The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic ZZ Top with steel I don't understand this!?
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  ZZ Top with steel I don't understand this!?
Tony Palmer


From:
St Augustine,FL
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 6:10 pm    
Reply with quote

I stumbled across this video apparently just uploaded today and I don't know what to make out of it. It's presumably ZZ Top doing Act Naturally with a lap steel player....!
As if that's not crazy enough, it most definitely sounds like a pedal steel..NOT lap steel.
Is this a spoof of some sort?
https://youtu.be/BIDNJKe--Fw
_________________
Sierra S10 (three!), Peavey 112 and 115, Benoit dobro, Beard Model E dobro, Beard Roadophonic, MSA Superslide, Dean Nickless custom dobro
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jonathan Lam

 

From:
Brooklyn, NY
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 6:17 pm    
Reply with quote

Wow. I can't believe this.
Think it could be a young steeler?
_________________
Http://www.jonnylam.com
http://www.honeyfingersmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/honeyfingersmusic
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Mike Kowalik

 

From:
San Antonio,Texas
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 6:20 pm    
Reply with quote

That was in June in Frisco Tx....Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band played at the Toyota Soccer Complex....ZZ Top was the OPENING act....what goes round comes round.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 7:35 pm    
Reply with quote

It's Elwood Francis, he's Billy Gibbons' guitar tech. He's no youngster. BTW, the video was from two days ago in Manchester UK (it's in the description).
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tony Palmer


From:
St Augustine,FL
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 8:11 pm    
Reply with quote

But I don't get how that lap steel is sounding exactly like a pedal steel. ?
_________________
Sierra S10 (three!), Peavey 112 and 115, Benoit dobro, Beard Model E dobro, Beard Roadophonic, MSA Superslide, Dean Nickless custom dobro
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 8:30 pm    
Reply with quote

yep, he's either got some palm pedals (doesn't look like it) or perhaps he's just 'lap-syncing' to a recorded track. No volume pedal either.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Dave Meis


From:
Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 8:39 pm    
Reply with quote

Wonder what those amps in the back line are? Rolling Eyes
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Bill L. Wilson


From:
Oklahoma, USA
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 9:13 pm     Billy's Amps.
Reply with quote

I think Billy has been using Magnatone Amps for a few yrs. If Elwood is actually doing the steel part, I'm impressed. I've heard Elwood say, he can't play Billy's guitars with the extra super slinky strings. A .007 1st string is awful thin, but at his age the old hands may be in decline, I know mine are.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 27 Jul 2017 9:27 pm    
Reply with quote

Tony, it's definitely a sync-job. Here is another performance in CZ last week, steel part is identical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVxRoumz9Vo
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tommy White

 

From:
Nashville
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 7:21 am    
Reply with quote

Haha! Love it! Stacks of cardboard box amps with LED lights! Kind of like faux store fronts in old western movies. Obviously, the steel player is prisoner to the band, according to his pants.😂
View user's profile Send private message

Damir Besic


From:
Nashville,TN.
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 7:39 am    
Reply with quote

I heard that ZZ Top guys are known to show up at Nashville clubs, and jam with the bands, so if that's a true, then I'm not surprised by this...
_________________
https://steelguitarsonline.com/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Storm Rosson

 

From:
Silver City, NM. USA
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 7:40 am    
Reply with quote

I don't think it's sync at all here's another piece "Webb Pierce" In the Jailhouse now,sound sucks but watch El on the intro, I'm positive he's playing by watching the hand movement...his bio says he's 33 yrs old,touted as the premiere guitar tech around these days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgjLRQDO40A. Tommy there is an article about Billy G and magnatone.. amps so I suggest those are real amp stacks IMO...Stormy...http://equipboard.com/items/magnatone-super-59-amp
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tommy White

 

From:
Nashville
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 7:54 am    
Reply with quote

