In this issue:

• Guest Columnist Dave Lewis Looks Back

Led Zeppelin 40 Years On

If you’ve been interested in all things Zep for any length of time, you’ve certainly heard of Dave Lewis. I challenge you to look up ANYTHING about Zeppelin on Wikipedia and not see his name among the references!

He has written or co-authored many books about his favourite band and, since 1978, he has been publishing an all-Zeppelin magazine called Tight But Loose.

Mike Tremaglio is an avid Led Zeppelin aficionado, collector and frequent contributor to Tight But Loose. That mag is a must for any true Led Zeppelin fan. More about this later – plus a sneak peek at the next issue’s cover.

But first, here's a look at the special article collated for our Enzepplozine by Dave and Mike.

Led Zeppelin Flying High Early 1970:
A Snapshot of Reflections
40 Years On

JANUARY 9, 1970. ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND

One of the key Zeppelin appearances. On the night of Jimmy's 26th birthday, they played to their full potential to a fantastic audience and press reception, as can be seen on the 2003 official release Led Zeppelin DVD.

Disc proclaimed “Zeppelin rock and we rave!” Caroline Boucher reported: "Led Zeppelin proved on Friday that inside even the coolest hip audience there's a rocker screaming to get out. And at the end of two and a half hours, the entire Albert Hall in London was on its feet jiving, stomping and stripping.

Jimmy Page is certainly a brilliant and reticent guitarist, but solo honours went to John Bonham who made a frantic 15-minute drum solo seem like five, with none of the embarrassment and boredom usually aroused by drum solos.

Plant's vocals were adequate if a little disappointing. Both his movement and voice seemed suppressed. He never really let himself go. But what was so nice and refreshing was that the group enjoyed playing, and actually wanted to play more and more. That, in this age of deadpan indifference from group and audience, is a valuable quality."

Jimmy Page: "It was just like it was at the Albert Hall in the summer, with everyone dancing 'round the stage. It is a great feeling. What could be better than having everyone clapping and shouting along? It's indescribable, but it just makes you feel that everything is worthwhile."

FEBRUARY 28, 1970. K.B. HALLEN, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

New Musical Express reported: 'Zeppelin become Nobs!' "When Led Zeppelin plays a concert in Copenhagen tomorrow, it will be billed under the name of The Nobs. Reason is that Eva Von Zeppelin - relative of the airship designer - has threatened to sue the British group if it appears as Led Zeppelin in Denmark."

The set included the rarely performed Eddie Cochran double-header of C'mon Everybody and Something Else which led into a chaotic rendition of Bring It On Home. Plant then told the audience: "We'd like to say thank you very much for receiving us back again, after last time we came here with Country Joe and The Fish. We've gotta say that I don't think we've changed much, but an incredible change in playing. We'd like to dedicate this to the wonderful clubs in Copenhagen, and until we come back again this is how we'd like you to remember us.’’

MARCH 10, 1970. JAHRHUNDERTHALLE, FRANKFURT, GERMANY. CANCELLED

New Musical Express (28/2/70) mentioned that this gig was cancelled due to the riots at a Jethro Tull gig on February 21, 1970). Stars and Stripes (16/6/70) further elaborated: “the group’s engagement last March at the Jahrhunderthalle had to be cancelled because the 2,000-seat concert hall wouldn’t accommodate the expected number of fans.

In February, unruly youths had damaged the hall after being turned away from a Jethro Tull concert because the house was already filled to capacity. The management wanted no additional incidents and thus postponed the Led Zeppelin concert.”

MARCH 10, 1970. MUSIKHALLE, HAMBURG, GERMANY

With the short notice of cancellation of the Frankfurt show, a second Hamburg show was hastily arranged. Heartbreaker featured a new, delicate introduction adding to the dynamics of the piece. At the end of the song Plant segued into "With a purple umbrella..." from Living Loving Maid, humorously mimicking the sequence of the second album. Plant: "I think we're all getting a bit looser."

What Is And What Should Never Be was now frequently added to the set list. How Many More Times was again a standout.

Plant: "I'd like to take this opportunity of introducing Led Zeppelin on the first of our two very lively nights in Hamburg." The singer proceeded to take the band through a brief history of the blues including Robert Johnson's Travelling Riverside Blues (performed in its original style rather than Zeppelin's BBC session arrangement of 1969).

MARCH 21, 1970. PACIFIC COLISEUM, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Advertisement courtesy of the Tight But Loose archives, reprinted with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc.

This show holds the distinction of being the source for the first ever vinyl Led Zeppelin bootleg. Packaged in a plain brown cardboard cover bearing the name ''Pb''(the chemical symbol for lead “Plumbium” in Latin). It was later re-issued as Mudslide on the Trade Mark Of Quality label.

The source was widely reported as being a radio broadcast but no evidence exists to confirm that. The 40-minute extract from the show was more likely the product of an enterprising person close to the venue's staff who taped the show directly from the soundboard.

The Vancouver Express (24/3/70) turned in a positive review of the show, commenting: "Robert Plant, the physical and vocal gymnast of the group, turned the crowd on at will with his shaggy blond mane and his searing three-octave voice."

"The lead guitar of Jimmy Pae was a constant delight to the senses, particularly in his much-improved White Summer solo."

TUESDAY MARCH 31, 1970. THE SPECTRUM, PHILADEPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Philadelphia's Evening Bulletin reported: "For 15,800 cosmics who bought out the Spectrum last night to partake in the 150-minute, straight-run Led Zeppelin concert, it was all top shelf - pure and uncut. Without second-raters cluttering the bill, there was the rare opportunity at a rock concert for both performers and audience to interact and expand with each other. Both enjoyed the opportunity to 'really get into things'.

