In this issue:

Remembering JJ Jackson

In 1997, I was at the Boston Public Library conducting research on Led Zeppelin when I happened to meet a woman in the periodicals room. She proved to be a treasure trove of information about the music scene in the 1960s! A self-proclaimed flower child, Pat Seward lived the era’s hippie lifestyle on both the East and West coasts of the United States.

She told me all about the club scene in Boston and mentioned she used to hang out with Chet Helms in San Francisco. That particular affiliation allowed me to interview many fascinating folks in California. But Pat also revealed that JJ Jackson was on the scene in Boston when Led Zeppelin first played at The Boston Tea Party in January 1969.

Until I met Pat, I had only known JJ Jackson as one of the first five pioneering VideoJocks for MTV. But Pat assured me that JJ had been a popular DJ at Boston’s coolest radio station, WBCN. All of a sudden, it clicked that JJ must have come to know the members of Led Zeppelin beyond those first early gigs.

At their concert at the Inglewood Forum on June 26, 1977, Robert Plant dedicated a number to JJ Jackson. On an unofficial concert recording, you can hear him intone, “I guess we’ll dedicate this one to a good friend of ours, JJ Jackson, that famous disc jockey that you all know and love…it’s called Since I’ve Been Loving You.

I had to see if I could talk to JJ! He was very cautious and wary when I first contacted him. JJ’s relationship with Led Zeppelin meant a great deal to him; he was understandably circumspect and very protective. The band members must have known and appreciated that.

I’m not sure what finally tipped things my way in JJ’s favour, but I eventually did get to speak to him at length on several occasions. Each interview was a delight and a total revelation. JJ Jackson was not only warm and personable, but extremely knowledgeable about music. He provided me with great stories as well as in-depth analysis of Led Zeppelin’s music.

Five years ago today, on March 17, 2004, JJ Jackson suffered a massive heart attack and died behind the wheel of his car. In his memory, it seems appropriate and fitting to share with you some of the things he so graciously shared with me.

You may have already read some of these excerpts. My first-ever interview with JJ Jackson appears in full in Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 – Break & Enter. Our second interview was excerpted in a previous Enzepplozine issue. But I have several other interviews with JJ that have never been published anywhere before so, even if some of the passages below are familiar, keep reading. You’ll find others that are absolutely new. Enjoy!

Yours in Zep,

PS – JJ sent me the pictures that appear below from his private collection. The shots of him on-stage with Led Zeppelin are from the Carousel Theatre in Framingham, Massachusetts on August 21, 1969. The publicity shot of JJ bears his autograph and a message: Frank – Thanks for caring. JJ Jackson.

My First Interview with JJ Jackson

REDDON: What was it like to see Led Zeppelin for the first time, in January 1969?

JACKSON: It’s something I’ll never forget. After anticipating the band’s arrival for weeks, it finally happened. I saw them at The Boston Tea Party all four nights they played. The first night, The Tea Party was full, but not packed to the rafters. When Zeppelin started, I was absolutely dumbfounded. It was Train Kept A-Rollin’ played in a way that was absolutely brand new, compared to The Yardbirds’ version.

They had a unique sound and energy that’s almost indescribable to this day. Their blues numbers such as I Can’t Quit You Baby and You Shook Me were beyond anything I had ever heard. And then there was Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, Dazed and Confused, White Summer… the list goes on. I was completely blown away at the whole experience. Everyone at The Tea Party was that first night.

I just could not believe what I was hearing and seeing. The interplay between Robert Plant’s voice and Page’s guitar left a real impression on me. Bonham was such a creative drummer and he was able to elevate and abate his volume at will, without missing a beat. Plant’s moves were incredible. Not calculating, just an outpouring of the music through him. Robert’s actions couldn’t be planned. His enthusiasm shone through.

And I can’t forget about John Paul Jones. His bass guitar work completely blew me away. He was laying down these fantastic bass guitar licks and chops, counter-punching them against Bonham’s most amazing back-beat and other drum patterns. Bonham’s back-beat was one of the most enjoyable features. It integrated the work of all four of Zep’s members, fusing together the blues, R&B and rock into one glorious wall of sound. I don’t want to change the subject on you…

I remember the first night at The Boston Tea Party but the exact date has faded. You mentioned that it was January 23, 1969, correct?

REDDON: Yes, that’s correct.

JACKSON: Any way I’m able to help you with your research, Frank, I will. I think what you’re doing is extremely important to musical history. Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?

