Growing up here in Pcola I remember vividly when they were just getting started in early 70's and used to play fairly regularly in some of the clubs here in the area...whether on the beach or in town. As they got bigger, I used to listen to New Orleans radio stations and can still hear to this day, the ads when ZZ Top, that little ole band from Texas was to play at The Warehouse in NO. I assume it was basically a music hall for lack of better term. They were THE main draw in that place for years. When they came out with Rio Grande Mud album, it shot them into national prominence....then Tres Hombres album(with La Grange) and it was the stratosphere and only got bigger.
A friend of mine was friends with Billy Gibbons and every time ZZTop came to play in Pensacola or Mobile, my friend Doug ALWAYS got us backstage before, during, and especially after the concert. Great guys to hang with, and I was lucky enough to get that chance about 6-7 times over the next 10 years or so. I miss those days a bunch.
This vid is from the R&R Hall of Fame show in 2012 with Dusty, Gibbons, Bonamassa, and Derek Trucks playing a Freddie King number as King was being inducted. Dusty isn't the main draw as this was a hot guitar number, but he always played a mean solid bass, and overlooked by a lot of people Dusty had a strong voice. He wasn't featured much on vocals but when he was, he always came through strong.
For you Dusty, RIP...his parts begin around 1:00 mark or so.(The entire numbers is good--not just Dusty Hills)