup that distorted. I don’t think they ever bettered that. I was aghast when I first heard Eliminator and what they had done to the three-piece. Frank Beard had always defied convention as a drummer and there they go and largely replace him with a drum machine programmed to the most mundane factory settings.

I like ZZ TOp, including most of their newer stuff. They simply are what they are, and have been for years.

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.

I'm not really up to speed on ZZ Top chronology, but it seems like they were an amazingly tight bar band who got nowhere, then jumped the shark and added a lot of schtick, stage wizardry and sequencers? All the weird and mysterious custom guitars, complex back line stuff, mythology of Billy using five random unknown amps to track parts, etc. A larger than life band! Billy lip synching is disappointing as he is hardly a singer with a high range needing much breath control. Just grunt out the lyrics.

Yeah, the Hendon Museum is great, been there twice. Motörhead of course immortalized the Heinkel 111 look (with some artistic freedom like B-17 style lower gun turrets or exterior bombs which the He 111 did generally not have).



Crews liked it as it was generally perceived as a warhorse that brought you home no matter what and didn’t act up like the (performance-wise mostly superior) Ju 88 or the (visually more elegant) Do 17.

You know, when Britney Spears or Madonna do it - they’re dance acts. If Paul Stanley does it - KISS are putting on an amusement park type show. But if Don Henley does it - what the hell does he have to do on stage other than sing? And if Desperado is too high for him by now, then change the f***ing key and sing it lower.