Who plays Rhythm Guitar for Led Zeppelin when they are live?

Question:There are several bands like led zeppelin, black sabbath, etc. who have only one guitarist. on recording, the one guitarist records himself play lead and rhythm at different times so it sounds like two guitarists are present while there is only one. However, what do they do when they are live? who plays rhythm when the guitarist is playing lead?

they could use recordings and play that while they're live but that has to be difficult for the recording to sync with the band while live because the two could start at different times and not play exactly the same speed, even a half a bpm faster or slower could make it sound bad. so if they do use recordings, how would that work?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: There are several bands like led zeppelin, black sabbath, etc. who have only one guitarist. on recording, the one guitarist records himself play lead and rhythm at different times so it sounds like two guitarists are present while there is only one. However, what do they do when they are live? who plays rhythm when the guitarist is playing lead?

they could use recordings and play that while they're live but that has to be difficult for the recording to sync with the band while live because the two could start at different times and not play exactly the same speed, even a half a bpm faster or slower could make it sound bad. so if they do use recordings, how would that work?

If you look at old concert footage of Led Zep, you'll see that no one played rhythm guitar- they would just do the song arrangement without the added guitar tracks in the recording. (Part of what made groups like Led Zeppelin so good was that they were able to put on a fun live show even though the live songs didn't sound like the recorded versions.)

Here's a video to demonstrate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9i2fqxSj...

Nowadays, bands can use very sophisticated technology (Ableton Live) to sync their live performances with prerecorded tracks played back on the computer. Most of the time, it works great. When it doesn't, you get absolutely wonderful YouTube moments like the Van Halen one linked to below.

I think robert plant played guitar as well.