January 29, 2010
In this issue:
Wishing You a New Year that ROCKS!
I hope you and yours had a terrific holiday season. We did!It looks as though it's going to be another great year for lovers of Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page has confirmed that we can expect new material from him in 2010. And John Paul Jones' new band with Josh Homme and Dave Grohl, Them Crooked Vultures, is getting rave reviews everywhere. JPJ has also promised more good things to come this year; in this case, a second album.
Now let's take a look back at Led Zeppelin in January 1975 and ahead to TCV next month.
Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, Zep-filled new decade!
Sick Again - In January 1975
In North America, that “coughing-sneezing-scratchy throat- feverish-achey-dizzy-nauseated” cold and flu season officially runs from November through April. Imagine trying to play your best in front of thousands who have paid to see you when you really feel like you’re “In My Time of Dying”!When I interviewed the late J.J. Jackson, he told me the guys in Led Zeppelin had been very concerned their January ’69 show at the Whisky A Go Go wouldn’t go on because Jimmy Page had caught a bug. Here’s what J.J. told me (excerpted from Sonic Boom Vol 1):
“I remember talking to Bonzo and Robert when we were touring around and they said what a scare Jimmy had given them when they were playing earlier on the tour. I think they said it was at the Whisky A Go Go in LA.
Jimmy was sicker than a dog and he played on anyway. They were all scared to death because he was wobbling all over the stage, barely able to stand up from a fever he had, but he played on incredibly well.
Everyone admired him for that and his perseverance had paid off for everyone. Of course, Jimmy didn’t make a big deal out of it, merely saying he had to do what was necessary. Everyone else in the group was inspired at Jimmy’s 'the show must go on' attitude.
I think that episode demonstrated a hardcore tutorial for Robert and Bonzo...and to a much lesser extent John Paul Jones who held the same philosophy as Page since he was a veteran performer, of professionalism at its finest. I know Jonesy would have done the same thing as Jimmy if he’d been ill.
All four of them said the tour was going way better than they had expected. I could see why when I saw them play in Boston. We were all in amazing spirits that entire week.
I think they all had a sense of self and a sense of group that was very balanced. They were so professional that they weren’t going to be taken down by their egos. Page and Jones were great role models for Robert and Bonzo.
Things had been going well but they were far from having it made on this tour. They gave off the impression that they had a job to do on this tour and that they were going to do it to the best of their abilities. That’s what I got from them.
Whenever I was with them, and this was true throughout their career too, I detected everyone genuinely liked the others in the band. Jimmy didn’t lord over the others his past successes, nor did Jones, on that First Tour.
Jimmy and John Paul had seen the ravages of all that kind of personality stuff in their session work in England. They weren’t about to let it happen to their band. Bonzo and Robert adopted that philosophy along with them.
That’s not to say there wasn’t boisterous bantering, practical jokes galore and ego-flexing for fun. There was! But when it came right down to it and the lights went down and Zeppelin stepped on stage, music became the united goal. This was the case from the beginning to the end of Zeppelin’s career. Believe me. The music took over and that’s all they were concerned about.”
J.J. wasn’t alone in his observations about the level of professionalism that Led Zeppelin’s musicians demonstrated from Day One. Other broadcasters, authors and concert goers have often said the same. Back to other examples of the legendary Led and its musicians playing on…
Long before Jimmy Page played with The Yardbirds, he gigged in a London band called Neil Christian and the Crusaders. But he was prone to bouts of illness and touring was too much for his fragile health at the time. He turned his talents to studio work. And the rest is rock history!
When the serious injuries Robert Plant suffered in a car accident while on holiday in Greece prevented him from touring, the band rallied ‘round and put the recuperative “down-time” to good use. The result was Zeppelin’s first double-album: Physical Graffiti, released in the United States on February 24, 1975.
With that new album about to come out, it was very important for the band to hit the road again. Led Zeppelin kicked off its 10th U.S. and Canadian Tour on January 18, 1975 at the Metropolitan Center in Minneapolis. (Even though Jimmy Page was still nursing a broken finger…)
Then Robert Plant came down with the flu, which added to the challenge. By the time the band got to Chicago, where it was to play for three nights (January 20-22), Plant’s voice was not in good shape. The band played on, regardless.
A live concert recording surfaced from the mid-point of that run on January 21, 1975, capturing the band’s struggles forever on vinyl. Live at the Chicago Stadium is an extremely rare live concert LP. It attests that Plant’s voice was definitely in trouble from the opening notes of Rock and Roll.
Front cover of a very rare live concert recording or “bootleg”. The back cover is blank. Note the hand-drawn graphics so typical at the time. This is a double LP set. Album title: Live at the Chicago Stadium. Company: Digger Productions. Country of origin: USA. Matrix #: 2675 A-D. Photo courtesy of Enzepplopedia Archives, used with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc. |
Led Zeppelin’s songs had always been a challenge to sing. The demanding new material on Physical Graffiti was particularly ambitious. As the band debuted its new songs, Plant’s voice was constantly breaking and sounded severely pained. That his tortured vocals were tinged with flu comes through very clearly, even on that rather sub-par live recording. Somehow, he also made it through the now classic Kashmir and In My Time of Dying.
Songs that allowed him to sing in lower registers must have felt like a godsend to Robert, giving him some reprieve!
It’s kind of ironic that Plant’s flu and Page’s healing broken finger led to Zeppelin performing some of the songs they rarely performed and may not have even then, if they’d all been feeling up to snuff.
Despite being under the weather, Plant sang those with great heart and also injected his genuine agony into the already poignant song, When the Levee Breaks from Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album.
Given Led Zeppelin’s gruelling tour schedule throughout the band’s career, surprisingly few concerts were cancelled or rescheduled. Although Jimmy Page did break his finger AGAIN just before Zeppelin’s planned reunion gig at London’s O2 Arena (November 26, 2007). It probably hadn’t healed fully by the time the band DID play on December 10, 2007 but he soldiered on to give the world a stellar performance.
I guess old habits die hard…
Please note: The manufacture, distribution and sale of unauthorized and/or unlicensed recordings is illegal. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc. does not produce, distribute or sell such material nor endorse those who do. Any reference, discussion or image presented here is intended solely for the purposes of historical research and context.
JPJ's TCV on NBC-TV's SNL!
Enough with the acronyms! Them Crooked Vultures will be appearing on Saturday Night Live on February 6, 2010. Ashton Kutchner is to host that evening.
Front cover of the latest edition of Tight But Loose magazine, featuring former Led Zeppelin member, bass guitarist/ keyboardist John Paul Jones. Photo courtesy of Dave Lewis, Tight But Loose magazine, used with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc. |
And speaking of JPJ…
He’s featured in Dave Lewis’ latest issue of Tight But Loose. Dave has been chronicling the world of Led Zeppelin since 1978 and his magazine is always a fascinating, well-informed read. In this edition, he talks to John Paul Jones about his latest musical venture.
There are articles by others plus TCV concert reviews and lots of info on Zeppelin, too. Or is that Zeppelin II? Hey – it’s both! Including an interview with recording engineer, Eddie Kramer.
If you don’t already subscribe, you can by visiting: tblweb.com. The next issue is due out in April.
That’s it for this month’s Enzepplozine. Until next time, rock on!
Yours in Zep,
Frank Reddon
Reminders
Want to learn about Led? Visit Learn-about-Led.com
Order Sonic Boom Volume 1 at Enzepplopedia.com.
And don't forget to tell us what's YOUR favourite Led Zeppelin album!
Do you already own True Blues & Beyond, my e-book that explores Led Zeppelin's earliest influences in the blues? It's free for Enzepploziners. Click here to download it.