"Last night's concert was like most others for Zeppelin on this tour. Big, big crowds and even bigger money. If you're a promoter and you want the Zeppelin for a two-and-a-half-hour concert, then you've got to pay. Each concert on the tour carries a hefty $25,000 minimum."

APRIL 2, 1970. CIVIC CENTER, CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, USA

The Charleston Gazette (28/3/70) called this appearance not a concert, but a “two-and-one-half hour rock recital,” saying that “whether good, bad, or average, this type of extended performance is unprecedented in the short history of rock tours.”

As for the show itself, the band received a rave review from Charleston Gazette critic, Ray Brack, in his review entitled Led Zeppelin, fans soars out of sight…together. Brack’s enthusiastic review included the following superlatives:

...the show was a “brilliant, bombastic contemporary blues recital.”

“Page doesn’t deal in phony frills and cheap thrills. He is one of the world’s leading guitarists, regardless of field…he played blues, the classics, jazz and then jacked up the voltage and played his own pet project, progressive blues.”

“John Bonham also triumphed in a solo, demonstrating a tenacious capacity to muster and sustain high-density sound at high volume.”

“Robert Plant deserves his growing reputation as the most sexually exciting personality in rock. But he deserves more. Plant is more musician than pretty goldilocks rock and roll star. He has the guts to get into a blues like Bring It on Home and the range and musical sense to do something with it.”

APRIL 23, 1970. BBC-TV STUDIOS, LIME GROVE, LONDON, ENGLAND

Jimmy Page performed White Summer/Black Mountain Side on the Julie Felix Show. The show also featured The Hollies. The taping of the show occurred on Thursday, April 23 and was broadcast at 11.10 pm the following Sunday (26th) on BBC1.

This rare TV appearance for Jimmy was arranged via Peter Grant's association with Mickie Most. Julie Felix, the US folk singer, was managed by Most whose RAK Record label shared an office with Zep's Superhype up. Julie was also a friend of John Paul Jones’. "My next guest this evening is a member of certainly the most successful group to come out of Britain in the last couple of years," announced Ms Felix. "Led Zeppelin LPs top both the British and American charts and the lead guitarist in that group is definitely a very talented and special musician. Ladies and gentlemen... Jimmy Page!"

Jimmy delivered a quite startling virtuoso performance of White Summer/Black Mountain Side - a regular part of Zeppelin's live act up to that point. This version was something of a swan song for the piece during this era as it would not be played again until 1977.

OTHER EARLY 1970 FACTS AND INFO

*Jimmy Page’s 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty” guitar was stolen en route to Canada in April 1970. The guitar had been purchased in 1962 and was used throughout Jimmy’s session days. He had decided to take the guitar out for the 1970 tours, and it can be seen on the Royal Albert Hall performance on Led Zeppelin DVD. Photos exist of Jimmy rehearsing with the guitar backstage at the April 10 show in Miami. Within a few days the guitar was gone, most likely played for the last time at the April 12 show in Bloomington, Minnesota (since it never found its way to Canada). Jimmy even took out an ad in Rolling Stone magazine a few years later, (July 19, 1973), but the guitar has never turned up.

*When the band arrived in Memphis, Tennessee on April 17, they were made “honorary citizens” of Memphis, and given keys to the city. Earlier in the day, Robert and Jimmy had decided on a whim to visit the legendary Sun Recording Studios with their local Atlantic rep, Phillip Rauls, but were disappointed to learn that it was closed. *The band took their How Many More Times medley to a whole new level in 1970, incorporating countless blues and rock standards into the song. Having a virtually encyclopedic knowledge of music, the band was able to improvise one standard after the next in an instant. While John Lee Hooker’s Boogie Chillun, Jeff Beck’s Beck’s Bolero, Freddie King’s Hideaway, Move on Down the Line and Truckin’ Little Mama/Bottle Up and Go were typically incorporated into the medley on a nightly basis, countless songs were performed “on the spot.”

*Some of the rare songs played during the 1970 medley run the gamut of rock and blues legends: On the Way Home (Buffalo Springfield); Down by the River (Neil Young); Leave My Woman Alone (Ray Charles); C.C. Rider (Elvis Presley); Be-Bop-A-Lula (Gene Vincent); Think You Need a Shot – The Needle (Walter Davis); Jenny Jenny (Little Richard); Suzie Q (Creedence Clearwater Revival); Travelling Riverside Blues (Robert Johnson); Long Distance Call (Muddy Waters); Shotgun Blues (Sonny Boy Williamson); Cat’s Squirrel (Cream); Tobacco Road (The Nashville Teens); My Babe (Little Walter); Memphis Tennessee (Chuck Berry).

With thanks to Eric Bown/Ledzeppelin-reference.com

©COPYRIGHT 2010. Tight But Loose magazine. All rights reserved. Published with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc.

This is Frank again. Wasn’t that a great trip down memory lane? I can’t thank Dave Lewis and Mike Tremaglio enough for allowing us to share their text with you.

Dave Lewis has this important PS!

PS - For a comprehensive lowdown of Led Zeppelin in early 1970, be sure to check out the forthcoming issue of the Tight But Loose magazine.

It features a detailed log of the months from January to April ’70 newly compiled by Mike Tremaglio - plus a host of other great features and interviews. It's the essential Zep read!

Subscription details for the magazine are at this link http://www.tightbutloose.co.uk/tblweb09/?page_id=1469

Reminders

Want to learn about Led? Visit Learn-about-Led.com

Order Sonic Boom Volume 1 here.

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.