End of excerpt. Was he kidding?!! Of COURSE there was more I wanted to ask him! And he graciously allowed me to. Which brings us to…

My Second Interview with JJ Jackson

JACKSON: For sure! I told you earlier that I love to hear how cover songs are treated - not just by Led Zeppelin but by other artists, as well. But, since we’re discussing Led Zeppelin…they make this version of I Can’t Quit You Baby into their very own thing. We already heard the same type of approach applied to You Shook Me on Side One, another cover song.

What strikes me about I Can’t Quit You Baby, is it’s an arrangement that’s unique to the Led Zeppelin album. When performed live at The Boston Tea Party, there’s a guitar introduction. On the Led Zeppelin version, you have Robert starting things off with a cry from his soul, without any instrumental help. It’s so effective and he uses a ton of blues tricks-of-the-trade throughout this song.

That’s the thing about recorded music. It’s a time-capsule medium where an artist’s ideas are stored for good. Recorded music captures where a musician is at that time in so many ways. Robert proves that, at this time in 1969, he’s already accomplished in so many vocal styles and techniques that give Zeppelin’s music such a “blues authenticity”.

Here, I Can’t Quit You Baby is like a textbook of blues vocal techniques. Among the highlights is the interplay between Jimmy’s guitar and the vocals; a very strong component of the blues. We’ve already heard some fantastic examples of the guitar/vocal interaction of Page and Plant in You Shook Me and Dazed and Confused. Now it’s time for more!

John Paul Jones’ bass guitar playing makes you swear you’re sitting in a hot, sweaty, after-hours blues club. His playing is so convincingly funky, making the bass guitar come alive with prominence, here and there, throughout. Jones’ playing meshes perfectly with everything else Plant, Page and Bonham are doing.

Speaking of Bonzo, whoa! His steady, intricate drumming has a lively, jazzy and shuffling feeling to it, interacting with the rest of the group at different intensities throughout the song. The cymbal taps throughout the verses, in my mind, really promote a dance band, jazzy feeling. Talk to any drummer about this song and they’ll tell you there’s so much going on here, thanks to Bonzo. It’s a great performance by Bonzo in this Led Zeppelin recording of I Can’t Quit You Baby. Even though he’s a powerhouse on the drum kit, he doesn’t overstate his drumming here. You can tell he has a real feeling for what he’s doing as far as the blues are concerned, while injecting his own rock’n’roll style into this blues classic.

Jimmy’s guitar playing, as usual, is nothing short of supernatural on this track. The guitar fills are so right for what the band is doing on this tune and his playing is so advanced. Like everybody else in the band, the boundaries of this tune are being pushed by Page, from the blues into new rock’n’roll territory that nobody else has been doing up to this point in music…or even had a glimpse of, until Led Zeppelin came along.

I think this is a very important point. Page’s playing on this song has such a feeling of control and empathy for Robert’s vocals. You know Jimmy’s got fast fingers, after you listen to this one - fast guitar work that leaves your brain in shreds. It’s always different played live, too, by the entire band.

REDDON: I’m enjoying your analysis so much, JJ, I’m wishing Led Zeppelin were a double album!

JACKSON: Wow, thanks! I’ll take that as a real compliment!

My Final Interviews with JJ Jackson - Based on Bootlegs from The Boston Tea Party

Until now, I have never published my last interviews with JJ Jackson. It is not illegal to collect live concert recordings, only to produce, distribute or sell them. However, in this age of digital downloading and file-sharing, even the record labels are releasing material that previously existed only in unofficial form! So I feel much more comfortable these days in going public with this information. I was further encouraged when I read Jimmy Page’s comments to Brad Tolinski of Guitar World magazine. Page said that listening to live recordings of one’s work "was like looking at a diary".

I was so grateful to JJ for the time he spent with me, I sent him several live concert recordings that I had in my collection. He was completely thrilled to relive his concert experiences this way. Once again, he graciously allowed me to interview him about the unofficial live recordings of the concerts he actually attended.

JJ Jackson Talks about The Complete Boston Tea Party CD. January 23, 1969 – the first of four gigs Zeppelin played at The Tea Party

JACKSON: I want to thank you, Frank, for enabling me to hear these recordings from that era that was such an important part of my life. That was the beginning of it all for me and to go back is really too much. I can’t thank you enough for helping me relive that period through Zeppelin’s music.

That whole time when Zeppelin was at The Boston Tea Party for that First Tour was such a far-out trip. I not only loved their music immediately but I got to spend time with them and become friends. The friendships I developed with the members of Zeppelin have become lifelong ones. I’m so grateful for that and that Led Zeppelin has done so well and is today considered one of the greatest groups in music history.