Storm,
No argument from me sir. Obviously your eyes and ears are much better than mine.😊
View user's profile Send private message

Storm Rosson

 

From:
Silver City, NM. USA
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 8:02 am    
Reply with quote

I seriously doubt that Tommy,I based my op about the sync on watching a few vids and reading a number of articles about Elwood, so obviously I could be, and usually am wrong...Stormy
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Joey Ace


From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 8:54 am    
Reply with quote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BK6HhP07gk

It looks to me that everything but vocals and drums are prerecorded.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Jonathan Shacklock


From:
London, UK
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 9:02 am    
Reply with quote

I saw ZZTop a couple of years ago with some friends and we all came away convinced there was miming going on. Pretty disappointing. Sad
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Greg Cutshaw


From:
Corry, PA, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 9:30 am    
Reply with quote

Fake amps and steel. Disgusting that people would pay for a dishonest show like that. There's tons of threads showing fake amps that these groups use for example:


http://www.marshallforum.com/threads/do-bands-use-dummy-marshall-cabinets-on-stage.74634/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger

Joey Ace


From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 10:51 am    
Reply with quote

The clip that Storm posted (In the Jail House) also appears to be "lap-snyced". Winking

No finger picks, and he misses miming the first few intro licks.

I wouldn't be surprized if he could really play PSG. The hand positions look real.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

MIchael Bean


From:
North Of Boston
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 11:04 am    
Reply with quote

Billy G played pedal steel on some really early ZZ Top albums; apparently he got pretty good over the years. They've been using backing tracks for horn & keyboard lines since the 1981 Deguello tour. This is no major departure.
_________________
www.facebook.com/michaelbeanmusic
https://www.instagram.com/michaelbeanmusic/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Tucker Jackson

 

From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 11:33 am    
Reply with quote

The steel part may be the same in different videos, but the performances are unique. He's very consistent from show to show, though.

I don't think it's a sync... but he's got to have palm levers to get that pedal sound.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

James Kerr


From:
Scotland, UK
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 11:53 am    
Reply with quote

I think we all know those steel parts did not come from a Lap Steel Guitar, or the cardboard Amps. What I would like to know is how you know its them behind those Roy Orbison glasses and big false beards.

James.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

scott murray


From:
Asheville, NC
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 12:15 pm    
Reply with quote

I'm surprised we're even debating this. those parts are obviously played on a pedal steel, no amount of palm levers can emulate that sound (not to mention there are clearly no levers on his lap steel).

perhaps he played the actual parts on psg and they want to feature him on the show. or maybe they were played by Gibbons and they just want to give their pal a taste of the spotlight.

but I think of most ZZ Top fans as guitar aficionados (Gibbons certainly is), and I'm surprised the band would try to fool their audience like this, or that Gibbons doesn't have a little more respect for the instrument.

but the vocals are also clearly pitch corrected and possibly prerecorded, so I guess this is just the current state of show biz... it is what it is. ZZ Top is not the Texas bar blues band they once were. haven't been for decades
_________________
1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Greg Cutshaw


From:
Corry, PA, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 12:27 pm    
Reply with quote

So a crowd attract a crowd and everyone has a good time. Are none of the audience true music lovers and did none of them come to see a live performance? What degree of fakery is acceptable? Why not as James above alludes to, just put body doubles on stage for ZZTop and complete the charade and of course still collect all the ticket fees.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger

gary pierce


From:
Rossville TN
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 1:21 pm    
Reply with quote

Looks like a milli vanilli job to me. Laughing
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tucker Jackson

 

From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jul 2017 1:41 pm    
Reply with quote

scott murray wrote:
...not to mention there are clearly no levers on his lap steel.


Yeah, I see that now, at the end of the video when he set it down. I stand corrected: synced.

Also, there are obvious volume swells, but he doesn't have a volume pedal. He could be doing it with his pinkie... if his hands weren't already tied up manipulating the non-existent palm levers.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP