Frank Beard (musician) played in the bands American Blues, the Warlocks, and the Cellar Dwellers. After honing their trademark "Texas boogie-blues-rock" style, they released their aptly titled "ZZ Top's First Album" on London Records in January 1971. When ZZ Top started, Beard was known by the nickname "Rube" and was credited as "Rube Beard" on the first album and on "Tres Hombres", the band's third album, but is listed under his real name on "Rio Grande Mud", their second album. After "Tres Hombres", he was credited as "Frank Beard" on all the band's albums. Ironically, despite his last name he is the only
Rick Nielsen have been compared to Hall's. Nielsen is also well known for wearing a bowtie. Nielsen's image moved away from the cartoonish look of the 70s in the early 1990s, when he sported a mustache, goatee beard (often with a long braid) and dark glasses which gave him a mildly sinister look. That image changed again on March 9, 2001, when he shaved the beard and mustache off during the encore break at a show at hometown Rockford's Coronado Theater. Since then, Nielsen has retained the clean shaven look, together with designer suits. In the late 2000s, he started wearing bowties