I will always be honoured that I was able to be a part of that very special time in their career, when they were just starting out. We all were, actually.

REDDON: Next is I Can’t Quit You Baby, after Page gets his guitar string replaced.

JACKSON: I remember when they had to take a break for Page to change a string, now that I hear this recording…crazy, absolutely crazy it comes back like that. That’s so 1960s rock’n’roll, you know? It’s so neat the show stops until he gets a string in his favourite guitar! Such an informal atmosphere with nobody getting uptight for a small delay.

Plant talks to the audience in a chatty voice, while Bonzo pounds out an ad lib rhythm to fill in for the delay, which I totally enjoyed hearing again. This recording brings it all back and it’s pleasantly unnerving!

Page’s guitar work gets the song going and Plant’s battle with the feedback is a funny moment. Everyone thought that was a riot and the chances of the feedback almost becoming personified and taunting Robert were one in a million! Everybody just laughed, including Robert.

It freaks me out how hearing this performance brings so much of it back. That feedback episode was such a fun thing. The song finally got underway and it’s a brilliant version of this blues classic. It’s incredible how much feeling is put into this number by all four guys. It’s super loud one second, super quiet the next, before going off in some volume in between. Incredible!

Jimmy’s guitar work in this song is simply out-of-this-world, with his guitar fills and runs going all over the map. At the time, I had the Led Zeppelin album version of I Can’t Quit You Baby burned into my brain and as I listened to it live for the first time, I recall thinking that this is one group that isn’t about to play its album note for note in concert. I found that realization very exciting that night. The whole band was simply tremendous with this live version, on this recording.

JJ Jackson Talks about The Fillmore East I and II CDs from January 26, 1969 – the last of four gigs Zeppelin played at The Boston Tea Party. Note that the boot was erroneously named for Bill Graham’s venue in New York City, The Fillmore East.

JACKSON: You asked me about Train Kept A Rollin’ on this last night at the Boston Tea Party. From the opening notes, Led Zeppelin is on fire in this recording. Page’s guitar work reminds me a great deal of Jimi Hendrix’ playing with the wah-wah treatment he gives the introduction. It’s like Page’s wah-wah pedal is connected to your brain or something, tugging it up and down, it’s that intense…very much in the style of Hendrix.

What a difference from the version I listened to from the first night of Train Kept A Rollin’ (referring to The Complete Boston Tea Party CD). It’s one thing to have the music floating around in your head as a memory, but to actually hear the difference consecutively of the two versions today, is startling. The fact you’ve got all these differences painstakingly documented blows me away.

REDDON: It’s a lot of work. JACKSON: I’ll say! Also I find it’s difficult to even hear Robert’s vocals and harmonica on this CD version of Train Kept A Rollin’ because everything’s so deeply buried by Page’s guitar work. I don’t really like throwing Led Zeppelin’s music into one particular bag and calling it “Heavy Metal”. I don’t like that term a whole lot. But if this were the only recording somebody ever heard of theirs, it doesn’t get much more “heavy metal” sounding than this, does it? [laughs].

This recording has such a mean metal bite to it that’s still great to hear. But talk about guitar work and the different perspective such a recording gives you of what Page is doing. All the way through this performance of Train Kept A Rollin’, it’s a super-human effort by Jimmy.

Because the guitar is so isolated, it grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. Again, what a contrast from the version of Train Kept A Rollin’ on that first CD that we just talked about. It’s crazy in its own right, but nothing like Train Kept A Rollin’ on this CD.

JJ Jackson Goes On…

What an experience that was watching Jimmy Page play White Summer/Black Mountain Side. Because Jimmy is such a fantastic improviser, the improvisational nature of Indian music really suited his abilities.

I’ll never forget it, specifically in one area where Page was going wild. His fingers were flying everywhere on the guitar neck, like he was in some kind of Indian trance. It was like that every time I saw him perform it - always different and stunning every time. I especially recall when he used to play it on the ’77 tour, leading into Kashmir.

It didn’t matter if you were among the musical elite or a teeny-bopper out for a night the town at one of Boston’s hippest clubs back in 1969…Page’s Eastern take on this song dropped everybody’s jaws at The Boston Tea Party. It was especially fitting that a solo piece for Jimmy be incorporated into the earliest Zeppelin performances…it definitely showed the depth of musicianship and how good he was as a guitarist of all genres of music.

As I mentioned before, this [White Summer/Black Mountain Side adaptation] was a real adventure into world music that gave Led Zeppelin an even deeper dimension of musical might. This song has so many different sections that are a goldmine for improvising.

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